I wanted to stop by today and share some a few of my “go-to” activities during the first week of school to build our classroom community and set expectations for […]

During the first week of first grade, it's important to plan engaging and fun activities to build community and relationships with your students.

My favorite first grade Back to School Activities in my classroom! These are my go-to activities for the first week of school!

First week of school activities for kindergarten & 1st grade students including First Day Jitters, school bus safety, & friendship activities.

Back to School Activities that are great for an online classroom or inside a classroom.

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Check out these 12 engaging first day of school activities that will help set a positive tone for the year and help build relationships from day 1.

What will you be doing your first week of school? We usually have a few days on our first week of school. During that time I usually read "First Day Jitters", "Kissing Hand", "If you Take a Mouse to School", or "Froggy Goes to School". On the first full week of school we begin our Rules and Routines Unit from Guided Reading with a Purpose. The focus of this unit is to discuss classroom rules and routines while we learn about characters and setting from a story. Below you will see the 5 anchor text I use to teach characters and setting. David Goes to School, Miss Nelson is Missing, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, The Recess Queen and Chrysanthemum To make it extra exciting and fun for the students, I try to dress up like a character from a book and create different settings daily. This gets them really excited to come to school each day and creates anticipation. Last year they were trying to guess who I would dress up like the next day. Here are a few pictures from last year. It is nothing elaborate.. I just bought a few hats off of Etsy. I do realize this is a little over the top but that tends to be how I roll. On the first day, I only focus on characters. I begin with a game called "What's in my Bag?". Slowly I take an image out of my bag and put it on our chart. Once we have all of the characters out of the bag, we brainstorm what they all have in common. The idea is to get them to understand the term character. Here is an example. This anchor chart is then on display for the week. On day two, we learn about settings. We play this game again but this time the pictures include different settings. I also set up a mystery setting at their tables. Each day they come in and they have to guess where they are at for the day. I just went to the dollar store and purchased items around the same theme. Here are a few snapshots of some of the settings I created. Can you guess what they were? (beach, bathroom, pet shop, birthday party) During the week, we read a different story each day and worked on shared activities. We do 1 to 2 worksheets each day and discuss parts of the story using the colorful cards I have created. Of course we had to sneak in a few crafts throughout the week. Here are the ones included. I never have time to do them all so I pick and choose. I like to provide choice also. My students picked which teacher they wanted to make from Miss Nelson is Missing and which student from The Recess Queen. Here is their finished work. I love their interpretation...so cute. Finally, we ended the week with a fun sharing project. I don't like to give out homework or projects that ends up being a parent project. Since I have 7 children I feel the parent's pain in that area. This assignment was optional. I told them to bring in something that represented a favorite character or setting from a book and we would try to guess it. This is the perfect activity to address the "Speaking and Listening" standards. It was almost like show and tell for them. They loved it. We had a variety of things brought in but I'm pretty sure Captain Underpants got the most laughs. This is the first week in a 40 week series of units that teach a specific standard and skill. Some teachers call it "Shared Reading". In my school this is our large group guided reading time. It is a wonderful opportunity to present a new concept to the whole class and work on building listening comprehension. In all honesty it is my favorite part of the day. It leads into our writing and sets the tone for the day. Here is what others have said about this unit. "I loved the first GRWAP file that I bought so much, that I purchased others! Lots of resources to choose from. Clear teaching points and great ideas!" "Very thorough and engaging! The students love the book choices." "I love the literature connection! Very enjoyable and complete!" To watch a video about this unit click here! TO READ MORE ABOUT MY GUIDED READING SERIES, CLICK HERE.

First week of school activities for kindergarten & 1st grade students including First Day Jitters, school bus safety, & friendship activities.

I have had the BEST first week! It was jam packed and the days went by in the blink of an eye. I've been use to have 18 kids for the whole day in first grade. Since I'm just teaching reading, I have three different classes and 72 kids! That is definitely going to take

Then, we used a little total physical response to give my firsties a better visual on how the size of the places we live are related. They *loved* this

The first day of first grade is always a really fun, but hectic day for my littles. They are so excited to come to school, but they are always a little nervous since they don’t know what to expect when they walk through my classroom door. I always have an activity such as a first day coloring page or a play-doh model on their desks to work on right when they come in so my students are busy creating while I welcome students and take attendance.

Looking for new activities to include in your back to school plans? Check out these downloadable lesson plans with lots of great ideas!

Once every student has a baggie of Magic Dough on his or her desk, I pass out a copy of the Magic Dough Lab Report. We talk about what it means to

It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s

Which Back to School Activities Elementary can I use for Building Community in my Classroom? Which All About Me Activities are most engaging for my students?

Homeschooling mom and engineer with a passion for STEM education.

These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

Check out these 12 engaging first day of school activities that will help set a positive tone for the year and help build relationships from day 1.

Tidbits and treats for teachers

Back to school in your ELA classroom just got easier. Starting a brand new school year requires a ton of planning and organization. These freebies are a great way to ease the stress and start

These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

This is an awesome activity to use during the first week of school. You can use it as morning work or as a group activity as you are going over school rules for your class. Be sure to download it here! You Might Also Like:Free Internet Scavenger Hunt for Constructive and Destructive ForcesSet of Six ... Read More about School Rules Freebie!

One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.

Musings of a Third Grade Teacher

If you are looking for some fun ways to start the year with your upper elementary students, then consider adding in one of these 5 ideas!

Writing first week of school lesson plans are overwhelming since you’re not in your planning groove after summer break. So, I planned for you!

These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

Have fun learning about France with these printable coloring pages for kids of all ages to learn about this amazing country known for the Eiffel Tower.

The First Day Of 1st Grade What does the first day of 1st grade look like? Happy day, friends! I hope this post finds you well and loving (or about to love) your new group of friends. This year, i…

Fun and engaging ideas to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Build a strong classroom community with these free resources.

The first week of school is a critical time to teach all your classroom procedures and expectations. I usually spend the first week of school…

Explore 18 back-to-school activities perfect for the first day and first week of middle school. Start the school year right with easy, low-prep activities that engage and motivate students!

Students circulate through the classroom and meet new friends! Here's a great team building activity I like to have on hand for the first week of school! Use "Find a Friend" for a quick structure to allow for student interaction, to model classroom expectations for movement in the room, and to review and practice classroom manners. With the recording sheet in hand, students circulate through the room to pair up with a new friend. Students greet each other and take turns to ask a question related to the grid. For example, student A will say say to student B, "Do you like to read?" Student B will reply, "Yes, I do like to read." Student B will then sign his name in the corresponding box on Student A's paper. (If the student replies with a "no", I encourage my first graders to try again and to ask about something else on the paper. After all, we have different likes and dislikes.) Before rotating, students thank each other. Students mix and pair again with a new partner to complete the grid as time allows. I do remind the children that they may only sign someone's paper one time. These activities promote positive interaction, movement, and community. It also allows for me to model (...again) how to stand up and carry the paper/pencil, how to find a partner quietly (by making eye contact), how to say "please" and "thank you", and how to speak using an inside voice. Click here to download this "Find a Friend" activity. link Here's One for Color Words. Click on the image below to download this "Find a Friend" activity. (Some children may need to have support with recognizing and reading the words.) Like Those? Here's one for number words, too! Click on the image below to download this "Find a Friend" activity. Happy Holiday Weekend!

Want to teach rules and expectations in an engaging way? Use picture books! These 15 picture books are some of the best to start your year.

One of our activities this week included talking about some of our favorite things. We then made these super, cute people to go with our wri...

It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.

Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things

First week of school with your ESL students can be great and set the tone for the year. Make connections, set classroom expectations and gather information.

Finding get to know you activities for elementary students isn't always easy so I’ve compiled five low-prep ideas perfect fro the first week of school.