A great way to get to know your students at the beginning of the year is through their writing. An 'All About Me' book gives them an opportunity to share important things about themselves. Here's a simple All About Me Free Printable that only takes one sheet of paper! All About Me Booklet Set aside
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
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.
Pokemon Go was all the rage in 2016. Fortnite in 2017. You get where we are going with this! Getting back into the swing of things of a new school year can be tricky, but we can help! An easy way to connect with your students is to make your back-to-school lessons relevant and relatable. How can you do this? We have compiled a list of several ways that you can easily incorporate teen trends into your back-to-school lessons for the first few weeks (or anytime!) of the year. Most teens love music and connect with it on a personal level. You can bridge that connection by incorporating music into your daily routines. For example, play an upbeat song between bell work and discussion time to motivate your students. If you struggle to know what's popular with your students, just ask them! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to find out more about them and their music preferences. You can give them a writing prompt asking what their favorite songs are or be even more specific; ask them: Which song makes you want to get up and dance? Which song could you listen to over and over again and never grow tired of? Once you have compiled a list of their favorite songs, search the lyrics of a few. You can often find the best examples of figurative language in song lyrics. If the lyrics are appropriate, print them off and play the song in class and ask students to find examples of figurative devices. This activity can be done anytime, but it's for great back-to-school to review figurative language and to gauge your students' learning levels. Another way to incorporate music directly into learning is to compare popular music artists with writers or subjects you are reading. During poetry and Shakespeare units, I love challenging students to see if they can guess whether the line or phrase is from a song or a poem. I created an entire series with various poets and musicians that you can download here. I'll start out with a presentation and a student handout so the as whole can engage in the activity. It's so much fun to see their reactions when they swear there's no way the line came from an old poet, but it actually did! The next day, I'll display the bulletin board (below) so students can continue to interact with the lines of poetry and songs. One way to grab the attention of your students is to explore books that may have been released since school has been out and/or sharing some titles of books that will be released in the coming months! Talk about anticipation! :) Here are a few YA books that came out recently: Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi The Haunted by Danielle Vega We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fiedler Here are a few YA books that will be coming out soon: Frankly in Love by David Yoon The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh You can also see what your students are interested in by displaying these Genre Reading Cards around a few tables in your classroom (or in the library). Simply, set out the different genre cards, select a few books that fit within each genre, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and let your students explore the various titles. Follow-up with a brief discussion on their favorite books they may have already read (or discovered) through the stations. This is a quick and easy way to see what genres they are interested in or may be interested in exploring this school year. Whether it's the World Cup or the Super Bowl, chances are many of your students are fans of sports or are familiar with at least one sport. Using this FREE survey at the beginning of the year, ask your students which sports or teams are their favorite. (Click HERE to get an editable digital copy of the survey ready for distance learning!) Once you have an idea about their favorites, you can incorporate them into your lessons. For example, if you are writing a sample sentence for a grammar lesson, name-drop a player from one of their favorite teams. My students are usually divided between being either a Chicago Cubs or a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so a sample sentence may be: "Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler sat down together to have pizza after the Cubs defeated the Cardinals last night." Every two years, you can integrate the Olympics into your lessons. Re-word the titles of your activities or assignments by using Olympic-themed names. Instead of calling it a class discussion or a "think-pair-share," call it the "Opening Ceremony" or "Passing the torch of knowledge." A quiz can be called a bobsled competition or a vault competition for gymnastics. Award the top three scores with gold, silver and bronze medals. If you teach multiple sections of the same class, have your classes compete for the overall winner. Awards points for the class with the fewest tardies, the highest scores on quizzes or assignments, and/or the liveliest discussions. Better yet, have your students create the areas for competitions and what they'd like to call them. They can even pick which country they would like to represent (or create their own country). Some students may not like traditional sports, but love video and online gaming. The popularity of videos such as Minecraft and Fortnite paired with the rise of schools adopting eSports as official extracurricular activities indicate that our students still love gaming. Instead of fighting it, try to embrace it by giving students opportunities to utilize both the skills they learn through games with academic skills. For example, I asked my students to recreate a scene from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. One group built Rome in Minecraft and reenacted one of the scenes live as the class watched. My head was swimming a bit, but it was pretty amazing to see what they created together and how they adapted it to the text. They learned more about the play from that one assignment and had so much fun doing it. This particular assignment may not work with other games, but if you allow your students the possibility of incorporating their favorite game into a project, you may be amazed at the ideas that they come up with. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things as a student was when we were able to follow-up a book with a movie. As a visual person, I always appreciated when I saw a book come to life after reading it (even though most people prefer the book over the movie). Watching the movie after reading the book can lead to a lot of fun class discussions. Here are a few fun prompts that you can use to follow-up after your are done reading and watching! What did you like better, the book or the movie? Why was the book better than the movie? Why was the movie better than the book? What did the book have that the movie didn't? What did the movie have that the book didn't? A great way to grab the attention of your students would be to plan a unit around an upcoming movie release based on a book. This might be an older book or perhaps, a newer one. Regardless, your students will think it's pretty cool that they are going to be able to watch a movie. I realize it's not possible for all classes to be able to watch a movie in a theatre, but it's a fun and quick field trip if you can make it work! Movie theatres usually give a discount on larger groups and I usually try to work in a price that includes popcorn and a drink for everyone, too. If you think money may be an issue for some students, it does not hurt to ask your administraton for some assistance. They will, almost always, find a way to make sure everyone in your class is able to participate. You can also plan a unit around a particular theme of a movie coming out (or already in stores), if you're looking to take a break from reading for a few weeks. Once students gain a better understanding or appreciation about a particular theme, you can show them a movie where they can explore that theme even more. This way, if taking your students to a movie theatre isn't an option, then show a movie in your classroom instead! Note: You can ask your students which movies they may be interested in watching at the start of the year, then surprise them with the themed unit based around that film! One of the easiest ways to incorporate both social media and pop culture all at once is incorporating current events into your classroom. You can do this on a local, national or international level. You can simply ask your students to start talking about what's happening in your town, in the world, or even more specifically, with their favorite movie actors, singers, bands, etc. What's the gossip with their favorite celebrities? Once your ideas have been shared and topics have been listed, you can use this list as a means for an impromptu writing activity, as an essay topic, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you're interested in checking out more ways on how you can incorporate pop culture into the classroom, click HERE. You might also be interested in: Soundtrack of my Life/Playlist of my Summer
This free printable space I spy game is perfect for adding into a space unit study and encourages counting and recognition.
Jump start the new school year with several fun name activities for early learners! This includes math and literacy activity options.
Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.
window.fd('form', { formId: '6407636159928c7891219871', containerEl: '#fd-form-6407636159928c7891219871' });
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
These Vegetarian Quesadillas are the best quick weeknight dinner or lunch! Filled with black beans, sweet potato and avocado these are healthy and delicious!
All About Me T-SHIRT writing templates are perfect for Back to School. It's a great way to get to know your students better, and promote a healthy classroom climate! Your students will create a tee shirt designed with their favorites and information that describes their unique personalities. Upon c...
Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.
FREE printable Apple themed coloring activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. Use dot markers or any kind of coloring utensils to complete the apple patterns! Great math activity for Back to School or Fall!
The ultimate list of activities on the first day of school to make students feel welcome, excited, and ready to learn! Crafts, games...
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Whether you are doing a homeschool preschool program or are a teacher in a preschool, having a plan is essential. Every year, I begin with an outline for what I plan to teach throughout the school year. I created this resourceful, editable preschool curriculum to keep organized and easily change what I teach from year
Are you looking for some fun ways to get to know your students better? Here are three great getting to know you activities for back to school! I use them at the beginning of the year, when we get a new student and/or change groups. Click here to get your freebie!
Related Printables: Jonah and the Great Fish Craft Great Wall of China Coloring Page Jonah and the Whale Craft Miraculous Catch of Fish Coloring Page
How to get rid of muscle knots in your neck, shoulders, and back. Best tips and exercises to eliminate muscle knots and trigger points at home.
These Snoopy Flowers stickers are great for indoor and outdoor use, made with thick, resistant, laminate vinyl material. The easy-peel backing makes for great ease of use, while the matte finish helps your designs look sleek on any surface. .: Material: water-resistant vinyl .: Suitable for indoor and outdoor use .: Easy peel backing .: Matte finish
Here are 8 exercises to get rid of lower back fat! Go through the circuit three times for a real burn! [toc]
Catch your students' attention with our back to school bulletin board ideas. A fun and interactive way to establish a fun and welcoming classroom community.
Our tattoo inspired Rainbow Portal Sticker features premium outdoor grade vinyl. Stickers are dishwasher safe (top rack air dry) and weatherproof -- great for outdoor use! Original Tinta design. Sweatshop-free. Dimensions 2.3" x 4" The perfect size to fit on the back of most phones!
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Sciatica is a painful condition that can become debilitating. Sciatic pain is characterized by pain, tingling, numbness, and radiating pain along the leg (path of the sciatic nerve). It’s felt in the lower back, through
Fine Motor Activities for kindergarten: Create a rainbow fish and rainbow name to develop fine motor skills with young students
Number sense activities are so important in kindergarten and preschool math. It's important to give kids a variety of counting activities to gain automaticity. I love stocking up on math center ideas for kindergarten. That way you can change things up, but keep working on the same concepts all year. This fun set of Free Back to School Puzzles for Counting to 10 are a great way to ease kids back into school. They are easy to prep, so you can focus on settling into routines, bulletin boards, word searches, and all of the other things as you kick off the school year!
I've been reading the book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and just finished chapter 3. It was a real eye-opener. Through all of my years of teaching, I thought I was differentiating by planning and implementing reteaching and enrichment lessons and activities as my class worked through a unit. But in this chapter, I learned how important it is to start the differentiation before the unit even begins! This process begins with the preassessment. So much valuable information can be gathered before you begin teaching a unit. The purpose of the preassessment is to find how much students understand the content before you plan and teach the unit. Do they have a complete understanding of the content? Then they will need enrichment and/or accelerated activities. Do they have a partial understanding of the content? Then you need to make note of the gaps in their learning so you can plan accordingly. Checklists are a great way to keep track of the objectives and student mastery. From this checklist, you will also see students that need to be grouped for instruction. Keep in mind that this grouping will change as students master the objectives. Another insight I gained from this chapter is the different types of assessments used in a classroom. I put together this graphic to sum up the three types of assessment you should be using in your classroom. Click on the image to download the pdf version. You can also download this free packet with three quick and easy formative assessments you can use
Start the year off by sharing picture books with your upper elementary students. Here are some Back to School Read Alouds for 4th & 5th grade.
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
