The first day of school gets a lots of emphasis (and for good reason, the first day of school is pure adrenaline for everyone!).
However, it’s also important to think about what students will be doing during the first week of school. On the one hand, teachers don’t want to dive into content too quickly. On the other hand, teachers also want to keep students engaged in the kinds of activities that help students build community and learn classroom procedures.
For these reasons, I wanted to share some unique activities for back to school season!
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Syllabus Activities for Back-to-School Season
If your school is like mine, teachers are required to hand out the syllabus on the first day of school. While this process can be awful, I have found two different ways to make this process more meaningful and engaging!
First, during the height of the pandemic, I could not do my usual station rotation, so I started using Syllabus BINGO. Even my seniors love to play BINGO, so this is always a high-interest activity. With this strategy, students can learn about classroom procedures and policies in an engaging manner.
Similarly, I have often used a Syllabus Scavenger Hunt to help students work through the syllabus. This is a favorite strategy because it’s easy to update from year to year. This year I will use this as one of the activities during back-to-school stations.
Read more about syllabus design and how to keep Syllabus Day engaging!
Back-to-School Stations
Stations are my favorite activity for back-to-school season! This year, I’m planning on two days of stations work. Stations are a good strategy because they get students up and moving, helping them become comfortable with the classroom space. Stations also help students mingle with their classmates and begin to build a sense of classroom community. Here’s a snapshot of the stations I’m using this year:
- First, I like to incorporate a writing station so I can get a writing sample from students early on. This year, students are going to address one of these Back-to-School Journal Prompts.
- Second, students will complete a Back-to-School One Pager as a way to introduce themselves to their classmates. This is a good way to help me start to remember names.
- Third, Classroom Bucket Lists are a good way to get a snapshot of student interests, strengths, and motivators. I also like to share my bucket list with students so we can start getting to know one another.
- Fourth, to make sure students join the Google Classroom, I ask them to complete this free Google Form Grammar Inventory. The data is also a valuable way to see students’ language needs.
- Based on their work with the grammar inventory, students will establish their classroom goals for the year. I ask students to set goals for reading, writing, and behavior. This goal sheet is also free!
Grab all my favorite Back-to-School Stations today! All together, you get 13 resources to start the year on the right foot!
Writing Activities for Back-to-School Season
Since writing is one area where students grow a lot, I like to collect several writing samples early on. Writing is also a good way to get to know students. These are some of my favorite writing activities for back-to-school season:
- First, students can create a Personal Coat of Arms. This is a fun activity because students can use their artistic skills. Then, students complete a short writing to describe the symbols they chose for their coat of arms. To make this an interactive activity, follow it up with a Gallery Walk so students can see one another’s work.
- Second, students can write Letters to their Future Selves. With this activity, students can write to themselves at some point in the future and reflect on their growth. They can also write to their past selves.
- Finally, I like to take students to the library early in the semester. Our librarians do a great job acquainting students with the reading environment and introducing exciting new titles. After students check out books, I often ask them to complete First Impressions Book Reviews. This gives me a snapshot of students’ writing abilities and their reading interests.
What Comes After Back-to-School Season?
For my students, stations will occupy our first two days of school. On the third day of school, we will be visiting the library. This year, I’m going to try something new for the fourth and fifth days of school. In the past, students have had summer assignments to guide my planning. However, I ditched my summer assignments, so I have an exciting new opportunity to try something new!
First, students are going to watch and listen to the Ted Talk “Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you’ve never noticed” by Roman Mars. I know, I know. That seems like a really weird choice, and it is. However, after I watched it for the first time, I had some ideas about how to make this relevant.
First, students will complete multiple-choice questions as they watch. The questions cover basic skills and target the skills students will see in the first unit. This is a first-glance formative assessment.
Second, the Ted Talk walks students through the basic principles of flag design, so students will try their hands at designing their own flags. Students will enjoy this activity because it’s creative and a little challenging. Then, students will complete a Gallery Walk to see each other’s flags and to practice explaining their choices.
Finally, and this is the part I’m most excited about, students will write a short paragraph explaining how their flag meets the principles of quality flag design. This will be their first piece of structured writing, and I’m so curious to see how it goes.
Grab all my resources for this Ted Talk today!
How are you planing your first week of school?
