I can’t say I’m a big fan of icebreakers myself, at least the get-to-know-you type. Students may be grouped in a different way from the previous year, and there are always new students to the schoo…
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.
Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library. Of course, this addition was a no-brainer. Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books. Just as predicted, my students loved this book. It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving. Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school. I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft. I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10. Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number. We broke this activity up over a couple of days. Students took part in a listening activity. Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud. (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.) Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color. I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler. Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue. The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board. In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification. If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged. What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :) For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by. School Is a Happy Place is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associated Program, an affiliate program that allows this site to earn advertising fees. Please know that all of the recommendations on this site are authentic and come from personal experience.
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!
Implementing icebreakers on the first day of school is neccessary for building classroom community. Check out these easy first day icebreakers . . .
Today I am brining you the perfect combination of back to school ice-breakers and games for those first days of school! Back to school is a crazy time and we all want to hit the ground running. There are routines and procedures to teach and we are ready to get to them the second those kids walk in the door. Building community and getting to know
Are you tired of the morning battle to tame your son's unruly hair before school? Say goodbye to the struggle and hello to effortless style with our guide to the "25 Best Boys Haircuts for
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.
It is always tricky to have a finished piece of work after one lesson that is decent to put up in the main office area! Here is a quick display that everyone loved and the 3D aspect added greatly t…
These first day of school tips and ideas for teachers are perfect for back to school! Grab your freebies for second grade today!
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
Make the most of your writing block with these funny picture prompts! Go here:
A fun, get-to-know-you activity for the first day of school, or a meet-the-teacher night. Instead of first telling the students all about you, you have them guess first. After they have fun filling in the guessing sheet, you can go through the correct answers by just telling them, making a fun power...
Tired of the same GoNoodle videos? Break out of your brain break rut with these 6 new ideas that your students are sure to love.
Visual schedules are a great way to help students manage their school day and see what is coming next. Free flip schedule template only at Mrs. D's Corner.
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!
Use these free printable first day of school interview worksheets to create your own school memory boxes for your kids! Just print the free questionnaire and have your kids fill it in as a fun keepsake. Super cute "All about me" first day of school printables!
Out of ideas for morning meeting games? Check out these 10 games to get your school day started off on the right foot!
Have you tried using Collaborative Posters in the Classroom? Collaborative posters are a fantastic way to build a culture of teamwork and unity in your
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
Do you and I run in the same circles? Doubt it. Although we do share at least one circle: teaching. Right? And if you and I ha...
Get started with a preschool question of the day in your classroom! These fun questions will make your morning routine meaningful and fun!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Seattle's Best Coffee. All opinions are 100% mine.
Tired of the same GoNoodle videos? Break out of your brain break rut with these 6 new ideas that your students are sure to love.
These three icebreakers for teens will make the first class, youth group, or club fun for everyone, even the introverts.
Father’s Day is a great time to celebrate and honor the special men in students’ lives! With this cute questionnaire, students can answer questions about their dad, uncle, or grandpa and give it to them as a cute keepsake! If you will be out of school by Father’s Day, send it home for students to ... Read More about Free Father’s Day Activity – All About My Dad
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.
This time is exciting, but also nerve-racking for kids! Fortunately, we can get them excited with fun back to school traditions for family.
Use magic play dough as a fun activity for the first day of school. Your students will be amazed as they ease their way into a new school year.
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…
Let’s celebrate Earth Day with these AWESOME cootie catchers ! This activity is perfect for the month of April as this holiday is celebrated on April 22nd. But let’s not forget that protecting the environment is an everyday issue. Students will enjoy crafting their own cootie catchers (or fortune tellers), playing with them and learning about the environment and how to protect our planet. This is an Earth Day “print and go” activity for kids and students. It requires almost no prep. Just print, hand to your students and they'll do the rest! There 6 cootie catchers in this resource: inside the first cootie catcher are basic questions such how to help save the Earth, what the 3 Rs are, naming one item that can be recycled ... in the second fortune teller are images, all Earth Day related (a tree, a bike, a recycle / reuse symbol…) : your students will have to react to them, saying as many things as they want. Earth Day cootie catchers from 3 to 6 are blank templates, with just the outside done. Your students will be able to write whatever they want inside each cootie catcher in relation to Earth Day. For example: famous quotes or people involved in protecting the environment or things that they do to help save the planet. There are 2 options: A color version A black and white version, which is the one students prefer as they can choose their own colors for a unique Earth Day fortune teller. Your students don’t know how to make a cootie catcher ? Don’t worry : instructions are included. I even made a Video: how to make a cootie catcher to help them. You might also like: Earth Day Collaborative Poster Earth Day Word Wall Words Earth Day Mini book FREE Earth Day Bookmarks ------------------- FOLLOW ME Just click on the Follow Me green star ✩ next to my store’s name. Every new product is 50% off for 24 hours. You don't want to miss this ! You can also follow me on FaceBook, on Pinterest or on Instagram ! USAGE This product is for your personal and your classroom use only. It is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying or distributing for more than one teacher is strictly prohibited. Please read TOU included in the file
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!)
Love making simple agamographs? This time we've prepared a cool Night and Day Agamograph Template for your kids to color, cut, and fold! This agamograph will entertain your kids for quite a while and is a
First impressions are powerful. Make your first statement to your students a positive one.
Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.
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!
How to make a mindfulness glitter calm down jar for kids! Step-by-step directions for making a calming glitter jar, with a printable recipe.
Get ready for the first day of school with these Kissing Hand activities. These back-to-school printables are perfect for preschool and kindergarten classrooms!
