The First Few Student Days...

The children are coming....

...on Tuesday. At least for me. And, no matter how many times I do this, no matter how many first days go by, a little panic always arises in me before the kids come...I frantically think: What will we do? Will I have enough to occupy the hours? Will the kids feel comfortable in my classroom? What activities can I do that are fresh and new? And on and on and on....

So, I've been blog stalking...er, hopping...and looking through my own files, and I've come up with a  list to at least get us started with the kids. I hope you'll "comment" at the bottom and leave some of your great ideas. We can always use some freshening!!

Drumroll, please....BRRRRRRRRRRRR.......

-Give each student play-dough on their desk the first day so they have something non intimidating to work on while you, the teacher, are busy greeting other new students and corralling the chaos. (Thanks to Clutter Free Classroom for this brilliance!). Students can create their first initial, their age, a creature, something to signify what they did that summer, etc.

-Give each student a pipe cleaner or two and have them create some of what is mentioned above: their initial, their age, a pet, something they did that summer, etc.

-Take a picture of the back of each student's head and create a "Guess Who?" board for parents at B2SN.

-Have the students each write a description of their summer or a list of their favorites (color, food, teams, etc.) or any other personal narrative and use it to create a "Guess Who?" board for parents at B2SN.

-Play 2 Truths and a Lie (Each student writes 3 statements about him/herself and reads them aloud. Only 2 are true and the rest of the class has to decide which is the lie.)

-Take a picture of each student and have them write something about themselves for a "Meet the Class" class book or bulletin board.

-Create a word search with all students' names.

-Create a time capsule with items and samples from the students. Some things you might include: handwriting sample, picture of each student, list of favorites, writing sample, math facts quiz

-Do a classroom and/or school scavenger hunt for important locations or items in the room/school.

-Do squiggle art. Draw a squiggly line with black Sharpie in the middle of a piece of plain paper. Duplicate. Have each student use their imagination to turn the squiggle into a piece of art. Display.

-Create a Math about Me collage. Have students draw or find numbers in magazines that pertain to them (age, birthdate, address, zip code, number of people in family, sports number, etc.) and use them to create a colorful collage on poster board.

-Create a KWL chart of _____ grade.

-Play Back to School Bingo*

-Do Partner Interviews*

-Have students fill in an Opinion Sheet* (*Get all three of these forms, done and ready to print and duplicate HERE for only $2 on my TpT Store!!!!)



PLEASE leave a comment with your own great ideas. I would love to add to my own arsenal...

Sharing is absolutely the best way to get even better at what we do :o)

P.S. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post: Room Set Up and Organization Tips. I am sorry this is late in coming, but I simply haven't had a chance to finish up my room!! Working over the summer with a 7-month old and mentoring this year have led to a lack of progress :-/ Pictures forthcoming! Check back then! 

:o)
Ashley

*This post is part of my "Back-to-School" series!*