Implementing icebreakers on the first day of school is neccessary for building classroom community. Check out these easy first day icebreakers . . .

The ultimate roundup of free back to school coloring pages for preschoolers and older kids - Free coloring sheet downloads!

Get ready for an engaging and productive start to the school year with our Self Portrait First Day of School Worksheets. These worksheets are designed to spark creativity and self-expression in students, allowing them to delve into their unique identities and share their experiences with their new classmates. Whether you're a teacher looking to facilitate interesting icebreaker activities or a parent wanting to encourage your child's self-confidence, our Self Portrait First Day of School Worksheets are the perfect tools to foster a positive and inclusive classroom atmosphere.

Check out the top icebreakers and ESL activities for first day of class that will get your students talking and getting to know each other.

This geometry activity for the first day of school is a great way to assess students' prior knowledge. It is a fun and free way to pre-test them! Click to..

Use the All about me printable to make a fun coloring craft/writing activity All about me spinner for first day of school for kids.

These ”First Day of School” crowns and award certificates can be printed for your class. First Day of School Crowns These printable first day of school

Check out the top icebreakers and ESL activities for first day of class that will get your students talking and getting to know each other.

First Day day of kindergarten printables are essential tools for capturing your childs major milestone..

Kick off the school year with fun Name Games! Foster classroom camaraderie and help students break the ice on the first day.

Does the first week of Kindergarten have you shaking in your boots? You are not alone! I've been at this for a little while now so you would think it would get easier with time but I am here to tell you it does not! I still get anxious right before school starts. What will they be like? Will I remember what to do at line up time? What if I don't set things up right and I mess up the whole rest of the year? (sounds dramatic but that is really what goes through my head!) I sat down as soon as school got out and wrote down my first week of lesson plans to put my mind at ease. It has really helped with my worry so far! I wrote down the first five days, plans and procedures I need to introduce, brain breaks, classroom community building activities, easy morning work to get started with and even got my welcome back gifts ready. My mind is officially at ease. I want to make sure I have a lot of fun and a LOT of books planned for the first week too. Here are a couple of fun crafts to go with the books I have planned. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. You can't skip this book the first week of school! Our focus will be all about names the first week (or more!). I put together all of my favorite books with some crafts to help teach all of those back to school procedures like cutting, gluing, and of course following directions. The Wheels on the Bus This one is fun for a little first sound fun. The students change the words to match the first sound in their name. A My Name is Alice by Jane Bayer Alphabet books are the best the first few weeks of school. A My Name is Alice Jane Bayer is the best! This is a fun activity to do after we read the book and they will make really cute self portraits to hang in the hallway the first week of school. Not only did I plan out the activities for these books but for lots of other favorites like Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, Rosie Takes a Walk by Pat Hutchins, No David by David Shannon, and Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. So now I don't have to feel guilty when I am floating in the pool this summer (just kidding, I never feel guilty doing that!) But honestly, I can relax knowing all I have to do is hit print when I get back to school. These plans can work for you too! Click here to see them in my store! Or if you are not ready to think about school yet pin this for later! P.S. Get a FREE ALPHABET ACTIVITY when you sign up for my newsletter HERE!

Oh, the first day of school! It's such a fun, but chaotic day. Most of my first days are a little bit of a blur. This is why I have to write very detailed lesson plans or I'll forget everything from that day. I always try to have the same activities for that first day

Use this first day of preschool handprint craft and activity for your little ones to decorate the room and a keepsake for parents

The best beginning of the year STEM challenges have 3 things in common: 1.) They help students get to know one another and start building teamwork and collaboration. 2.) They allow students to start practicing classroom procedures. 3.) They are incredibly fun and get students excited about STEM!

Customize your very own editable first day of school signs for taking awesome back to school photos! Then get matching last day of school signs too!

Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.

On the first day of school, things can be pretty chaotic! You have a class of new students who are coming in with a range of emotions and a backpack full of supplies that need to be organized, all while chatting with parents and trying to help the kids find their place and get settled. […]

On a normal, middle-of-the-year day, I want my students to come into my room in the morning knowing it is a calm place, a cooperative pla...

Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!

 The first day of school is almost here, and it is very important to have everything ready to go (ESPECIALLY IN KINDERGARTEN) so t...

A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year

Cognates in Spanish provide an easy win for your novices! Check out a unit of Spanish 1 lesson plans to explore cognates in Spanish!

These first day of school activities and printables are so much fun! Great for homeschooling or traditional schooling and free to print and use, too!

What a concept: using SNOW to break the ICE on the first day of school! When I first heard about this cool idea from a cousin who attended a reunion for her husband’s side of the family, I kn…

Get your FREE First Day of School Interview page to download and print exclusively from MeganHStudio!

I've rounded up a handful of my favorite engaging science activities for the first days of school that will grab your middle school scientists by their brains and help you to get to know them!

Free Printable First Day of School Sign {Pencil}. Preschool, kindergarten, and first grade through high school first day of school picture signs.

Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.

Looking for the perfect first day of kindergarten activity? These FREE crowns are sure to bring first day of school fun to your classroom!

Head back to school with The Kissing Hand book by Audrey Penn. Pair it with activities and crafts to go along with the theme of the book or even buy Chester

Teachers, you must send this letter home to parents on the first day of school. It will set the tone with parents for the rest of the year!

First days of school can be stressful. There's an insane amount of pressure to make a great first impression. The administration wants you to go over the handbook of rules for the district. There's tons of forms that need to be filled out. You need to learn their names and it's hard because half the names don't match your class list. His name is Samuel but he goes by S.J. Her name on your roll says Mary, but she goes by Mary Beth. You want to start off the year on the right note regarding procedures and expectations, but you also want it to be a little bit fun, too. Yes, it can be complicated to plan out the first day. My first day was absolutely fantastic. Yes, I learned names. Yes, I went over the handbook. Yes, I went over forms. But we also did some quick exciting things that started us out on the right foot. In no particular order, here is what made my first day FANTASTIC. 1. I let my students collaborate on a story. I started a story on the whiteboard and each student could only add four words to the story. It ended up being hilarious and making ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE but no one cared. It was fun. They worked as a family. 2. That bring me to my next point--we don't call our classes, um, classes. Or homerooms. We call them families. So I have Mrs. Johnson's Family for my 1st period class and Mrs. Anderson's Family for my second period class. (Homeroom teacher names were changed for this post.) You get the idea. And it really does reinforce this idea that we need to work together like a family should. 3. I embraced and addressed my students' biggest fear. Each teacher has his/her students coming to the room with a big fear. Go ahead and address it. Since I'm the first year of middle school, the big fear is the locker. Will I ever get into it? Will I have enough time to get everything out of it? My students can't begin to learn procedures until we address the locker issue. Once they feel confident with their locker, they are ready to learn procedures. So, what did I do? I lined up my wonderful parents to come work with my students one-on-one the very first day of school on their locker. And it was the best thing for that first day. Address your students' fears with a solution. Don't think, "Oh I need to teach procedures! I'll help them with that later on in the week." No. Their Big Fear is ALL THEY CAN THINK ABOUT. Fix the fear, then they can face all the procedures and rules head on! 4. If you know me, you know that I ABSOLUTELY DETEST GETTING TO KNOW YOU GAMES. Why do I have to name a fact about myself that starts with a J just because my first name is Jordyn? Nothing starts with a J that I like! I hate jelly beans. I'm ok with jolly ranchers but they aren't anything special. I. HATE. GETTING. TO. KNOW. YOU. GAMES. I think I've made my point clear. Soooooo---what did I do to get to know them? I made a statement and pointed to two sides of the room. The students moved to the side of the room for their answer. Examples: 1. Team Cat or Team Dog 2. Would you rather travel every day or never leave home? 3. Team Math/Science or Team Language Arts? 4. Alabama or Auburn? (I live in Alabama, so this is a big deal around here. Feel free to change to whatever sports teams works for you. And by the way, the correct answer to me is the side of the room that was yelling WAR EAGLE!) We didn't do this as one big activity. I broke up the reading of the district handbook by doing a couple of these, then back to the handbook, then a couple more of these, then back to the handbook, a couple more of these, then going over forms. THEY LOVED THIS ACTIVITY! It didn't force the quiet kids to talk, but they did participate by moving. It let the other ones announce why they were on that side. It was just a great icebreaker for those of us who are anti-icebreaker. --->Do you need a GETTING TO KNOW YOU ACTIVITY perfect for the first few days? (And not icebreaker questions that tweens dislike---actually questions they enjoy answering!)

These All About Me first day of school free printables for every year make the perfect school days keepsake!

Hello! I am already seeing lots of posts in Facebook groups asking what to do in the first few days of art class. In this post, I will walk you through what I plan to do this year in my classes. This is very similar to what I have done in other years. First, I start all classes with basic introductions and talking about the room and art class. We go over the rules and expectations. I use a video … Read more... →

Use this poster as an intro activity the first day of school or for a Je me présente unit. Perfect for Core French or primary French Immersion! The poster is 11...

My Kindergartners come into our school with little to no Spanish experience...or so they think! I love to give them a big confidence boost right from the beginning so we do a fun activity I call ‘¡Ya sabes español! (You already know Spanish!) where I have pictures and items of things we say in Spanish all the time: taco, piñata, quesadilla, burrito, armadillo, nachos, salsa, llama, alpaca, and so on (a lot of them are food!) and have my kiddos name them themselves. As we go, I get to point out, ‘See, you already know a lot of Spanish!’ This activity gives my students a sense of confidence and motivation, especially for those who are nervous that they don’t know anything in Spanish. It also starts to build that awareness that Spanish is all around us! A HUGE THANK YOU TO members of our Facebook group who compiled additions to the list- Beth Alders Thaemert, Susan O'Donnell Bondy (and don't miss Susan's Cognate Bingo game for older learners! Click here): guacamole, chocolate, jalapeño, mosquito, coyote, iguana, patio, cargo, sofá, pasta, tenis, taxi, jaguar, bus, cereal, béisbol, tenis, música