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Welcome Back!

Ideas and getting-to-know-you activities for making students feel welcome and comfortable in their new learning environment.

  • Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8
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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.

Included Here:

  • Articles (5)
  • Lesson Plans (5)
  • Unit Plans (2)

Articles

Fabulous First-Day Ideas

Primary- and intermediate-level teachers offer suggestions for first-day-of-school lesson planning.

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Welcome to the First Day of School!

Try some of these getting-to-know-you activities, from new school year resolutions to welcome bags and more.

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Top 5 Ways to Welcome Students Back to School

Make your incoming students feel at home through icebreakers and get-to-know-you activities.

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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 you get organized for the school year.

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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.

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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.

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Creating a Classroom Constitution

Students discuss the rules they have at home, in the community, and at school, before developing a class constitution.

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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.

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Hey Teachers! Get to Know Me!

Kick-start the new school year with this lesson plan designed to help you get to know your students while they get to know each other.

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Name That Child

This get-to-know-you activity requires children to use their language and observation skills.

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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.

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Unit Plan: Famous First Graders

In this unit, which includes four lessons, students interview each other and make a short film with the goal of foster teamwork and self esteem.

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Related Links

The Complete Back to School Planning Guide!
  • Everything You Need:
    Back to School: Everything You Need
  • Subjects:
    Reading, Early Learning, Character and Values, Teacher Tips and Strategies
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