Collection
Help Students Settle Into Your Classroom
- Grades:PreK–K, Grades 1–2, Grades 3–5, Grades 6–8
Here are fun back-to-school ideas and getting-to-know-you activities to help your students get ready for a successful school year. Another great back-to-school idea is to have your students write reviews of their summer reading on Share What You're Reading.
Articles
Fabulous First-Day Ideas
Primary- and intermediate-level teachers offer suggestions for first-day-of-school lesson planning. New teachers can use these clever activities to create an exciting start to the school year. First year teachers will win the enthusiasm of their students for sure!
Welcome to the First Day of School!
Here are some fun, getting-to-know-you activities for the new school year, like making class "new year" resolutions, creating welcome bags, playing Guess Who? and Switch!, making a time capsule, and more.
Top 5 Ways to Welcome Students Back to School
Make your incoming students feel at home through icebreakers and get-to-know-you activities.
Free Back-to-School Printables
New teachers will love saving time with these ready-to-print resources. These free classroom management reproducibles, student worksheets, and activities will help first year teachers get organized for the school year.
Make Class T-Shirts to Start the Year
Mentor teacher Andrea Spillett shares her best ideas for welcoming students to kindergarten with a t-shirt-making activity.
Lesson Plans
Getting to Know You
With this beginning-of-the-year icebreaker activity, new teachers help students get to know each other through alliterative descriptors.
Creating a Classroom Constitution Lesson Plan
The Relatives Came: A Family Read-Along
This writing prompt idea gets students to talk about themselves, their families, and their summer vacations through narrative writing.
Hey Teachers! Get to Know Me!
The Bio Poem and the Classmate Inventory are designed to help you get to know your students while they get to know each other. The Bio Poem is also a useful writing diagnostic.
Name That Child
This get-to-know-you activity requires children to use their language and observation skills.
Unit Plans
Unit Plan: A Beary Good Beginning
Tie in a fun and memorable bear theme when introducing your students to the classroom rules using the 3 lessons from this unit plan.
Unit Plan: Famous First Graders
In this unit, which includes 4 lessons, students interview each other and make a short film with the goal of foster teamwork and self esteem.
- Everything You Need:
- Subjects:Reading, Early Learning, Character and Values, Teacher Tips and Strategies
