Three Activities for the First Week of School
It is the start of a new school year and I thought I would share some of my favorite activities that I do in my classroom during the first week back.
Getting to Know Your Classmates Task Cards
This set of task cards gets the kids up and moving and facilitates communication with their new classmates. On each card there is a question or discussion prompt. One person reads the card and then each person in the partnership/group gives their answer. It is a great way for my students to get to know each other better in a relaxed atmosphere
I partner them up (or make small groups) and together they rotate around the room to each of the task cards hanging up on the walls. I love hearing the discussions that happen as the kids move around to each card!
Spaghetti Marshmallow Tower Challenge
https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=en
I love this challenge, and the kids LOVE this challenge!
I give very basic directions for this activity, basically the three things you see on the graphic
1. 18 minutes
2. teams of four
3. tallest freestanding structure
This is a great problem solving and teamwork activity and it is so interesting to watch how students work together and who steps up as a positive leader.
Name Art
Before school starts I use white bulletin board paper to make a name sign for each student. Using a bubble type font, I typed the whole alphabet, putting two large letters on each page. I printed these out and then used them to trace over for each students name sign.
The kids get to color these in however they want, patterns, illustrations, crayons, markers- be creative!
This is a great activity for when kids need a little down time that first week back and any students who don’t finish can continue to work on it throughout the week when they finish other things early.
I hang these up around the top of my classroom and they are a great all year decoration that personalizes our space!
Do you have any fun activities that you do during the first week back to school? I would love to hear about them!
