first week of school assignments

First Week of School Lesson Plans and Activities (10 Day Outline)

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Back to school always sneaks up on me. I know it’s coming and yet I’m never ready for it! If you can relate, this is for you! I’m sharing my first week of school lesson plans to help you be prepared without having to give up precious beach time. (Actually, it’s my plans for the first two weeks of school!)

With these first week at school activities, you’ll have time for routines and expectations as well as setting up your students for success in both your math and language programs. All while you get to know each other and have some fun!

An all-round successful back to school in my book!

Get My First 2 Weeks of School Lesson Plans Now!

You’ll get day-by-day plans to follow plus some pages for you to brainstorm and schedule! Use it for inspiration or click the links to easily find the exact activities or materials.

Table of Contents

Preparing for back to school.

I know it’s tempting to spend your time back in class without students making everything look pretty, but there are some very important questions you need to ask yourself!

Classroom Expectations and Consequences

Before students return to school, you need to have considered your classroom expectations and consequences. While it is a great idea to co-create these with students, I firmly believe you need to have a solid idea of what you realistically want them to look like ahead of time.

Students should be a part of the wording and the details but you are the teacher. Being proactive will go a long way toward having effective classroom management.

I know we don’t want to bombard students with routines the second they return to class. But the reality is, from day one there will be recesses, lunch breaks, and the need for washroom breaks and you need to know how you plan to handle those.

First Week of School Lesson Plans

Things to note.

I’ve personally used a version of these plans with grades 4 – 6. However, with slight modifications (or not…) they would absolutely work for higher or lower grades too!

I break my planning up into 3 categories. I have a Language block, a Math block and a block for routines, rules, expectations and all other beginning of the school year ‘stuff’ which I’ve called Class Community.

Generally, I like to start each day with a fun, engaging ‘get to know you’ activity then move into the Class Community tasks for the day. With this including rules and routines, I feel like it’s important to set the day up for success by covering these items first.

Beyond that, the schedule is entirely up to you based on your preferences and school timetable.

Classroom Community

I generally like to intersperse community-building activities throughout the day. I find this gives me a chance to cover the essentials (rules and routines) early to set the day up for success and build in fun first week back to school activities to break up the day.

I’ve broken it down into 4 main areas:

Get to Know Each Other

This is generally how I like to start each day. On the first day, I have students create name plates for their desk which they decorate with things about themselves. This doubles as a great quiet activity throughout the following days whenever there is some down time.

We also do a variety of 1st week of school activities like “Find Someone Who…” Bingo , 2 Truths and a Lie and Icebreaker questions.

I mix up this whole class interactive tasks with more thoughtful activities. I love to create a class “Be” bulletin board that serves as a goal-setting and character activity. We also complete a Math About Me activity and I Wish My Teacher Knew writing prompt .

This is a great time for a Multiple Intelligences Inventory or Enneagram quiz or similar if you find those helpful.

Rules and Routines

Arguably the most boring yet most important part of back to school activities.

Taking the time to set up, teach and practice routines is key to a classroom that runs smoothly.

Having clear expectations and consistent consequences are essential for your students to have success and a positive experience with you.

I like to introduce a few new rules or routines each day and review the previous ones. Consider which routines students need to know from day one and which wait a few days.

If students aren’t following a routine, this is a sign that they haven’t mastered it and you need to… you guessed it, practice some more!

READ THIS NEXT:

Learn the 11 must-have morning routines for a stress-free start to your day (+ a free checklist)

Interact and Collaborate

It’s important that your first week of school activities include time for students, and you, to interact with each other and learn how to work together respectfully.

We have ‘Welcome Back Chats’ on various topics so students know their opinion and voice is important. Activities are designed to reinforce learning skills such as cooperations and collaboration, respect and inclusion.

I also provide opportunities for students to collaborate with challenges such as scavenger hunts, puzzles.

Movement or Break

It’s hard coming back after a long summer break! Concentration and stamina need to be rebuilt so be sure to find time each day for movement opportunities or even just a break from work.

I created a set of Would You Rather? questions that allow students to move. I like to mix funny questions with opportunities to get to know my students better.

Choose a yoga video on Youtube, play Silent Ball or other quick in-class movement breaks.

If you have more time, head outside to play Capture the Flag, basketball, baseball, soccer…

In my board we are supposed to follow the Fountas and Pinnell First 20 Days of Language. Over the years, I’ve developed my own modified version of this – picking and choosing the parts that work best for me.

I begin by explaining the class library and discussing expectations for independent reading. Over the coming days, we cover topics like recording our thinking while reading, how to choose a good book, checking for understanding and work up to reading response journals.

Each day in the first week of school, I do a read aloud and then have a question to lead a class discussion.

In the second week of school, we do a diagnostic reading assessment (broken up over multiple days). In my board, we do CASI but there are plenty of options.

Some wonderful read alouds for the 1st week of school include:

• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss
• I Promise by LeBron James
• The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
• Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
• The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald

I cannot recommend enough taking the first 2 to 4 weeks of school to set up your math program for success.

Rather than jumping straight into curriculum, use this time to introduce, teach and practice your expectations for math class and the routines for each part of your math program – bellwork, lessons, groupwork, centres…

Spend time teaching Social-Emotional Learning strategies and Mathematical Processes so students have the skills, attitude and mindset needed to be successful math thinkers.

With the updated Ontario Math Curriculum, you no longer have to feel like this is wasted time (trust me, it never was) as this is now Strand A.

Our First 20 Days of Math units focus on mindset, collaboration, problem solving, communication strategies and more. They allow you to teach expectations for centres, lessons, use of manipulatives and more. All while reviewing on math skills from the previous grade.

Get it done for you!

We have created complete units that set students up for a successful year by covering Strand A – Social-Emotional Learning and Mathematical Processes while reviewing basic math skills.

Start with open-ended fun challenges that stretch students’ thinking while showing that there is more than one way to solve a problem and they CAN do it!

I like to build in plenty of fun math games too. Play 10, Battleship, Around the World and SWAT! Check out this FREE SWAT! game for multiplication facts up to 10×10.

This Classroom Math Treasure Hunt is a perennial favourite. It gives me a sneak peak at their mental math skills and they get to know the classroom a little better. All wrapped up in a fun competition!

First Week of School Activities

Remember…

• Everything takes longer that first week back to school. Plan plenty of lessons and activities, and have some back up games and puzzles, but know that you’ll probably not finish everything you prepared and that’s OK!
• There will be plenty of interruptions during the first week of school so have some independent activities available. I start a name art on the first morning. I also have my students choose independent reading books to keep in their desk right away. This way, they have two activities that require no instructions whenever I need a minute.

If you’re just looking for some ideas for first week of school without the detailed plans, check out this bundle. And, of course, feel free to skim through the ideas above!

This set comes with 7 beginning of the year activities that include a variety of opportunities to get to know each other and get an early sample of your students’ abilities.

Our Back to School Activities Bundle Includes…

• Find Someone Who Bingo
• Icebreaker Get to Know You Questions
• Would You Rather Questions
• Classroom Scavenger Hunt
• Mental Math Treasure Hunt
• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• I Wish My Teacher Knew Writing Prompt with paper

Don’t forget to get our day-by-day lesson plans for the first two weeks of back to school for FREE. It includes all the ideas above plus more with details and timing suggestions.

Just fill out your name and email below and they’ll be delivered straight to your inbox!

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10 First Week of School Activities & Lesson Ideas to Build Community

As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to engage students and build classroom community during the first week of school. There is often a lot of anxiety for both the teacher and the student as they get reacquainted after the summer break. You want your new students to feel right at home. You want them to feel connected to the class, to each other, and to you.

While the first week tends to be filled with enthusiasm, it’s important students get to know their new classmates, but you don’t want to overwhelm them with too much at once! The first days of a new school year can be overwhelming enough for shy or introverted students without adding stress.

If you’re looking for fun activities for starting the year off on the right foot, you’ll love these ideas for engaging students and building classroom community with all about me activities during the first week of school.

This post contains affiliate links. While purchasing from these links does not cost you anything additional, it does mean I earn a small commission.

What is the purpose of doing All About Me Activities during the first week of school?

First week activities, such as All About Me, can seem like a time-filler during the first weeks of school when working with older students. However, they have an important role even in upper-level classrooms. First, they help students get to know one another during the first weeks of school.

In addition, All About Me activities are critical for allowing you to interact with students and learn more about their interests, strengths, and goals. This will help you give each student personalized attention and help you know all the basics you need to know about learners by the end of week 1.

Third, All About Me activities provide an opportunity for students to practice self-reflection and communication skills and can build classroom community among students who sit next to one another.

All About Me activities can also help students learn about others who are different from themselves. This can lead to more inclusive classrooms and stronger connections for all students. Lastly, they also help students practice being comfortable talking to their classmates in new ways and can be used as an ice breaker during the first weeks of school.

Great Read-Aloud Ideas to Introduce Your First Week of School Activities

One great way to introduce these community-building activities is with a high-quality read-aloud . If you typically avoid using picture books with older students, I challenge you to try it. You might be surprised to discover just how engaged they are as you read, and you might just find a new favorite book!

Here are some of my favorite back-to-school picture books to read aloud during the first days of school.

• Most Marshmallows by Rowboat Watkins
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
• Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
• Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley
• Remarkably You by Pat Zietlow Miller
• All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell

If you’re looking for more great options, I’ve shared a whole list in this post:  26 Great Back-to-School Books to Build Community.

10 Great First Week of School Activities to Build Classroom Community

As you start to write those first-week lesson plans, you might be struggling to figure out what activities you want to incorporate into your plans. It can be hard to come up with something that students haven’t already done year after year, especially as they begin to reach upper elementary.

If you’re looking for new All About Me activities for the first week of school, try these ideas. They each have a unique focus to help students build classroom community and engage with their teachers and classmates.

1. Use Venn Diagrams to find similarities and differences with a classmate.

It’s never too early to introduce your students to graphic organizers, and the Venn diagram is one that you’ll use again and again. So this year, introduce your students to a Venn diagram for All About Me activities.

Begin by reviewing the purpose of the Venn diagram – to compare and contrast two things. Then pair up students with their classmates and have them work to brainstorm ways they are similar and different from one another.

These make a great display on a back-to-school bulletin board, and it’s one of those practice activities that also help introduce several important academic vocabulary terms that students will need to understand. In addition, this offers a hook that you can refer to throughout the year when you work with Venn diagrams.

2. Get poetic with your writing activities on the first week of school.

I love using poetry as a way to help students share about themselves and their experiences. Poetry can be an excellent vehicle for self-reflection since it asks students to look inside themselves and discover something unique about their lives. Writing poetry is also a great way to build personal connections between students and their lives outside school.

Acrostic poems can be a great All About Me activity for a writing class. Students can create their own poems using the letters of their names to begin each line. If they have difficulty thinking of things to include, here are a few ideas that you can prompt them with:

• Share something unique about yourself that you haven’t shared before.
• Indicate your favorite thing to do.
• _______ is my favorite subject in school.
• I like to play with ________. 
• A place I’d like to visit is ________
• My favorite food is ________.

Alternatively, you can have students create an “I Am” poem to share about themselves and their hopes for the year. These can be an excellent way for students to introduce themselves to others, and they also make an incredible display if your school has an Open House or Parent Night.

How to make it work:

There are two typical formats for this type of poetry, so you can select which one you prefer depending on what grade level you’re teaching and the needs of your learners.

• Option 1: Formulaic “I Am” poetry offers students basic sentence starters for each line of the poem. Each line should follow the pattern of “I (verb) ________.” They fill in the blanks with their answers to create the finished poem. Jen Runde from Runde’s Room shares a great example she used for her 6th graders on her blog  here . 
• Option 2:  Free verse gives more flexibility and is great for older students or creative writing classes. In this situation, each writer can create their own idea of how each line should begin rather than a template. While the poem still follows the pattern where each line starts with “I (verb)…”, this offers more opportunities for students to express themselves as individuals.

3. Try a unique spin on a Math About Me activity during the first week of school.

Add a little arithmetic to your All About Me activities by creating Math About Me sheets. You might have already created a Math About Me sheet to introduce each student to the class, but if you haven’t, it’s a great addition to a first-week activity, and it makes a fun display. Alternatively, you can put them together to create a fun class book!

Math About Me is fun because it goes beyond the basics of listing favorite movies or book characters as you might use in another class discussion activity with elementary students. Instead, your learners get hands-on with math to describe themselves and share with their classmates.

Here’s a version I’ve used in my own classroom as an introductory math activity:

4. Have students film a commercial – Great for remote learners.

If you’ve got a tech-savvy group or you’re meeting virtually via Google Meet, it can be fun to have your students write a short commercial about what makes them a wonderful friend to have. It also provides an opportunity to introduce some basics of media literacy and the art of persuasion right from those first days.

The goal is to make a 30-second video telling about themselves and why they make a great friend. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce students to the art of storytelling, and you can use it as a light-hearted icebreaker. Plus, it can be fun to have a showing of all the commercials students made.

You never know! You might spark a new friendship!

5. Do a Find a Friend Activity to help students meet their classmates.

We’ve all done a “Find Someone Who” activity before, and there’s a good reason why!

These offer a great opportunity for students to mix and mingle while learning about their classmates. The first days of school can be a lot of sit-and-get. Listening to rules, learning procedures, and getting acclimated.

This activity is an opportunity to get up and moving!

The goal is to find a classmate who meets each of the criteria listed on the provided sheet, and you can design these to be as basic or deep as you want. For example, have students find someone who has the same favorite color, or you might see if they can find someone who speaks another language.

This can be a great activity to incorporate into your morning meetings for elementary students because it offers a chance for conversation. You can direct how deep or basic the questions are. Since these meetings are all about relationship building, students need the opportunity to talk to one another, and this type of activity is a great way to do that from the first day of school.

Take a peek at the photo above, and enter your information to get the activity I used as part of my classroom icebreakers for free.

6. Play Four Corners to get kids up and moving.

Speaking of getting kids moving, you can also try a game of Four Corners as an All About Me first day of school activity. It’s a kind of “Simon Says” game, but instead of following the directions, students have to move to the spot that best describes their answer. So, for example, students may go to different parts of the room depending on their favorite subject or how many siblings they have.

The game will require students to get up and move around and it might help them to put aside their fears and just go for it! This is also a great way for you to get some time to observe your students and see who would be a good match for your small groups. 

By observing where students are, you can get a sense of their interests and strengths. For example, you might find one or two students who always go to the same spot every time. If so, they might be a great fit for a small group activity focused on that subject area. This can help you make some quick determinations about how you’ll organize your small groups and work with your kids throughout the year.

A handy hint is to pre-label your corners with colors or letters to make the game run smoothly. Then you can put the answer choices on your projector (like above) and have students move to the right corner without much hassle.

7. Complete an All About Me Book as a part of your first week of school activities.

Having students create an All About Me Book can be a fun way to get to know your learners while making a purposeful end product.

You can use the 8×8 booklets from the Target Dollar Spot with blank pages and let students write about anything they want. Alternatively, you can provide a more structured framework using a book template that has students complete pre-made pages and templates to share information about themselves.

Here’s a fun example I’ve used with my learners in the past:

Read more about this resource here:  All About Me Books: A Back-to-School Activity.

8. Have students write a letter to their future selves. 

This can be a really meaningful one, especially if you’re teaching a grade level that is the start or end of a big transition year. For example, the fifth-grade teachers at one school I worked at did this with their students. Then, when the students went to middle school the following year, they would mail the letters to them at the end of the school year.

One of the great things about having students write a letter to their future selves is that it gives them the chance to think about their lives differently and be more intentional about their education. It can also be a great way to make predictions about how they will get along in middle school.

9. Make Getting to Know You Fortune Tellers 

At some point, most students get into making fortune tellers, so why not use it to your advantage and make it into a fun getting to know you activity. Have students create their own fortune teller using a pattern or template in the classroom. You might even consider using some of the prompts I’ve shared in my post 20 Questions to Get Kids Talking .

You can pre-write some questions onto the template before copying it, or you can allow students to add their own questions. If you have students add their own questions to the template, be sure to remind them not to write anything too personal. Fortune tellers are fun, but you’ll need to monitor students to ensure the questions being asked are school-appropriate.

When they use their fortune teller with a peer, the classmate must answer the question under the flap they selected. Then they can mingle again and repeat the process.

Add a little music, like Musical Chairs, to make it extra fun. Of course, whoever they are standing near when the music stops is their partner that round.

Covid hint for First Week of School Activities – This is also an awesome idea for reducing germs that often spread during some team-building activity ideas commonly used at the beginning of the year – like the questions on a beach ball activity.

10. Create All About My-Selfies! 

The 10th activity I want to share is one that upper elementary students and middle school students love! If you’re working with a grade level interested in social media, this can be a fun way to tap into this. You can grab this project here.

I’ve done this activity in two ways in the past.

Option 1: Have students identify what makes them unique.

First, I’ve had students draw a selfie showing something about them that makes them unique. Then they write a caption and hashtags to match. We did these on phone templates and used them to make a cute display. However, they were also a great talking point between students.

Option 2: Play Secret Selfie

The other option is a guessing game, which can be fun if students have been together for several years and think they already know one another pretty well. In this case, prompt students to draw a picture that matches various likes and dislikes into each square. For example, you might say, “Draw something that represents your favorite color in the first frame.” Continue this until you’ve done the entire 9 or 12-square.

Once all the boxes are complete, students draw a secret selfie (or take a picture of each student) to place underneath and attach their clues over the top, like in the image below. Then display them with numbers attached and have students try to guess who is who!

This is also a great one for displaying during Open House! It is entertaining to watch parents try to guess which one their child made!

The benefits of taking time for All About Me activities during the First Week of School

Classroom community matters. Students who feel connected to their teacher and classmates are more likely to do well and less likely to drop out.

In addition, all About Me activities create a safe environment for students to share personal information and build relationships. It is surprising how much safer it is to share personal opinions when your class feels safe and comfortable with one another.

By including all about me ideas as part of your first week of school activities, the classroom transforms into a community, and your elementary students become less nervous when it’s time for them to share their ideas and opinions.

How do you foster classroom community from the very first day?

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First Week of School Lesson Plans

Lesson planning is always a bit tricky, but coming up with lesson plans for the first week of school is extra challenging! How much time should we spend teaching procedures? How can we get to know our new students? What can we do to make the first week fun? When should we start with the curriculum?

Every year, I notice multiple posts in my teacher Facebook groups (for 2nd grade , 3 rd grade , 4th grade , and 5th grade ) asking others to share their first week of school lesson plans. So, I thought I would show you my ideal first week of school plans.

Keep in mind that every classroom will be different! It might take your kids twice as long to complete an activity as it took mine. It might take my kids twice as long to master a particular procedure as it does for your class. Heck, we all have a different list of procedures that we must teach!

This is just a suggestion. You can start with my ideas and adjust them to work with your time and student needs.

Let’s jump in…

8:00-8:30: Enter the Classroom and Make Play Doh Creations

Walk students into the classroom and greet each student as they walk into the classroom. Allow students to choose their own desk. Have a small container of Play Doh on each desk. Tell students that they can create anything that they want with the Play Doh. It can represent a favorite hobby, animal, vacation, or something completely different! While students are creating, take attendance and do any administrative tasks that pop up on the first day. Give students 2-3 minutes to share what they created with their neighbors.

8:30-8:45: Put Supplies Away

Put labeled containers around the room and have students put their supplies in the correct bin. If you want them to keep certain supplies in their desk, put a list on the board. This is a great time to give students labels for their folders and/or notebooks, too.

8:45-9:15: Morning Procedure

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for coming in the classroom and unpacking in the morning. Make sure they know where you want their backpacks, binder, and homework. Give the class a couple opportunities to practice the procedure.

9:15-9:30: Read Aloud

Read We’re All Wonders aloud to students.

9:30-10:15: Saving Fred Collaborative Activity

Have students work in groups to complete the Saving Fred activity. Start by splitting your class into small groups. I like to have 3-4 students in each group. You will need plastic cups, 4 paper clips per group, gummy worms, and gummy lifesavers. 

Fred, the worm, was riding in his boat, the cup, when it tipped over. Fred is on top of the boat and he doesn’t know how to swim. Lucky for him, he brought a life preserver, the lifesaver. The problem? The life preserver is stuck under the boat. 

Students will work in groups to plan a way to get Fred inside the life preserver. They cannot touch the worm, the boat, or the life preserver with their fingers. The only tools they can use to help are the four paperclips. 

You can grab the FREE printable I use for this activity by clicking  HERE .

10:15-10:30: Specials Procedures

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for lining up for specials.

10:30-11:15: Specials

The teacher lays her head on her table and takes a nap because back to school is hard! Just kidding! Teachers don’t have time for naps.

11:15-11:40: Lunch Procedures

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for going to lunch, eating, lunch, recess, and returning from lunch.

11:40-12:20: Lunch and Recess

12:20-12:35: read aloud.

Read The Name Jar with students.

12:35-1:05: Growth Mindset Activities

This is one of my favorite activities to do during the first week of school. It is so important to cultivate a growth mindset in students. Student who believe they can succeed work harder and achieve more.

The Growth Mindset Activities resource include five days of brain-building exercises. On day one, you will introduce students to their amazing “BIG BRAINS.” Use the interactive PowerPoint to guide discussion about how their brains work and complete the hand-on activities and brain teasers.

1:05-1:30: Classroom Library Procedures and Choosing Books

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for borrowing books from the classroom library. Make sure students know where to keep their books, how many books they can borrow at a time, and when they can get a book from the library. Give students time to choose any book that interests them. They can use these books during the week when they finish something early.

1:30-1:50: Fire Drill & Emergency Procedures

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for fire drills. Take students outside for a practice fire drill.

1:50-2:05 Recess

2:05-2:30: end of day procedures.

Pull students to the carpet and discuss the procedures for packing up and going home at the end of the day.

2:30-2:45: Release Students

Have students pack up and release them to carpool, buses, etc.

Celebrate! You survived Day 1!

8:00-8:20: Enter the Classroom and Morning Procedures

Before entering the classroom, remind students how to complete your morning procedures. Have reminders written on the board for morning procedures as well. Walk students into the classroom and greet each student as they walk into the classroom.

Students will be practicing the procedures you taught yesterday; such as turning in forms/homework, hanging up backpacks, where to place water bottles, and take out their self-selected reading book to their seat for silent reading warm-up. While students are reading, take attendance and do any administrative tasks that pop up on the second day.

8:20-8:50: Pipe Cleaner Challenge

Hand each student a closed paper bag with 2 pipe cleaners, a piece of foil, and a popsicle stick inside. Instruct students to create anything that they want with only the items inside the bag. It can represent a favorite hobby, animal, vacation, or something completely different! Give students 2-3 minutes to share their creations. They may then place the creation inside the paper bag to take home.

8:50-9:15: Classroom Supply and Bathroom Procedures

Pull students to the carpet and discuss procedures for classroom supplies. Discuss procedures for pencils and sharpening and where to find extra supplies. Also discuss bathroom procedures at this time.

9:15-9:30: Teacher’s Quiz

Send students back to their desk and announce, “It’s time for our first quiz!” You are learning a lot about your students, but it is important for them to know a lot about you as well.

Pass out the Teacher’s Quiz and allow students to guess the answers for each question. After students have had some time to guess, go over the correct answers. You can find this free activity  HERE .

9:30-10:15: Read Aloud and Activity

One of my favorite books is called  Words and Your Heart  by Kate Jane Neal.

After reading the story, place students into groups at their desks. Give each group a small tube of toothpaste (grab these at the Dollar Store), one toothpick per student, and a paper plate. Tell your students to squeeze out all of the toothpaste onto the plate.

Then, have your students try using toothpicks to put the toothpaste back into the tube. Pull your students back together and have a conversation about how the toothpaste is like our words. Discuss your policy in the classroom with unkind words, behaviors, and bullying. You can find a free recording page for this activity  HERE .

10:15-10:30: Beach Ball Introductions

Write several sentence stems on a beach ball that will help students tell more about themselves. Suggestions include, “This summer I…,” “My favorite pizza topping is…,” “I’m really good at…,” etc. Make enough to have one ball per group of students. As students throw the ball to each other, they can either answer the question that their right hand touches, or their left hand touches.

11:15-11:40: Binder Organization

Take this time to discuss how you would like students to organize their binder. You can also hand out any reference papers that you’d like students to keep inside. Pass out a binder cover, have students color it, and place on the front.

12:20-12:40: Read Aloud

Read Wordy Birdy with students.

12:40-1:20: Growth Mindset Activities

Pull students to the carpet and show them day 2 of the Growth Mindset interactive slides: Parts of the brain. Discuss how the parts of the brain work together and allow them time to complete the daily activities. Give them a few minutes at the end to pair-share something amazing they learned today.

1:20-1:50: Classroom Behavior Policy

Pull students to the floor and explain your class rules and rewards.

1:50-2:05: Recess

2:05-2:20: find someone who.

Every student will need a Find Someone Who board. Students will walk around the room and find someone who can accurately explain the procedure. That student will write their name in the box. The catch is that students must find a different person for each box.

You can find this free activity  HERE .

2:20-2:30: Review End of Day Procedures

Pull students to the carpet and remind them of the procedures for packing up and going home at the end of the day.

Before entering the classroom, remind students how to complete your morning procedures. Walk students into the classroom and greet each student as they walk into the classroom. Students will be practicing the procedures you taught Monday; such as, turning in forms/homework, hanging up backpacks, where to place water bottles, and  take out their self-selected reading book to their seat for silent reading warm-up.

8:20-9:15: Beginning of the Year Assessments

Take this time to administer any beginning of the year assessments that your school may require. You may consider having students color notebook covers when they complete their assessment. You may also consider pulling individual students for assessments as they complete other assessments given.

Read Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun with students.

9:30-10:00: Spaghetti Tower Collaboration Activity

Place students in groups of 3-4. Give each group 1 box of spaghetti noodles and 1 bag of marshmallows. Students will work together to build the tallest tower out of these materials. You can grab a recording for this activity  HERE .

10:00-10:30: Class Discussion on Collaboration

Pull your students to the carpet and discuss what it looks like to work together. Discuss your expectations for collaboration. What will group work sound like? How will students participate? What should you do if students disagree? Have students model correct and incorrect behaviors for the class. Make an anchor chart about what group collaboration will look like and sound like.

11:15-11:40: Independent Reading Stamina

Bring your students to the floor and discuss how marathon runners must train in order to run long distances. They do not just go out one day and run 26 miles! Instead, they have to train to build up their stamina. Discuss that readers are the same way. They need to practice building their stamina for reading independently for long periods of time without getting distracted.

Start a graph to show how long your class can read without getting distracted.

Students should grab their independent reading books, find a comfortable spot to read, and begin reading as you time them. You should do the same, model how to read independently without getting distracted as well! For the first day, I suggest giving your students about 5-10 minutes to practice independent reading. Stop timing students and discuss what you noticed students doing when they were focused on reading, and what they were doing when they started getting distracted. Challenge your class to beat that time by 3-5 minutes the next day.

12:20-1:20: Back to School Escape Room

Engage you students with a fun, collaborative back to school activity. This escape room requires kids to work together to solve puzzles and unlock clues to complete the challenge before time runs out.

The great thing about this escape room is that it’s easy to prep and use. No complicated supplies needed. All you need to do is print and teach. Begin by presenting the story: it’s the first day of school, but the school is locked. The principal lost the keys. Luckily, there is a back up lock that can be opened with a code. If only you could figure out what the code is . . .

This activity comes with four different versions, making it super easy to differentiate. There are two options for 2nd and 3rd grade, and 4th and 5th grade, one with hints and one without.

You can also get this activity together with the Growth Mindset Activities, Back to School Classroom Procedures Game, and Meet the teacher slides as part of my money and time-saving back to school bundle.

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Back to School Escape Room – Printable

Back to School Bundle

1:20-1:50: writer’s workshop day one.

Bring your students to the floor and explain the three parts of each of your writing workshops: mini lesson, student work time/conferences, and share time. Discuss what students will be doing during each of these times and what the teacher will be doing. Together, make an anchor chart about what it will look and sound like during writing time. To keep kids engaged during this lesson, I suggest doing lots of “turn and tell your partner….” and have them create their own anchor chart in their writing notebook.

Click  HERE  to learn more about how I introduce writing workshop.

2:05-2:35: Growth Mindset

Use this time to continue working on the Growth Mindset Activities. Day 3 is a fun lesson about growth versus fixed mindset. After showing the PowerPoint mini lesson, give students a few minutes to reflect on the questions. Then have a class discussion about positive self-talk. Brainstorm positive and encouraging thoughts. This would make a great anchor chart to keep up all year.

2:35-2:45: Release Students

Walk students into the classroom and greet each student as they walk into the classroom. Students will be practicing the procedures you taught Monday; such as, turning in forms/homework, hanging up backpacks, where to place water bottles, and take out their self-selected reading book to their seat for silent reading warm-up.

Take this time to administer any beginning of the year assessments that your school may require. You may consider having students color notebook covers when they complete their assessment. You may also consider pulling individual students for assessments at this time.

Gooney Bird Greene (This is our first chapter book read aloud!)

9:30-10:00: Responding to Reading- Day One (I Do- Whole Group)

Pull your students to the carpet and model the process of responding to reading using the class read aloud that you just read (Gooney Bird Greene). Model the entire process while thinking out loud. Students will listen as you talk about finding text evidence. Model how you start writing your answer by using part of the question. Talk about how you extend your response with some of your own thinking/examples. Finally, model how to edit and make corrections to improve your work. When you are done, ask students to share what they noticed. Create a class list of things that you did to make your writing the best possible response.

You can find my Reading Menus and more information about this process by clicking  HERE .

10:00-10:30: Writing Workshop Day Two

Send students back to their desks and discuss the different types of materials that they will be allowed to use during writer’s workshop. Show students where they can find these materials. Place several different types of writing utensils at each group, along with scratch paper, and allow students to write their name with different writing utensils to discover what they enjoy using. Students will find writing time more enjoyable if they are allowed to use pens! Next, teach and practice your procedures for putting writing materials away.

Remind students how long they were able to complete independent reading yesterday and pick a goal for today to increase that stamina. Remind your class what it should look and sound like. Have your students grab their independent reading book, find a comfortable spot in the room, and begin reading while you time them.Stop the clock a few minutes after yesterday’s time and graph it on your chart.

12:20-12:35 Read Aloud

Read Mae Among the Stars with students.

12:35-1:10: Read Aloud Connection

After reading Mae Among the Stars, discuss a growth mindset, believing in yourself, and working hard for your goals. Hand out blank pendants to every student. Have students draw a picture of what they’d like to be when they grow up and write their name across the top. These can be displayed in your classroom.

1:10-1:30: Math Center Instruction

You will want to take your time teaching and practicing math centers. Plan to spend about 8-10 days practicing and explaining math centers. You may begin day one today.

Pull your students to the rug and explain what math centers are. Don’t worry about teaching them how to complete each center today. Instead, help them to understand that they will be divided into small groups and how many centers they will be completing each day.

Explain that the reason you are doing these centers is so that you can meet with small groups of students and help them practice new math skills. Make an anchor chart with students that shows how center time will look and sound.

You can find more information about starting math centers  HERE .

1:30-1:50: Math Game Review

Teach students how to play Addition War with a deck of cards. I suggest having several deck of cards to use throughout the year. You can find two-packs for $1 at the Dollar Tree. Divide students up into pairs and students will play Addition War.

Students will shuffle the cards and divide the cards in half. They will then turn over the top cards at the same time from their deck and add the numbers shown. the first person to say the correct sum will take the both cards. The person with the most cards at the end of playing-time is the winner. You will want to inform your students that an Ace card is 1 and all face-cards are worth 10.

2:05-2:35: Growth Mindset Activities

It’s time for Day 4 of the Growth Mindset activities. Today’s lesson is all about Famous Failures (and it’s a student failure). Today you will be teaching kids that it’s okay to make mistakes. And to prove it, you will introduce them to some famous people who failed a lot before they succeeded. Take a few minutes to share their ideas about how to reframe mistakes into learning opportunities. You can add these ideas to your positve self-talk chart if you want to.

Walk students into the classroom and greet each student as they walk into the classroom. Students will be practicing the procedures you taught Monday; such as turning in forms/homework, hanging up backpacks, where to place water bottles, and take out their self-selected reading book to their seat for silent reading warm-up.

8:20-8:45: Class Meeting

Pull your students to the carpet and discuss what Friday class meetings will look like in your classroom.

I used Friday meetings to distribute reward tags to my students. It was a great way to reward students for meeting academic and behavior goals. They LOVED them! To keep it simple for me, and increase the excitement, I only awarded the tags on Fridays. I usually gave about a dozen tags each week.

If you choose to use reward tags, you will want to use this first week to discuss how students can earn reward tags in your classroom and the procedure for distributing them. Model how to cheer and clap for each student as they receive a reward tag during these meetings. If you’d rather not use reward tags, you can use this meeting time to share other important classroom community information.

8:45-9:15: Writing Workshop Day Three

Pull students to the floor and discuss places where they will be allowed to write during independent writing time. Discuss how they will move to these locations and what it should look and sound like. Give students a few minutes to walk around the room and sit at the different places that they will be allowed to write at.

Bring students back to the floor and record on an anchor chart your transition rules. Ask a student to show the class how NOT to go to their writing spot. As a class, discuss what that child did wrong. Then, ask the same student to go to their writing spot the correct way. Do this a couple of times with different students, many students love modeling the what not to do and what to do!

Read Be Kind with students.

9:30-10:30: Procedure Board Game

Place students in groups of 3-4 to review the classroom procedures you have been practicing all week. My back to school procedures board game makes this activity super simple.

The Back to School Procedures game comes with a game board and four different color cards: “Great Job,” “Uh-Oh”, “Application,” and “Act it Out.” cards. Each card asks students to recall or apply a classroom procedure in a different way. It’s a fun and silly to test there knowledge of the classroom procedures.

You can also get this activity together with the Growth Mindset Activities, Back to School Escape Room, and Meet the teacher Slide as part of my money and time-saving back to school bundle.

Back To School Classroom Procedures Board Game

Remind students how long they were able to complete independent reading yesterday and pick a goal for today to increase that stamina. Remind your class what it should look and sound like. Have your students grab their independent reading book, find a comfortable spot in the room, and begin reading while you time them. Stop the clock a few minutes after yesterday’s time and graph it on your chart.

Read the next chapter of Gooney Bird Greene with students.

12:35-1:00: Responding to Reading Day Two

Model the procedures again that you taught yesterday for responding to reading. You can find out more information about teaching these procedures by clicking  HERE .

1:00-1:50: Math Center Instruction

Today is the day that you will be teaching students how to complete the independent center activities. I always start with the back to school set of centers because they are a review of the skills from the previous grade level. This takes the pressure off of learning a new math skill and allows students to focus on learning the routines and procedures. It is also a great way to get a feel of your students’ math level.

Gather your students in a circle on the floor where everyone will be able to see you. Start by modeling the first center. Read the directions and talk through how you would complete the work. You don’t have to tell them every answer, but give them enough of a model to know what you expect of them.

Do this for each of the ten centers. I would do lots of “turn and tell your neighbor…” during this time to keep students engaged and to demonstrate that they understood your directions.

You can find the rest of my first 8 days of starting math centers by clicking  HERE .

Back to School Math Centers

I’ve also created done-for-you back to school math centers for grades 2-5. Each grade includes 10 hands-on math centers and a student recording book. Fun activities like sorts, matching, writing about math, and task cards keep kids engaged in learning.

Back to School Math Centers Second Grade

Back to School Third Grade Math Centers

Back to School Fourth Grade Math Centers

Back to School Math Centers Fifth Grade

2:05-2:25: growth mindset activities.

You can end the week by finishing up your Growth Mindset Activities. Today’s lesson is on developing grit. When students have grit, they are more likely to persevere on hard tasks. Complete the mini lesson and have students do the activities. Then spend some time talking as a class about how they can develop grit during the school year.

You can also get this activity together with the Back to School Escape Room, Back to School Classroom Procedures Game, and Meet the Teacher Slide as part of my money and time-saving back to school bundle.

Growth Mindset Activities

Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the weekend. Week one is done!

I hope this post is helpful and sparks some ideas for you as you begin planning for you first week of school. Remember to be flexible! Your students may take longer to complete an activity, or they may be quicker! I always found my first week lesson plans scribbled on with time changes as we went along.

You can click  HERE  to grab a cheat sheet of my first week lesson plans.

Most importantly, DON’T RUSH teaching procedures and building a community. You can read more about practicing procedure by clicking  HERE .

These first few weeks will set the tone for the rest of your year. Do you need a pep talk about this first week? Check out this  POST  for some words of encouragement.

Have a Not So Wimpy Day,

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Reader Interactions

28 comments.

June 5, 2021 at 7:21 pm

What do you do during the “specials” time block?

June 5, 2021 at 11:14 pm

Hi Sandra, Specials time is planning time. Well, let’s be real after a bathroom break THEN it’s planning time! The time students are out of the classroom for art, music, PE, whatever it may be is the perfect time to prepare future lessons and materials.

August 10, 2023 at 4:58 pm

How much does it cost to buy all the materials for this one week? Great ideas, but need the books and activities.

August 10, 2023 at 9:03 pm

Hi Stephanie! I’m glad you enjoyed the ideas. We included popular books that are in many classrooms. If you don’t have the books listed, you can easily substitute other fun read alouds. You can use the links in the post to grab some FREEBIES and view the items for purchase to determine which ones you would like. I hope that whatever activites you choose your year is off to a great start!

July 27, 2021 at 1:50 am

As a new teacher, this was SO HELPFUL, and gave me a lot of new ideas! Thank you for sharing! 🙂

August 4, 2021 at 11:40 pm

Jamie, Thank you so much! I’m moving to third after 20 years in first and this was so helpful to see what third graders will enjoy!

August 8, 2021 at 6:10 pm

So many amazing ideas for the first week. I love small group collaboration and you gave me so any ideas. Thank you for posting this!

August 14, 2021 at 7:01 pm

All great ideas as usual. I think I am an obsessed “Not So Wimpy Teacher!” I wanted to know what is your Binder Organization? It that for like the take-home stuff like the BEAR (Bring Everything Always Readt) or OWL (Organized While Learning) notebooks.?

August 16, 2021 at 2:13 pm

Hi Cassandra, That time was set aside to organize the student take-home binder. I had students add a cover that they designed, added in reference pages, such as a multiplication chart and fraction bar page, agenda, etc. and a pocket folder for homework and take-home papers, etc.

August 16, 2021 at 12:23 pm

Thank you so much for this! I tried clicking the link to read more about your reward tags, but nothing came up. Would love to read more about them! I’m constantly looking to improve my behavior management system.

August 16, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Hi Hillary, I’m sorry, that post is not currently available. We are updating many of our posts. My students always looked forward to the reward tag celebration. I made sure I was the biggest cheerleader for the ceremony. Throughout the week, when I noticed student behavior or improvement I would make a note of the tag to give them on Friday. I didn’t keep track of who received what tag, nor did I worry about if a student received the same tag more than once. I usually had about 10-12 tags I would give out in a month. Students could NOT ask to receive a tag that’s a big NO-NO! I laminated and hole punched the rewards and had students keep them on a chain necklace. Hope that helps! You can find my reward tag bundle through this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reward-Tag-BUNDLE-2615821

June 21, 2022 at 5:59 pm

Do you have lesson plans for 4th grade? Like recommended books to read and fourth day in fourth grade?

June 21, 2022 at 10:20 pm

Hi Neoshea, This blog post has my favorite resources for fourth grade. https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2019/07/my-favorite-resources-for-fourth-grade.html

July 26, 2022 at 12:02 am

Do you have resources and book suggestions for second graders?

July 26, 2022 at 12:31 pm

Hi Colette, The blog post has my favorite second grade resources. https://notsowimpyteacher.com/2019/08/my-favorite-resources-for-second-grade.html

August 2, 2022 at 7:13 pm

Love the Saving Fred activity. Do you just give each group one cup?

August 2, 2022 at 7:36 pm

Hi Katie, Yes, each group gets one cup which is the boat poor Fred was in when it tipped over.

August 3, 2022 at 10:17 pm

This is amazing

August 13, 2022 at 9:06 am

Do you have a pdf version of this first week lesson plan available for easy printing?

August 23, 2022 at 10:05 am

Would these lessons and read alouds be too young for fifth graders?

August 23, 2022 at 11:04 pm

Hi Kelly, I found that fifth graders enjoyed a good picture book read aloud just as much as younger students. They also loved the activities!

August 23, 2022 at 11:06 pm

Hi Christina, Right above the last picture on the post, you’ll see a link to grab the cheat sheet for the week’s lesson.

August 22, 2022 at 10:18 am

Would you be able to send a PDF or form like the picture at the top of the lesson plans?

August 22, 2022 at 10:20 am

Never mind I found the cheat sheet link. Thank you!

October 15, 2022 at 9:56 pm

Hello Jaime, I have appreciated all of the resources, tips, and tricks you have been sharing over the last few years! I first found your resources on Teachers Pay Teachers and I still enjoy exploring your store to see what new materials you have created. My newest addiction is the writing workshop video series that you have posted. I felt that I was not effectively organizing my Writing Block as my district switched us from Grammar to more authentic writing pieces, which I have not taught in more than 5 years. I started to implement your suggestions and saw an immediate improvement in both the behavior and productivity of my students. So many more are getting into the writing process as they practice the mini-lesson skills. Thanks for all you do! -Beth

October 21, 2022 at 2:29 pm

I love hearing this, Beth! I’m so glad the posts and courses have been helpful for you and made an impact on your students. Thank you for sharing.

August 22, 2023 at 12:56 pm

first time stopping by… wow i wish you had something for first grade! you are amazing 🙂 so helpful 🙂

September 6, 2023 at 12:40 am

Thanks for stopping by, Angela! I am so sorry, but Not So Wimpy Teacher only creates resources for grades 2-5 because those are grade levels we have the most experience teaching. We want our resources to be the perfect fit. I am confident that there are other teacher authors on TpT that create quality resources for first grade.

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Not So Wimpy Writing Masterclass

Do you struggle to find time to teach writing? Do you find it a challenge to deliver lessons that help all of your writers? Would you like to learn a simple and effective way to teach writing? The Not So Wimpy Writing Masterclass is an online professional development course for grades 2-5. In this course, you will go from feeling overwhelmed to feeling confident and excited about teaching writing.

Check out these recent podcast episodes:

• Connecting with Students Online with Jennifer Serravallo
• A Simple Problem-Solving Strategy That Works Every Time
• Giving Students Feedback About Their Writing
• Virtual and Socially Distant Valentine’s Day Activities for the Classroom
• How to Use Project-Based Learning in the Classroom

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Hello! I’m Jamie

• I believe that students need to be the leaders of the classroom. Even third graders are old enough to be held accountable and to take responsibility for their learning.
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The countdown is on! Teachers , it’s almost time for you and your students to go BACK TO SCHOOL! Are you ready for a fresh crop of young minds? The beginning of each year is always exciting. In order to get the BEST out of your students, it’s important to start the year off RIGHT! I thought I’d show you my lesson plans to help you make the MOST out of your Back-to-School experience this year. Check out my FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES!

Before students walk into your classroom for the first time, they should have an idea of who they’re going to be spending their year with. Because of that, I like to send a little “about me” in a newsletter to welcome my students before the school year begins . When you have MEET THE TEACHER night, students AND parents will comment on something from your newsletter. It is a great way to break the ice! Then hang it by your door. If you have a large class and are short on funds, send a postcard instead of a letter. It may not have a ton of information, but the students will certainly appreciate hearing from you!

PRIOR TO STUDENT ARRIVAL

First and foremost, make your students feel comfortable! I like to begin by letting the class know that we’re not just a class…we’re a FAMILY ! And since I like to rock out, I always play “We Are Family” as they are walking in the door. Choose a song that resonates with you and have it playing! I also like to have a little treat bag waiting for them. It doesn’t have to be candy. It can be class supplies or something in that vein! It will give them a warm, fuzzy feeling about being with you all year. Then put directions on the board regarding what to unpack, what to put in cubbies, what they should keep at their seats, etc. (I usually have them keep supplies at their desks, so we can go through them together.)

AS STUDENTS ARRIVE

If you want to wait to get to know the students a little more before assigning seats , get a deck of cards! If you have 4 students per group, assign each group of desks a number or face card. Pull out the right number of cards for the number of students from the deck. If they pick out a K, they go to the King’s Table, etc. Then after the first week, you can assign seats that best works for your new group of students!

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

Double, triple-check transportation cards and emergency cards.

GET TO KNOW YOU:

• TIME CAPSULES: Your students know who YOU ARE, now it’s time for you to get to know THEM. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but time capsules are one of my favorite ways. What are time capsules? Students write about their favorite things, write a paragraph or essay, write down goals and dreams, and create illustrations. We place them in a decorated Pringle’s can. We also add student photos from the beginning of the year. Then at the end of the year, we do the same thing and compare their growth from the beginning of the year! On the first day, I have them decorate the Pringle’s can to look like a time capsule.
• MEET THE TEACHER:   At the beginning of the first day of class, I like to go over my “about me” just in case any students missed out on the newsletter I sent home. (Hopefully, they pay attention, because there will be a related activity later in the week!)
• SCAVENGER HUNT: Create a list of things about the students. Have them find someone who is an only child, has 4 siblings, was born in another state, likes sports, etc. They cannot write the same name in any of the blanks. Participate with them! They will love it!

RULES AND ROUTINES

• THE BASICS : Create a list of rules and expectations. This is important because your students need STRUCTURE. Be sure to explain to your students what you expect when it comes to homework, lining up, what to put in cubbies, how to turn in work, when to be quiet, recess rules, and signals you will be using to get their attention
• Raise your hand for permission to speak.
• Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
• Be prepared.
• Follow directions the first time.
• Be polite to others.
• REWARD SYSTEM:   Explain your rewards system. Do you have individual rewards or class rewards or both? For individual rewards , I like to have a treasure chest of items anywhere from snacks, to pencils, to homework passes. Once the students obtain 5 coupons, they get a trip to the treasure chest. Set a specific time of day to do this like the end of the day so it doesn’t break up instruction time. For class rewards , set a goal together and choose what the reward will be. Filling up marbles or checkers in a jar? Once that happens, what does the class get as a reward? Movie? Extra recess? Every time the class is on track or impressing you, move a marble or checker into the jar! Positive classroom management works like a charm!

READING WORKSHOP

• CHRYSANTHEMUM: Read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Discuss bullying and different names. Count letters and syllables in each student’s name and create a graph. Discuss how your class is a safe place and no bullying and teasing will be tolerated. (See lesson plans document for questions to ask.)
• GENRE STUDY:   Show the class library and review the different types of genres. Hand out a genre study guide and quiz them at the end of the week.

WRITING WORKSHOP

• SETTING UP WRITING NOTEBOOKS : Hand out instructions to decorate the cover of their writing notebooks and assign it for homework.
• GREEK AND LATIN :  Point out the GREEK AND LATIN Word Wall. Explain prefixes, suffixes, and root words. – We will begin Unit 1 next week.
• 180 DAY JOURNAL OF POSITIVE THINKING:  Get started in 180 DAY JOURNAL OF POSITIVE THINKING. Explain how to look up word meanings and analyze quotes.

END OF THE DAY

Go over dismissal rules, send home notes of any supplies still needed for class and hand out a happy note to take home.

Send home parent homework. This is a survey so parents can share information about their child. Then decorate the writing notebook. Have them turn it in on Wednesday.

Write information on the board: Where to put homework, where to put parent homework, etc.

Then play music as students are walking in.

THINGS TO CHECK IN THE AM

• Take attendance and review any parent notes.
• Note any transportation changes.
• Collect any parent surveys or supplies that come in.

GET TO KNOW YOU

• TELEPHONE:   Don’t forget, some of your students may not know each other yet. Icebreakers and team-building activities are a good way to get your students involved with one another! An example I’ve used over the years is playing a game like ‘telephone’ where you whisper something into one person’s ear, they whisper it into the next person’s ear, and so on. In the end, the secret you whispered will come back to you, but it may have changed through the telephone line. This usually gets everyone laughing!
• STUDENT SURVEYS:   Student and parent surveys are important and beneficial to you, your students, and your students’ parents. This gives your students and their parents the opportunity to tell you anything they need you to know before the start of the school year.
• WHO’S WHO:   On a piece of paper, ask students to write down three things about themselves. Then you read off each one and have students guess who it is.
• TIME CAPSULES: One page to put in the time capsules is a favorites page. Have students list their favorite color, friends, books, etc.
• WALK AND TALK:   Your classroom is where your students will spend the majority of their day, so show them around! I like to walk and talk, making my way around the room, showing my students where everything is and how I like to keep it. Explain student mailboxes and the teacher’s mailbox. Explain the centers, bulletin boards, and where to put supplies, etc.
• TEAM JOBS: Since I look at my students as my family, I also expect everyone to pitch in and help out around the classroom. Let your students do the cleanup! The best way to do this is by assigning TEAM JOBS in the classroom every week. Team jobs means multiple people get the same job and everyone gets a job except who is on vacation!

• HUNDRED DRESSES:   Start reading Hundred Dresses together. Read chapters 1 and 2 together. (See Lesson plans document for questions to ask.)
• FLY EAGLE FLY: Read this as a read-aloud. Discuss goals and perseverance. (See Lesson plans document for questions to ask.)
• DEVELOPING GOALS: Add students’ goals to their time capsules.
• WRITING CENTER: Explain how they will use writing notebooks and the writing center. Talk about what the supplies in the center are used for.
• WRITING PROMPT:   Pick a prompt from the monthly writing prompts. Ask students to just write. Writing instruction will start next week! Add this writing sample to their time capsule!

180 DAY JOURNAL OF POSITIVE THINKING:  Work together as a whole group or in small groups to get students used to the process. Tell them about the person who is quoted. (This is included in the teacher notes!) Share and discuss their thoughts. You can slowly let go and let them work on it independently.

Research the meaning of your name and why your parents chose it! This goes along with the Chrysanthemum story.

• Have directions, what you will be covering today, and what they should put in their agendas on the board.
• Hand out paper bag book report
• Have a website available in case a student couldn’t find the meaning to their name last night
• Help students get in the routine of unpacking, turning things in, etc.
• Check student and teacher mailboxes
• TIME CAPSULES : Have students trace their hands to compare sizes at the end of the year. Then create an illustration to put in the time capsule.
• CHARACTER TRAITS : Pineapple bulletin board or door décor. Introduce character traits and explain how each month you will focus on one of them. Then either hand out names to different students or have students write about themselves- “I wear a crown because I am ____(character trait) because I ____.  He/She wears a crown because …”

Walk around the school and show them different places they need to know. (nurse’s office, special area, office, different halls and grades, etc.)

• READING NOTEBOOKS:   Set up the reading notebooks by adding the table of contents.
• CAUSE AND EFFECT:   Explain cause and effect and give examples. Add interactive notes on cause and effect to the reading notebooks.
• HUNDRED DRESSES:   Read chapters 3-4 together or in groups. Discuss the chapters together.

• PARAGRAPH OF THE WEEK: Explain the guided paragraph of the week so they can start tomorrow for first work.
• SET UP WRITING NOTEBOOK:   Set up writing notebooks with the table of contents and first tab.
• BRAINSTORM IDEAS:   To start writing notebooks, we brainstorm ideas that can be used in their writing throughout the year if they get stumped. Today, work on the “I am” and “I love” pages.

• Paper Bag Book Report due in 4 weeks
• Write about a current event for time capsules.

Write morning directions, what you need them to write in their agendas, and what you will be covering today on the board.

THINGS TO CHECK IN AM

BIO-POEMS:   Do one line at a time and walk around to help students. Have students write adjectives, things they feel, like, needs, etc. Use the word lists to help students brainstorm. Allow students to share and discuss in groups as they are working to help them with more brainstorming.

Talk about mentor text and how we will use it for reading and writing. Always be on the lookout for the author’s craft! 

• HUNDRED DRESSES:   Read chapters 5-6 together and discuss the chapters.
• CAUSE AND EFFECT:   Point out the causes and effects in the chapters. Pull passages from the READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGES AND QUESTIONS for the cause and effect standard. 
• BASKETBALL REVIEW: Play a game to review genres and cause and effect. Have a mini-basketball and trash can. Divide the class into two groups. Each person gets a question. They get one point for the correct answer and one point for making the basket.
• PARAGRAPH OF THE WEEK:   Guided paragraph of the week. All the instructions are there for them. Let them get started while you are taking attendance, but do this first one together.
• BRAINSTORM IDEAS:   Brainstorming Ideas Unit
• I wonder and feelings pages. Place in notebooks. (Use bio poem word list of feelings)

Bring in a picture of you for time capsules .

• TEACHER BINGO:   Now that your students have had the chance to get to know each other, let’s see how much they remember about you! Add questions to a bingo board for students to guess the answer. Go over your answer with them and as they get them correct, they can X out the box. See how many bingos they get!
• TIME CAPSULES: Add a photograph or draw an illustration of yourself and add it to your time capsule. Add anything else (not food) and keep (or bury) them in a special place! Leave them there until the end of the year!
• WEEKLY READING LOGS:   Explain the Weekly Reading Logs that will start next week. Decide on the minimum number of minutes you want them to read each night. I also like to include a written response for students to write about what they read. Include a variety of reading skills to use in the reading response . 
• REWARDS:   Hand out coupons or rewards for the week

• HUNDRED DRESSES:   Finish the last chapter of Hundred Dresses . Discuss the lesson learned. Get out a beach ball. Toss it. Whoever catches it answers a question about the story. Then give them a quiz on the story.
• GENRES: Quiz on genres.
• BRAINSTORMING IDEAS: Finish the brainstorming unit on “my family” and the treasure map. Tell them that next week you will focus on Sentence Structure.
• GUIDED PARAGRAPH WRITING:  Continue writing on this week’s guided prompt. 

Play heads up, stand up game.

No homework. Happy weekend! 

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10 First Week of School Ideas and Activities

Get a jump-start on back-to-school planning with these 10 first week of school ideas and activities for upper elementary.

#1 | All About Me in 6 Pictures Activity

Build classroom community, get to know your students, and give them a chance to decide who they will be this year with this simple All About Me in 6 Pictures activity. 

In just 6 drawings or word collages, your students will tell you what they want you to know about them. Keep it simple with our pre-determined categories, or let students choose their own categories using the list in this in-depth blog post .

#2 | Classroom Procedures Game Show

Go over your classroom procedures in a way that is memorable and a little competitive with this Classroom Procedures Game Show.

Students will be grouped into six teams and asked to explain or give examples of your classroom procedures IRL while they compete against their classmates to earn the most point in this editable jeopardy-style game show activity!

#3 | Classroom Procedures Freebie

This Classroom Procedures Freebie can help you create many different first week of school ideas. This free activity will help your students review your classroom procedures while also playing a fun game. 

This editable card game can be used in a variety of ways. I n this blog post, we discuss how to use this freebie to play charades!

#4 | Name Game

In this activity, students will introduce themselves to the class and share something interesting about themselves.

Then, the class will try to come up with a word or phrase that begins with the same letter as their name and relates to their interesting fact. For example, if a student named Alex shares that they love animals, the class might come up with “Animal-loving Alex.”

You can take this same activity one step further by adding in a movement. For example, when the class says “Animal-loving Alex,” they will also pretend to hold and pet a cat. 

Work your way around the group and after you introduce a new person, go back and do all your names and actions again until you have caught up with where you’re at in the circle.

#5 | Classroom Agreements

To establish a positive classroom community, setting expectations for behavior and respect is important.

Have a class discussion about what the students think the rules should be, and then create a list of classroom agreements together.

This activity will help students take ownership of their classroom environment and feel empowered to create a safe and respectful space.

#6 | Two Truths and a Lie

This classic icebreaker game is a fun way for students to get to know each other.

Have students share two true facts and one false fact about themselves, and challenge the rest of the class to guess which statement is the lie.

This activity will help students learn more about each other and find common interests.

It also gives students a chance to be silly if they choose to go in that direction with their selections.

#7 | Interest Inventory

Of the many first week of school ideas on this list, this one is a particular favorite as it supplies teachers with a lot of information about students, their interests, and their hobbies.

Have students fill out an interest inventory asking them about their favorite subjects, hobbies, and activities. This activity will help teachers get to know their students’ interests and tailor their lessons accordingly.

#8 | Classroom Mural

End the first week of school with a classroom mural. 

Give each student a small section of a large piece of paper, and have them decorate it with their name, drawings, and positive messages. Assemble the sections into a mural that will serve as a reminder of the positive classroom community that has been established in the first week of school.

#9 | WE ARE Activity

This is a great way to begin discussing characterization while also learning a little more about your students.

You can go to this blog post to learn all about the WE ARE activity , but the gist is that you will pass out a character traits list and ask students to pick out the three character traits that they feel best to represent them.

Students can then explain their choices in writing or by presenting to the class. Then, the traits will be displayed somewhere in the room for others to see.

#10 | What’s the Scoop?

This “Get to Know You” digital activity is fun for the entire class or for students to work on individually. 

What’s the Scoop is a digital question activity where students will have the chance to disclose their feelings on a variety of topics.

To learn more about What’s the Scoop, as well as a few other “Get to Know You” activities that are great for upper elementary, take a gander at this blog post.

When you’re looking for first week of school ideas for your upper elementary classroom, consider a variety of get-to-know-you, procedure, and educational activities. The blend will give you a chance to see your students in a variety of ways and observe them as they interact with both each other and the classroom.

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First Week of School Activities: Create Memorable Moments

Seven first week of school activities and lessons to make the start of school memorable. It is the perfect way to welcome a new class of students back to school.

• Memorable First Week of School Activities

At the start of every school year, It’s a good idea to have some lessons and activities that make the first few weeks back extra special. As the kids adjust, get acquainted, and learn the new demands of a new grade, offering them fun and memorable opportunities to connect is nice. Check out these seven lessons and classroom activities to make the start of school memorable!

Table of Contents

1. name art, 2. a special something, 3. class contract, 4. easy and engaging games, 5. morning meetings, 6. coupon rewards, 7. label and organize everything, the perfect first week of school resources, first week of school social-emotional learning unit, free sel back-to-school resource, more great first week of school activities, personal touches for the first week of school.

Add a few personal touches to your classroom decor and students’ materials. These little things can make a big difference!

Kids find it exciting when they find their names on things. Create a unique way to display their names on items within the classroom. They will feel welcome and that they are an essential part of the classroom community.

• Even something as simple as decorating a bulletin board with artful depictions of each child’s name will play a huge part in welcoming them into the new year.
• You could even try this fantastic photo wall idea : a bulletin board with each child’s portrait and an inspiring message.

Just having one small surprise to greet them on their desk the first day can bring a smile to a child’s face who is nervous on the first day. Imagine how you would feel coming back to school to find one of these simple little gifts on your desk!

• Bubbles – A small bottle of bubbles with a tag that says, “I’ve been bubbling with excitement to meet you.”
• Portraits – Take a photo of each child at Orientation Night. Place them inside a card on their desk for the first day of school. The card can be a special note about how glad you are that they are in your class. You can also use the photos for anything you wish. Paste them into portfolio reports for parents throughout the year, and use them on your classroom website or Facebook group. You can also take a second photo at the end of the year to show growth and provide them with an end-of-year card.
• Balls – This is a cute “We’re going to have a ball in ___ grade!” printable – attach it to a small ball from the dollar store, and it’s the perfect little gift.

Engage Kids with First Week of School Activities

Make an extra effort to engage and include each child. When they feel involved, it will help them ease into routines and responsibilities.

Involve children in your class when writing your classroom rules and expectations. This positive method for establishing rules and attitudes can help them develop the respectful and responsible behaviors expected in your room, and each child will feel like they had a part in creating “A Great Classroom.”

Distract them from any uncertainty and try one of these games that will help them get acquainted with you, the classroom, and their peers.

• These School “I Spy” printables will keep them searching the room for items on their list and learning where things are located.
• The Toilet Paper game is a unique and hilarious way to start the year, and it is mentioned along with several other fun games and activities.
• Try the Four Corners method for getting to know the kids, which gives them an active way to learn about each other.

First Week of School Activities for Classroom Management

Implement proven methods and procedures for classroom management and organization. These are just a few helpful ideas to consider when planning your classroom management techniques and organizing your room. They are memorable because routines are essential in cementing memories – and you want those memories to be *good* ones!

Hold regular morning meetings with your class to promote and build community in your classroom. These discussion times are part of a routine that will improve attitudes and involve students in learning. This is an ideal time to teach children crucial social-emotional learning lessons! Help them self-regulate, express their feelings, and develop strong relationships with THESE lessons and activities.

Instead of the typical classroom management rewards system – the “treasure box” – save money and use a coupon rewards system! This system is more motivational than the treasure box and doesn’t involve spending money. See it in action HERE !

Chaos is not fun in a classroom, but it can certainly be avoided with a neatly set-up classroom that is organized and accessible for all the children to thrive. Labeling bins, desks, cubbies, and everything children can access is an important way of inviting them to feel comfortable. We want them to help themselves and keep their personal and shared spaces organized.

Back to School Fun Pack

Looking for an all-in-one BTS resource? Try the  Back to School Fun Pack  by Proud to be Primary. It includes first-day-of-school activities for kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders. It has what you need to ease kids into the classroom in a fun and meaningful way.

There are crafts, writing prompts, welcome to school posters, door decor displays, hat, science experiment and STEM activities, poems, and organization materials, such as editable meet the teacher booklet!

This  back to school social emotional learning resource  is the perfect companion to your start of school lesson plans. It includes mini-lesson ideas and engaging activities that build connections in the classroom and teach children important social and emotional skills during the most critical time of the year!

The  mind+heart SEL back to school resource   and activities will support kids as they learn essential skills. Teach them to be positive classroom community members, develop self-awareness, build new relationships, and act with kindness.

You can try out the Back to School SEL resource by downloading this freebie today – click the image below!

Back to School Ideas for a Stellar First Week

Back to School Classroom Activities

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Thank you for sharing all your great ideas!!! I have been teaching third grade and now I am going back to first and I have found so many wonderful engaging ideas on your site!!!

Thank you, Tina

Its nice and great idea that i’ve got in this site. Thank you its a bug help fir me this comingschool year 2020-2021

Loved it… Very innovative and useful for my class

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My First Week of School Plans

By Mary Montero

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Have you already started your first week of school plans? I’ve always spent hours upon hours upon hours perfecting my first week plans. Then I usually get about half of what I planned done, which usually makes the second week a breeze! Those first few days offer such a crucial time for building community among classmates, relationships with individual students, and setting the groundwork for classroom management and your routines.

Enter your email address to gain access to my FULL First Week of School Lesson Plans, Free Task Cards, and Minute To Win it Game!

I have several posts about the beginning of the year, but never before have I provided my complete plans for that important first week.  Now, here they are!  Before you take a look at my plan, it’s important to understand my thinking about the first week of school…

I know my planning philosophy differs from some of the more popular philosophies and advice given in certain books. I’m okay with that. I tried taking that advice for a few years, and the first few days felt slow. My students weren’t engaged or excited about what was happening. I never really felt like it was setting groundwork for the rest of the year.

Instead of baby steps, we dive right in to our normal schedule. As I plan for the first few days, I keep our schedule almost exactly as it will stand for the rest of the school year. That means we have morning work, morning meeting, reading, math, writing, and science or social studies.  I infuse discussions about expectations as we move throughout the first week. We reflect on what is going well and what we need to improve upon, and we start to learn specific routines to be successful for the rest of the year. While we do this, though, children are engaged in exciting and academically challenging tasks.  We are getting to know each other well, as humans and as learners. My goal is that my kids leave school excited and are eager to come back the next day.

Every single thing I do during this week is to prepare my class for the upcoming academic year. They learn the procedures that we need to have in place to accomplish all of those rigorous academics that will be facing them. This set-up has always worked quite well for me, and I end the first week with solid relationships with most of my students. Our classroom has a foundation of trust and expectations for the year to come.  They know what to expect from me, from our schedule, and from many of our daily routines. Do we have moments where we have to stop, take a breath, and reflect on a little chaos? Absolutely! But we learn from those moments, and we understand why they don’t work.

You don’t need to squint to read these plans! I have them compiled in a big document, complete with explanations of all the activities. A few notes as you begin looking through all of these plans…

• Plan Big! If you get through all of these plans in the first week, YOU ARE MY HERO! I have this set up as what would happen in an ideal world, but keep in mind that there is a lot of front loading expectations that must go into this plan before it can all be implemented . You can’t expect your students to know how to function in centers, in morning meeting, etc. so anticipate needing to take time to set up expectations as you move through the plans. I briefly touch on expectations and procedures in the plans, but you will need to fill in a lot of blanks that fit the needs of your classroom .
• YOU DO YOU. I mean it. Please don’t take these plans and implement them 100% into your classroom. You have amazing ideas that will bring your own personal touch into your first week of school. Some of these activities won’t resonate with you, or they won’t help set up your classroom routines. For example, I use Topple Blocks and Task Cards during the first week of school because we use those a lot in my classroom. If you don’t use that type of resource, replace my plans with resources you DO use.
• Expectations are Key. I kind of sound like a broken record here, but please make sure that as you implement these activities. You are focusing more on setting up expectations than on the activity itself. I simply can’t stress this enough. What you do during this week (and the following weeks) will set a precedent for the rest of the year.

• If you don’t do workshops/centers/rotations…   First, I’d implore you to do a bit of research into this style of teaching and see if you can perhaps implement it at least one or two days a week. It is so beneficial. BUT, if you are not accustomed to running workshops or you don’t anticipate running a workshop model for the rest of the year, adapt these plans to work for your schedule and routines.  You don’t need to spend time setting up a workshop model if you aren’t going to use it later on. Instead, just pick and choose some of the ideas to implement whole class.
• Where’s the Tech? We use a lot of technology in my classroom, but slow and steady wins the race on this one.  I don’t introduce iPads or laptops during the first week for a few reasons.  To begin, it never fails: The first time using iPads or laptops always results in a little bit of anxiety for some kids. It’s just never a seamless process. Second, I want us working face to face and building relationships without the distraction of technology.
• On Differentiation: This is the one week of the year that I don’t do a ton of differentiation. I want this week to be accessible and exciting for all of my students, so I choose activities that most students can participate in and feel successful. That being said, with some adaptations, these plans would work best for grades 3-6.

• What You Need: I have done my best to make a list of exactly what you need to have prepped for each day.  Some of the resources include products in my store or others’ stores, or may include an Amazon Affiliate link to books or supplies. Most links are clickable to make it easy for you to find what you need!
• Still not enough? If you find that you still need to supplement some more ideas, check out this huge post about First Week of School Activities for Big Kids !
• What’s next?   After the first week is over, we really dive into our normal routines and academics.  This is when I begin my formal math and literacy mini-lessons, start our typical workshop/center routines, and get my curriculum rolling.
• EXPECTATIONS!   Really, though.  The number one thing you should be focusing on during this week is expectations.  My favorite saying is the 3As. Again and again and again until we get it right.

The plans are FREE, plus you also receive a free Minute to Win It game, and TWO free sets of task cards that are for purchase in my store.  Sign up to receive all of this goodness HERE .  Please share all of your wonderful activities on Instagram or Facebook. Be sure to tag me so that I can join in on the fun!   While I do include a blank planning template in the file, if you’d like an editable one to use digitally, you may download that  HERE . ur Lesson Plans

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

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The Meaningful Teacher

Upper elementary classroom activities and resources..

First Week of School Activities | Back to School

1. Get to Know Your Classmates STEM Challenges

This is the MOST fun your students will have during your first week of school activities – promise! Use this STEM activity to engage your classroom of new students in learning about each other! They’ll be creating, building, problem-solving, and interacting with their new classmates without even realizing it, all from this simple activity that takes you hardly any time to prep.

Here’s how it works: give each student (or groups of students, or partners) a task card and some sort of building material. Think – legos, brain flakes, hashtag blocks, play-doh, clay, pipe cleaners, wax sticks, etc.!

Each task card will prompt students to build something that will give insight into something they like, or a fun fact about them. For example, one card asks them to build their favorite food. After a certain amount of time, have a few students share their creations and show the class, then switch up the cards!

You can have students work in small groups, and only share with each other, OR you can project one card up on the smart board, and have the entire class work on the same challenge all at once!

My favorite way to use this activity is to sprinkle it throughout the entire first week! Use the last hour of the day every day to work on a few – you will be amazed at what your students come up with! Grab everything you need below to have this prepped and ready for back to school.

• Get to Know Your Classmates STEM Challenges
• The best deal on Legos!
• Brain Flakes
• Hashtag Blocks
• Pipe Cleaners

2. Back to School Flipbook

If you’re bored with your back to school lesson plans, because let’s be honest, they can get veeryyyyy boring, especially for upper elementary students – grab this free flipbook activity and it’ll add some engagement with little prep on your end!

You can read more about exactly how to use this flipbook here . Basically, your students will cut out the templates, glue the flipbook together, and then complete three, engaging activities! The first is a ‘get to know you’ activity, the second has some fun ‘would you rather’ prompts, and the third is a compact color-by-number activity! This flipbook is a great addition to your first week of school activities – promise!

3. Back to School Name Activity

Read alouds are the perfect easy addition to your first week of school activities. This picture book is adorable, and the activity you can do to go along with it is simple but so meaningful! We start by reading the book  Your Name is a Song . Then, I have my students decorate and color their names in bubble letters (I print these ahead of time). I like to tell my students to fill in each letter with something that represents them. We discuss the importance of names and it sets a great tone for the rest of the year!

Throw this activity into your first week of school lesson plans for when you have an extra 20 minutes and aren’t sure what to do. Grab the hardback here on amazon so that it’s on your bookshelf ready to go! See my example of a completed name below.

4. Back to School ABC’s – Around the Room Activity

No more boring, “All About Me” worksheets the first week of school! This simple, low-prep, ENGAGING activity will make your first day of school lesson plans  memorable  and  fun !

If you’ve been using the same ‘getting to know your classmates’ worksheet year after year and want to change it up for your first week of school activities this year – you need this!!

This  back to school around the room activity  will get your students up and moving on the first week of school and easily engaging with each other. The around the room format, and fun questions will spark  natural conversations  among your students!

They’ll walk the room, answering questions about themselves, their favorites, and the new school year. Then, they’ll color the fun back to school coloring sheet according to their answer choices! The completed coloring pages make an adorable back to school bulletin board as well.

5. Goal Setting Flipbook

The first week of school is a great time to work on setting goals as individuals and as a class. This free activity allows students to set intentional goals for the year, and think about how they will achieve them.

There are so many extensions you can do with this first week of school activity as well! Grab the free template, and lesson ideas, here .

6. Put a Finger Down Activity

If you’re a fan of the simplest of simple first week of school activities – this is for you. It has been around for years – but it’s still one your students will love! Basically, you have your students hold up ten fingers. You read off statements like, “Put a finger down if you are an only child” if something is true for them, they put a finger down. Continue reading statements until only one student is left – and they’re the winner!

You can play over and over again with different questions – silly or serious! I like to have my students come up with statements of their own as well. This one is perfect to throw into your lesson plans when you have an awkward 10 minutes left at the end of class.

7. Back to School Survey and Color by Number

This back to school survey color by number activity is another great, free download that will engage your students and buy you some time while they complete their first week of school activities!

This resource will have your students answer a few survey questions about how they are feeling about the new school year. They’ll color the half sheet according to the answers they choose, and then build the flipbook!

The best part is that no one will know what their answers were because they’ll be hidden inside the flipbook. Grab the free download here !

Looking for more upper elementary back to school lesson plans and activities? Click here!

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you!

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10 Fun and Engaging First Week Activities for Middle Schoolers

10 fun and engaging first week activities for middle school.

Back to school season is my favorite!! I like to kick off the new school year with a bang! Middle school can be an exciting but challenging time for students, so I like to make the first week fun but also take advantage of the opportunity to get to know students and help them get to know me.

Back-to-school season is a whirlwind of emotions – anticipation for new beginnings, a touch of nervousness for new classmates and teachers, and maybe even a hint of summer blues. Especially for middle school students, this time can be a unique blend of wanting to appear older and yet still clinging to some of the comforts of elementary school. As a teacher, one of the most rewarding parts of the beginning of the school year is establishing a positive classroom environment where students feel comfortable, connected, and ready to learn.

This blog post offers ten fun activities that are the perfect way to break the ice during the first week of school. These activities will help you get to know your new students better, establish positive relationships, and set the stage for a successful and enjoyable upcoming school year. Whether you are a veteran teacher or a new teacher, you will leave with a couple of back to school classroom activities to try this year.

The first day of school can be daunting for both students and teachers. New faces, new routines, and the weight of expectations can create a tense atmosphere.

Here are a few easy ways to lighten the mood and encourage interaction on that very first day:

• Greeting Line Party: Ditch the traditional desk-bound meet-and-greet. Instead, position yourself at the classroom door and create a vibrant greeting line. Play upbeat music and have students high-five or give a fist bump as they enter. This sets a positive tone for the day and allows for a quick, informal interaction with each student.
• Would You Rather Icebreaker: Pose a series of lighthearted “Would You Rather” questions that encourage students to think creatively and share their preferences. For example, “Would you rather have invisibility or the ability to fly?” or “Would you rather have pizza every day for a week or ice cream every day for a week?” This is a simple yet effective way to get students talking and laughing, easing any initial awkwardness.
• Find Your Learning Style Activity: Understanding a student’s preferred learning style is paramount to creating a successful learning environment. Distribute a brief questionnaire that asks students about their preferred learning methods (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and group activities. Analyze the results and incorporate a variety of teaching styles throughout the year to cater to all learners

First Day of School Activities that aren’t wack .

Welcome to our class student survey.

This downloadable survey (a great addition to your back to school  lesson plans ) is a fantastic way to gather valuable information about your students’ interests, preferred learning styles, and goals for the  upcoming year .   Bonus tip:  Personalize the classroom experience by incorporating a detail from each student’s survey onto their class roster.  This can be a springboard for easy conversation starters throughout the year.

Our Class Word Search

My students are always amazed when they see their names on our class word search. I once read that our name is the sweetest sound we hear! Use your class roster to create a word search that features the names of all your students.

A touch of social-emotional learning disguised as a fun activity! Students will be delighted to find their names hidden within a custom-made word search. This is a  great opportunity  to integrate technology by creating the word search digitally or use it as a quiet activity during the first few days.

Find Someone Who Activity

Encourage students to mingle and connect with their classmates through this interactive activity. Students will move around the room, interacting with their peers to discover who has done various activities over the summer. It’s a great icebreaker to not only spark conversations and build relationships, but it’s a great time to encourage movement! This is a simple yet effective way to break down social barriers and help students make  new friends .

Back to School Word Search

Kick off the year with some brain-teasing fun! Students will enjoy this classic word search with a back-to-school and summer theme. It’s a delightful way to engage their minds and again, take a break! Ease students back into the academic groove with a brain-teasing word search featuring terms related to school supplies and summer fun.

A fun way to go over your Syllabus.

Syllabus puzzle + scavenger hunt.

Instead of being a talking head when reviewing your syllabus, try this  activity . Students work in pairs to put the syllabus together and then they complete a syllabus scavenger hunt quiz! This is an interactive way to make something that’s boring, not so boring! Instead of the traditional lecture on classroom expectations, transform the syllabus into a collaborative activity!

Divide students into pairs and have them work together to reconstruct the syllabus puzzle piece(s).  Once complete, go on a  school resources  scavenger hunt to locate key areas mentioned in the syllabus, like the turn in bin or pencil sharpener.  This interactive approach fosters engagement and ensures a clear understanding of classroom procedures.

Classroom Scavenger Hunt

One of my favorite ways to familiarize students with the classroom is with a classroom scavenger hunt! Students will explore the primary areas of the classroom, like where to turn in assignments, where to sign out, absent center, etc.

Each location is labeled with a letter. When they are done, they will check their answers by unscrambling the letters to create a phrase.

Unraveling the clues can be done individually or in small groups, promoting exploration and teamwork.

All About Me Activities that are actually fun .

Welcome to my channel.

My middle schoolers LOVE YouTube, so I figured I would have them create a YouTube channel based on their interests! This activity encourages self-reflection and allows students to showcase their unique personalities and hobbies in a fun and modern way, and is a great opportunity to foster self-reflection. These would also make a fantastic bulletin board, sparking conversations throughout the year!

All About Me Time Capsule

Encourage students to reflect on their personal growth throughout the year with this meaningful activity. By creating a time capsule at the beginning and end of the year, students can witness their own development and celebrate how much they’ve changed over the year!

At the  start of the school year , students create a time capsule filled with items that represent their current interests and goals. Revisiting the capsule at the  end of the year  allows them to witness their personal growth and celebrate their achievements.

Design a Virtual Locker

This activity was created during virtual learning when my students couldn’t have lockers. But, my students enjoy it so much that I’ve continued doing it! This activity was born out of necessity during virtual learning but has proven to be a hit with students regardless of the learning environment.

Students personalize a virtual locker space, showcasing their favorite things.   This is a lighthearted way to learn about their preferences and create a sense of  classroom community .

Introduce yourself to students and their families with adorable Meet the Teacher templates.

Meet the teacher templates.

I share my Meet the Teacher template on our class Canvas page and I present the Meet the Teacher slides at Back to School night! But you could also print and pass it out to parents at your Open House or Back to School night. The “favorites section” is also a great way to let parents know what gifts you may like, *wink*.

This was a great beginning of the year activity bundle! I was able to get to know my students and they were able to show their creative side! — Sandy A. 5 out of 5

Building Relationships: Activities for the First Week

• Goal Setting for Success:   The  start of a new school year  is a prime time for goal setting.  Facilitate a discussion about the importance of setting goals and achieving them.  Provide students with templates or worksheets to brainstorm personal and academic goals for the  upcoming school year .  These goals can be revisited throughout the year to track progress and celebrate accomplishments.
• Group Work Games:    Group work is an essential skill for middle school students.  You could dedicate some time during the first week to playing team-building games that encourage collaboration and communication.  Simple games like “Minute to Win It” challenges or charades can be effective in fostering a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.

Setting the Stage for Success: Activities Beyond the First Week

While the  first week of school  is crucial, building a strong classroom community is an ongoing process.  Here are a few suggestions for fostering positive relationships and a love of learning throughout the year:

• Get to Know You Stations:   Dedicate a class period to rotating stations that allow students to learn more about each other and their teacher.  Stations can include fun facts about students’ hobbies, favorite books, or even dream vacation destinations.  The teacher station can showcase their interests and background as well.
• Sticky Note Compliments:   Spread positivity throughout the classroom with a “sticky note compliment” activity.  Provide students with sticky notes and encourage them to write anonymous compliments for their classmates.  These compliments can be placed on desks, lockers, or a designated compliment board.
• Student-Led Discussions:   Empower students by incorporating student-led discussions into your lesson plans.  This can involve assigning specific topics for students to research and present to the class, or facilitating discussions based on assigned readings.  This fosters critical thinking skills, public speaking confidence, and a sense of ownership in the learning process.
• Field Trips and Guest Speakers:   Plan educational field trips or invite guest speakers to enrich the learning experience and expose students to the real-world applications of classroom concepts.  These experiences can spark curiosity, generate discussion, and create lasting memories.

First Week Activities for Middle School Conclusion

The first week of school is a golden opportunity to set the stage for a successful and enjoyable year. By incorporating fun and engaging activities into the first week, you can create a positive classroom environment where students feel excited, motivated, and connected.

Go ahead and try out these 10 first week a ctivities for middle school !

Here’s to an unforgettable first week and a fantastic school year ahead!

Hey, I'm Asia!

Welcome to my Blog! I started The Sassy Math Teacher in 2020 to help teachers like you increase classroom engagement and teach with confidence! I also love to share about my life as a teacher including my favorite outfits, home items, gadgets and trips!

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Trending Resource : 40+ Activities for the First Week of School

40+ First Week of School Activities

This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Looking for ideas as you plan your first day of school math activities? I’ve got enough fun and interactive activities here to last you the entire first week of school and then some!

As summer is wrapping to a close, I am excited to share more than 40 first week of school activities to help you choose the perfect activity for your classroom. The first day of school is one of the highlights of my school year, and I look forward to crafting a fun and engaging experience for my new students each year.

After over a decade in the classroom, I have compiled a list of over forty different tried and tested ideas for the first week of school.

Though I have only taught high school myself, these fun math activities have been tried and tested by thousands of teachers at various grade levels from upper elementary to middle school and high school. 

Each of these lesson ideas features a free download to make it easy to incorporate it into your classroom. As a fellow teacher, I know first-hand just how many things you have on your plate at the beginning of a new school season. 

Getting to Know You Ideas

I always try to include at least one getting to know you idea as a first day of school activity. Here are some various ways that I have done this over the years: 

Getting to Know You Quiz

I like to use a getting to know you quiz to both introduce myself to students and to start learning more about my students. Yes, I am that cruel teacher who gives their students a quiz on the first day of school!

On the front of the quiz, students compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly about their teacher.

After I go over the answers to the quiz about myself, I invite students to write their own quiz about themselves. I take these quizzes after school on the first day of school so that I can return them on the second day of school.

Students love grading my answers and telling me just how well or badly I did!

Want to learn more? Check out my free editable getting to know you quiz template !

When I have had a ton of new names to learn, I really like using  Sara Van Der Werf’s name tents . I have students write their first name on a folded sheet of paper. Inside the paper are various prompts that students respond to on a daily basis which strikes up a conversation between the teacher and the student. 

For the first week of school, I have students get out their name tent at the beginning of the class period. This made it so much easier to learn names!

Getting to Know You Dice Activity

All you will need is a die (I like to use a large foam die ) to pull of this easy-to-implement getting to know you dice activity . Have students take turns rolling a die. Whatever number they roll dictates how many facts about themselves they must share with the class.

You will be sure to hear groans when a student rolls a 6! I always play along as well.

Numbers About Me

A great way to get to know students at the beginning of the school year is to have them fill out a short form like this Numbers About Me Activity . Students write 5 numbers and the significance each number has in their life.

Mathematical Autobiography

I created this mathematical autobiography foldable to try and get an idea of my students’ former experiences with math and attitudes toward math at the beginning of the school year.

Activities for Teaching Group Work

One of the most beneficial ways you can use the first week of school is to teach students how to work effectively in groups. By dedicating the first days of school to teaching group work, you can remind students throughout the year of the lessons learned during the activities. 

Here are some activities I have used to achieve this in the past!

Let’s Make Squares

Let’s Make Squares is a cooperative group work task that challenges students in groups of 4 to use 12 popsicle sticks (or strips of colored paper ) to create various numbers of squares.

Each student is only allowed to touch their own color of popsicle sticks , so they must communicate and practice working together.

They will need to use a bit of logic and creativity to figure out how to make each number of squares.

Broken Circles

In Broken Circles , each student receives an envelope of circle pieces. The goal of the activity is for each student to assemble their pieces to form a complete circle. This activity requires cooperation and communication.

At the beginning of the activity, one student’s pieces will form a circle. The rest of the student’s pieces won’t. It won’t be until the person with the complete circle decides to give some of their pieces to the other students that ALL of the students will be able to make a complete circle.

What an important lesson!

Ink Stain Matching Activity

You might be asking yourself what this ink stain matching activity has to do with teaching math. Fun fact – it absolutely has nothing to do with math. But it has everything to do with practicing critical thinking and communication inside of a group.

Tell your students that 16 items were dipped in ink and then used by an individual. They must work together to match the ink stain left on their hand with the object that they used.

Kids get really into this activity. It’s a definite keeper for the first week of school.

Rainbow Logic

Rainbow Logic is an activity that encourages not only groupwork and communication but logical thinking skills. One student in each group will play the role of “grid designer.” They must arrange colored squares on a 3 x 3 grid using a special set of rules.

The rest of the group must then work together to determine the placement of each of the squares on the grid by asking as few questions as possible.

My students really enjoyed this activity. They didn’t want to stop until everyone had a turn as “Grid Keeper.”

Build It is a cooperative learning activity that provides students with clues and a set of linking cubes that must be assembled to match the clues. The catch?

Each student can only see their own individual clue. This provides great practice in group work communication since each student will need to share their clue verbally and work together to make sure they have created the correct shape with their linking cubes .

With multiple structures to build, this activity is always a great hit!

Survival in the Desert

In Survival in the Desert , groups are given a scenario where their plane has crashed in the desert. They are given a list of items that have been found at the crash site. They must then work together to prioritize the items based on how useful they be for their survival.

The activity encourages communication and creative/logical thinking.

The activity is actually adapted from the Air Force Survival Training Manual. Correct answers are given, and they are always eye-opening to the students!

Guess My Rule

Guess My Rule is a team-building activity that engages students with figuring out the rule that one of their group members is using to sort a set of colored shape cards. Students take turns picking a card to hand to the rule keeper.

The rule keeper will place the card inside the yarn circle if it matches the rule and outside the yarn circle if it does not match the rule. How long will it take students to figure out the rule?

This activity would be great for a geometry class or any math class for that matter! I have used it with Algebra 1 students in the past.

Lonesome Llama

Lonesome Llama is a tricky card-based activity that focuses on encouraging communication, question asking, and attention to detail. Groups are given a deck of cards in which every card has an identical match except one.

Students are only allowed to look at the cards in their own hand. They must then work together to determine which card in the deck has no match. Doesn’t sound too hard, right? Check out the cards!

1-100 Activity

Sara Van Der Werf’s 1-100 Activity is a great way to model groupwork and slowly open students’ eyes to the patterns that exist in mathematics if we are willing to search for them. Students are given a grid of jumbled numbers.

They must take turns coloring the numbers from 1 to 100. Will they notice the pattern???

Master Designer

Master Designer is a group-activity that engages students in building designs and communicating to other students in such a way that their design can be recreated. You will need a set of pattern blocks for each student to use.

Save Fred Activity

In this Save Fred Activity , groups are given a gummy worm named Fred to rescue after his boat has capsized. Students must work together to save Fred without hurting or damaging them.

Each student may only use the provided paperclip to touch the materials as they turn his boat over and retrieve his life preserver that they must place on him.

Puzzles and Brainteasers

If you put me in charge of planning the first week of lessons for a high school math or middle school math classroom, I would make sure to incorporate several different puzzles. You could set these puzzles up as math centers which students rotate through or complete them as a whole-class activity. 

Even though I typed up all of these puzzles for my own high school classroom, I have been absolutely blown away by the number of emails from elementary school teachers I get who are using my puzzles with students as young as 1st grade. So, elementary math teachers could definitely implement some of these puzzles as well. Of course, you will have to pick and choose the puzzles that are most appropriate for your age of students. 

Two Buckets Puzzle

Most likely, you’ve ran across some variation of the two buckets puzzle at some time in your life. You have two buckets. One bucket holds exactly five gallons. The other bucket holds exactly three gallons. How can you measure exactly four gallons of water into the five gallon bucket.

I have used this during the first week of school as a logical thinking activity. Students had to create a poster explaining the process of solving the puzzle to another person.

Petals Around the Rose

Petals Around the Rose is a classic dice-based brain teaser. It can easily be played by the whole class. Roll five dice. Announce how many petals are around the rose. Students must work to figure out the pattern.

The most important element of the game? You aren’t allowed to talk about how the game works! When a student thinks they have solved the mystery, they prove it to the teacher by correctly announcing the number of petals around the rose for several dice throws in a row.

This one is a memorable one, and it tends to drive students CRAZY!

1-4-5 Square Challenge

The 1-4-5 Square Challenge is actually three challenges in one. Can you make a square using exactly 1 piece? How about exactly 4 pieces? Finally, can you make a square using exactly 5 pieces?

Students often struggle with the last challenge and claim it to be impossible until someone in the class finds a solution.

31-derful is a fun, playing card based puzzle. Groups must work together to select 25 cards from a regular deck of playing cards . Then, they must arrange the cards in a 5 x 5 grid so that each row and column sums to 31. Face cards are worth 10. Aces are worth 11.

More Puzzles

I usually do a puzzle of the week with my students in my classroom. I have collected all of the free downloadable puzzles I have created for this challenge on my puzzles page . Any of these puzzles could make a great addition to your first week of school!

Games for the First Week of School

Getting students to play games with one another is one of the best tactics I have in my toolbox for building relationships at the beginning of a new school year. I recommend trying to incorporate at least one game into your lesson plans for the first week of school. 

The Train Game

The Train Game is an absolute favorite in my class. As number tiles are drawn from a bag, students must place the numbers in their “train.” Students earn points for placing the numbers in ascending order.

No erasing or changing numbers is allowed after they have been placed. Students are very competitive when it comes to this game, and they always beg to play just one more round.

Ultimate Tic Tac Toe

All of your students should know how to play tic tac toe. But have they ever experienced ultimate tic tac toe?

In this fun and challenging variation of tic tac toe, each player’s move is influenced by the previous player’s move. This adds a fun level of strategy and challenge!

Students love playing this and Circle Tic Tac Toe below as a tournament!

Circle Tic Tac Toe

Looking for a tic tac toe variation that requires a bit less time? Then, Circle Tic Tac Toe is where it’s at. I got a message from a teacher the other day that his students refused to stop playing!

Instead of getting three in a row, you have to get four in a row. But there is an added twist of having three different ways to win on a circular grid. Print some of these grids off and put them in dry erase pockets in case you have an extra five or ten minutes to spare during the rest of your first week activities.

Thirteen Game

The Thirteen Game is easy to explain to students, and it makes a great time-filling activity for the first week of school. It requires absolutely no supplies or preparation, so it’s a great activity to have in your back pocket.

Students stand in a circle. Choose someone to start. Each player can choose to say either one, two, or three numbers on their turn. Go around the circle counting up from one.

Whoever is forced to say the number thirteen is out. Play continues until only one person remains.

My students get super competitive with this game, and they beg to play it at least once a week for the entire school year. Sometimes they even start up a game by themselves!

My husband tried this game with his middle schoolers, and they absolutely loved it. 

Count to Ten Game

Count to Ten is another great no-prep game that can be played as a moment’s notice. Instruct students that they must count to ten as a class. Talking (other than saying numbers) and hand signals are off-limits.

Only one person may say each number, and no person may say two numbers in a row. If at any time two or more students yell out the same number, the class must start over again at 1.

Students find this activity really hard the first time they do it. It can sometimes take ten or more minutes for a class to get to ten.

Left Center Right Dice Game

If you have a copy of the Left Center Right dice game , it can make a great activity for the first week of school. A former coworker of mine would play the game with starbursts or wrapped candy instead of the plastic discs.

I actually saw that Dollar Tree had copies of Left Center Right in the toy section recently! Usually, I have more students than the discs in the game allows, so I use bingo chips .

My favorite thing about Left Center Right is that even if you’re out of the game, you can still end up winning! It’s also great for discussing statistics and probability .

Sprouts is a mathematical game that is easy to teach students. It only requires something to write with and something to write on. I love using dry erase boards to teach students how to play Sprouts in pairs.

The basic idea of the game is to make it impossible for your opponent to draw a line. The last person to draw a line is the winner.

There are more rules, of course. You can read about them here. A Sprouts Tournament can be a fun addition to the first week of school after you teach students to play Sprouts in pairs.

Make A Million Game

In Make a Million , a ten-sided die is rolled twelve times. After each roll, students must place the number rolled in their make a million template. When finished, students sum the two numbers they have created to see how close they got to a million. I usually give a piece of candy to the student who gets the closest.

Usually, the first time we play this, my students place the numbers almost randomly. After seeing how things play out, it is exciting to see how their strategies start to change!  

Traffic Lights Game

The Traffic Lights Game is easy to teach but hard to master. You will need printable game boards and traffic light colored bingo chips . Students compete to get three-in-a-row of a single color. On any turn, you may place a red chip on an empty square, switch a red chip to a yellow chip, or switch a yellow chip to a green chip.

Such a great strategy game! I have often modeled how to play on the SMARTBoard with my students before I leave them to play on their own.

Witzzle is a card/ dice game that gives so many opportunities for practicing mental math and the order of operations in the math classroom. I like to create a Witzzle Bulletin Board in my classroom and introduce students to the game during the first week of school.

Once students know the rules, I can easily use it as an early-finisher activity or brain break throughout the rest of the school year.

How do you play Witzzle? A target number is announced by the teacher. Students must find a row, column, or diagonal of numbers that can be used to make the target. Numbers can be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided in any order.

The cards in a witzzle game are specially designed so that every number from -12 to 36 can be achieved.

The Game of SET

Another favorite mathematical game that I often like to introduce students to at the beginning of the year is the game of SET . SET is a card game that can be played alone or with a group that relies on pattern recognition.

If you don’t have a deck of SET cards, you can play it with students using the Daily SET Puzzle .

I have had some students become super obsessed with the SET game! One year, I had a student beg to take a deck home over the weekend so she could play with her mom. I find that if I teach students how to play SET during the first week of school that it makes a great warm-up or time-filler activity throughout the rest of the school year.    

Here are several other games that would make a great addition to your first week of school (or any time throughout the school year!)

• Martinetti Dice Game
• Slam Dice Game
• Greedy Pig Dice Game
• The Game of 24
• Sara Van Der Werf’s 5 x 5 Game
• Skittles Game
• Cover Up Game
• Numerical Tic Tac Toe
• Wild Tic Tac Toe

Engineering and Building Challenges for the First Week of School

Cup stacking challenge.

This cup stacking challenge uses everyday materials (string, cups, and a rubber band for each group) and really encourages students to communicate and work together to build each structure.

Each student can only touch their individual string which is tied to the group’s rubber band which is used to move the cups in the challenge. Be prepared for a room full of laughter as students experiment!

Marshmallow Challenge

In the Marshmallow Challenge , small groups compete to see who can build the tallest tower using a limited amount of dried spaghetti, tape, and string. The completed tower must be free-standing and support a marshmallow at the top of the tower.

Impossible Domino Bridge

If you have some wooden dominoes laying around, you have all you need for this Impossible Domino Bridge building activity .

Spoiler alert: it’s not actually impossible. But it might seem that way to students.

This is a great way to teach perseverance in problem solving during the first week of school.

Impossible Domino Tower

Then, you can use those same dominoes to have your students tackle the impossible domino tower challenge .

Mathematical Tasks for the First Week of School

Twos to nines challenges.

One of my favorite first day activities ever would have to be the Twos to Nines Challenges . Students work in small groups to create the given numbers using exactly four of a given number. I set up different challenges for each number around the room.

On top of being fun, this is a great way of getting students thinking about math, doing mental math, and reviewing the order of operations. This is a nice extension of the usual Four Fours task.

Prefer printable paper based versions of these same challenges? I have slowly been turning them into printable activities that are perfect for sliding inside a dry erase pocket !

• Twos Challenge
• Threes Challenge
• Fours Challenge
• Fives Challenge
• Sixes Challenge
• Sevens Challenge

Five Easy Pieces

Five Easy Pieces combines paper folding, algebra, and logic puzzles into one great activity that is a perfect review activity for the beginning of the school year. Students have to follow a set of instructions to create a set of paper pieces that are then used to answer a series of math problems.

A Mathematical Magic Trick

I used this mathematical magic trick with students during my first year of teaching. The magic trick starts with students thinking of a number from 1 to 10, and it ends with almost every student thinking of the exact same animal in the exact same country eating the exact same food.

Is it magic? Or is it math?

Digit Cells

Digit Cells is an interesting math puzzle that asks students to write a 10 digit number so that the digit in the first cell tells how many zeros are in the entire 10 digit number. The digit in the cell marked “1” tells how many “1’s” are in the number, and so on.

Students always think this puzzle must be impossible at first, so it’s always a joy to watch their faces when they finally solve it.

Twelve Envelopes Puzzle

I have used the twelve envelopes puzzle with students during the first week before. It’s a fun math puzzle that provides a great review of divisibility rules!

Divisibility Puzzle

Another quick puzzle to review divisibility rules is this fun divisibility puzzle which involves placing the digits 0-9 in the blanks to create 10 true statements about divisibility rules.

More Math Challenges

• Make Six Number Challenge
• 9-10-11-12 Challenge
• 97 Free Tangram Challenges
• 20 x 9 Challenge
• Yearly Number Challenge
• The 5-4-3-2-1 Challenge
• 3-1-4 Pi Challenge

More Fun Activities for the First Week of School

Sarah Carter teaches high school math in her hometown of Coweta, Oklahoma. She currently teaches AP Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, and Statistics. She is passionate about sharing creative and hands-on teaching ideas with math teachers around the world through her blog, Math = Love.

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Function Auction Activity

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Hi Sarah, So appreciative of all of your hard work and energy. Was wondering if you could send the build-it cards? I've purchased the blocks through your affiliate link and would love to get to use them with this activity. sweetesbakere[at]gmail.com

These are all awesome. I don't think I'll have time to try all of them but I'm certainly going to try a couple. In your Make a Million activity, is it okay if they go over? Are you just looking for who is closest even if it's bigger than 1 million?

And I love SET! I've never tried it in a classroom before but I might. How many do you usually have in a group for that?

I also really want to try the get to know you activity. How long did you spend on each of these activities?

The idea of Lonesome Llama is awesome. i really appreciate the idea with all your hard work & efforts.

Sarah, thank you so much for all of the free resources! I could not find your Build It cards, though. Am I overlooking them? If you wouldn't mind, could you send them to me at jrobrown7[at]gmail.com? I would greatly appreciate it!

These activities are great. What grades would you suggest for these activities?

Great activities! Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to trying a few of these with my students this coming year.

Awesome! I really like all of them! (I totally love SET). I understood you have 15-16 year students? I guess I will adapt some of them for 12 to 14. Thank you very much for your generosity! By the way, do you know The GAME? I really really recommend it.

Sarah, This Blog is amazing, I can't wait to share all your activities with the teachers I work with. I couldn't find a link to the "Build It" cards from the photos. I was wondering if you could email me a copy of the cards you use. [email protected]

Thanks again for all the resources you have shared!

I am having trouble downloading these great activites. Would you be able to send me another link? I teach special education and these look great.

I love your Getting to Know You quiz and was wondering if you have a template for the multiple choice questions paper that you have the students fill out?

I have shared the template for the Getting to Know You Quiz Here: https://mathequalslove.net/getting-to-know-you-quiz/

Sarah, you are such an amazing and talented teacher who is the most generous person, too. It is so awesome you’ve tried these out and have given your activities for back to school which is sure to be challenging. Thank you. Blessings and good fortune to you and Sean, and your family

Thank you so much Pat!

Thanks so much for all the great ideas!

Here is one I use… Students make a timeline of their lives 10 facts about themselves starting with their bday and ending with the first day of school this year below the timeline and 10 world history events within their lives above the timeline

I use this in both math and social studies classes It’s shocking how many students don’t know how to properly space a timeline I do an example so they get to know me and then their timeline gives me info about each student

Have a great year! I’m still only 2/3 through summer school!

I like this idea! Thanks for sharing!

This is a fabulous list! My fifth grade classes started this week and we have enjoyed both Broken Circles and Build It. We got a little stuck on Build It #3. I told my class I would email you to ask if there is an answer key somewhere to check. If not, thank you anyway for this list!

Someone else reported that there were two conflicting cards. They said that after they removed one of the cards that it worked perfectly. Sorry I can’t tell you which card to remove. To my knowledge, there is not an answer key.

After reading Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms Book, I’m wondering how these activities might be modified for groups of 3. Have you done any of those that currently need 4 folks with groups of 3 instead?

I think that Let’s Make Squares could easily be adapted to 3. Just use 3 colors of popsicle sticks instead of 4. Broken Circles has a 3 person version, but it is DRASTICALLY easier than the 4 person version.

Rainbow Logic, Build It, Master Designer and Guess My Rule would all work just fine with groups of 3. I have seen a 3 person version of the 100 Numbers activity floating around on facebook. They arranged the numbers in a circle.

Almost all of them could be adapted for groups of 3, I think!

If anyone else has adapted an activity for groups of 3, leave a comment!

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15 Back-to-School Activities for Middle and High School

It’s time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school. Here are 15 engaging and fun first-day and first-week school activities for middle and high school students.

1. Student survey

After my students complete this survey, I keep them behind my desk organized alphabetically by class period in a binder. This survey is also included in my Back-to-School Stations and my  Back to School Activities for Secondary ELA pack .

2. One-word project

A one-word project is a fun and simple way to start the school year. I use 4×6 notecards and have students think of just one word they want to embody their school year. I provide students with markers and other art supplies and encourage students to fill out the entire card.

3. Stacking cup challenge

Have you ever played the stacking cup challenge? It is a fun way to encourage teamwork and collaboration. I usually complete this challenge toward the beginning of the school year. You can read more about my Teambuilding Tuesdays in this blog post .

4. Classroom quilt

When building a classroom community, one way to include everyone is to make a classroom quilt and display it on the walls. Everyone receives a quilt square, and then students decorate their squares with things that are important to them. The classroom quilt activity is available as a stand-alone resource or included in my Back to School Activities for Secondary ELA pack .

5. Classroom welcome slides

Another great way to welcome students into the classroom is by creating a welcome slide deck. Each student contributes their own slide to the deck, and once the final presentation is complete, you can share the deck with the classroom. I created this back-to-school activity as a way to help my students get to know one another.

6. Back-to-school stations

This resource includes four different stations that are absolutely perfect for the middle school and high school English classroom! In this activity, students will complete a survey, set up all of their class accounts, review the course syllabus, and complete a fun reading recommendations.

7. Growth mindset escape room

Escape rooms are always a fun and engaging activity to get students collaborating! From my experience, students are 100 percent engaged in the activity on escape room days. This growth mindset escape room is a great activity for the first week of school. It helps students learn about a growth mindset and includes famous failures as well!

8. Name cards

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always memorize my 180 students’ names during the first week of school. It is just….really challenging with such big class sizes. One way to help learn students’ names and more information about them is to have students complete a name card or a nameplate. Students write their names in the center in large, bold text. Then, they write one thing about them or one interest in each corner.

9. Growth mindset activities

This growth mindset resource includes a growth mindset survey, class exit tickets, assignment reflection forms, and so much more! You’ll be able to use this resource throughout the entire school year!

10. Letter to yourself

Having students write a letter to their future selves is another great way to start the year. Just like with the one-word project, you can provide students with a large notecard and have them write the letter to themselves on it. Better yet, have them write their letter on the backside of the one-word project and have them turn it into a postcard.

11. Class contract

Students perform best when they feel seen and heard. One way to start the school year is to create a class contract together. As a class, discuss what classroom rules and policies seem most fair, along with which ones will help students succeed. Yes, you’ll have some students suggest unlimited time on phones and complete access to music at all times in class, but this is a good time to teach students about digital citizenship and smart and responsible use of technology.

12. Email etiquette

I teach my students the ins and outs of email etiquette and how to write a professional email using this email etiquette lesson . My students love the presentation for the direct instruction portion of the lesson, and I love the emails I receive later in the year.

As an added bonus, my teacher inbox is a much friendlier place now!

13. Growth mindset banner

I really love decorating my classroom with my students throughout the year. One really great way to do that is by having students help create colorful decorations from day one! This free growth mindset banner is a perfect way to celebrate your new students and their aspirations!

14. Writing a personal statement

15. Classroom syllabus scavenger hunt

Finally, an enjoyable way to help students review the syllabus without boring them is by completing a classroom syllabus scavenger hunt. Rather than read the syllabus aloud with students, I have them complete a scavenger hunt by finding key information, like “do I accept late work?” “what is the restroom policy?” and things like that. Students find and write the critical information, and the students keep the scavenger hunt page in their binders. I have a classroom syllabus scavenger hunt activity available in my  back-to-school stations .

These are fantastic! The personal slides are not free when I click on them. Just thought you may want to know! Thanks for the freebies!

Hi. Thanks for letting me know. That was a free-during-Covid activity. I updated the blog post.

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First Week of School Activities and Ice Breakers for Upper Elementary

If you Google "What are the best first week of school activities," you'll get a plethora of answers.  But who better to get activity ideas and tips from than actual 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers?

I asked almost 400 teachers about their favorite first week of school activities and ice breakers. The answers were amazing!  Teachers gave first week of school book suggestions, ideas for building a positive classroom community, ice breakers, get to know you ideas, and more for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students!

There were so many great ideas that I can't share them all. So, I organized all of the answers, looking for the most popular, the most unique, and the most practical back to school activities.

Some of the teachers were willing to share ideas but asked to remain anonymous, so I respected that request. The most popular activities - as well as some of my personal favorites - are below!

Most Popular First Week of School Activities

Several first week of school activities kept coming up again and again. The activities below were some of the most popular, used by many teachers all around the world.

All About Me Activities - The most popular All About Me Activity was the All About Me Bag - which happens to be one of my favorite back to school activities as well. You can read more about the All About Me Bag (and get a free printable) here! Other All About Me Activity ideas included creating All About Me posters or pennants and doing an All About Me writing activity. Check out these 8 All About Me Activity Ideas here for more inspiration.

Two Truths and a Lie - Another one of my favorites! I call it Find the Fib. Find out how to use this as an ice breaker - and for other activities throughout the school year - here. (Also includes a free printable!)

STEAM Team Building Activities - The first week of school is a great time to integrate STEAM into your classroom! The teachers surveyed had some great activities for STEAM team building at the beginning of the year, including: Saving Fred , Helping Harry , a Cup Stacking Challenge , and a Spaghetti and Marshmallow Challenge.

First Week of School Read Alouds - The teachers I surveyed listed a huge variety of books to read to their class. These are some of their favorite back to school books. Many teachers also like to read books encouraging kindness and empathy the first few weeks of school.

First Week of School Ice Breakers

The teachers surveyed had so many great ice breaker ideas that I had to make a section devoted to just ice breakers and team builders.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament - Amy, who teaches Grade 5, says that "when students lose they cheer for the person they lost to throughout the tournament."  Find out more here.  

Would You Rather Questions - An anonymous teacher explained, "...students choose a side of the room according to their answer. Example: Would you rather live in town or in the country?"

The Line Game - similar to "Would You Rather Questions," 5th grade teacher Amanda Gornitsky said she puts "a blue line on the floor and if something applies to the student they step on the line. Ex. Step on the line if your favorite animal is a zebra."

Toilet Paper Tell  - Another anonymous teacher explained this ice breaker.  "Pass around a roll of toilet paper and instruct students to tear as long or as short a piece as they like. Next, have them count how many squares they pulled off. Explain that they will tell one thing about themselves for each of their squares. This is so much fun and totally hilarious because some kids always get overzealous and rip off a very long ribbon of toilet paper and then they have to think of something to share for all those squares! I allow other students to encourage them or help them out by asking questions if the student is shy or uncomfortable."

Small Groups or Partners Ask Each Other Ice Breaker Questions  - If you have pre-made questions for students to read and ask each other, this makes a great ice breaker.  Plus, students get to practice their reading, listening, and speaking skills.  These 33 Free Discussion Questions can help you build a positive classroom community - and keep it all year!

• Interview A Friend - Just like it sounds.  Have pairs of students ask each other questions.  Check out these tips and ideas for using this interview a friend activity in your classroom.

Check out these other get to know you activity ideas. 

First Week of School Activities That Can Help You Create a Bulletin Board

Talk about practical! The teachers below had great first week of school activity ideas that served a dual purpose - after completing the activity, the teachers would use it to create a bulletin board.

"During the first week, I have students write a biography poem about themselves and share them as a get to know you activity. Later in the week I print them out on half sheets and the students draw a self portrait which appears to be holding up the half sheet. It's great to hang up early on to give kids some ownership of the room." - Alexandria Carpenter

"My favorite activity is a 'Crayon Name Design.' Since I teach 3rd, I write their name either in cursive or print it. Then they slowly trace around it using different colors until the paper has no white space left. The colors should bump each other. When they are done, I hang them up in the classroom for the whole year. They LOVE it!"  - Lisa Kerrins, 3rd Grade

"Every student gets a paper sized puzzle piece. Once completed with names and favorites, we put them all together on the wall in the hallway to show we all 'fit together.'" -  Cindy ELA 5–8

"The students trace and cut out their hands and then decorate it in their 'style.' We use all of the hands to make a big flower that stays up all year." -Anonymous

Save yourself some time, stress, and over 40% those first weeks of school with this back to school bundle. It includes:

• No Prep Emergency Sub Plans
• No Prep Beginning of the Year Fun Packet
• A Classroom Procedure Review Activity
• An Interview a Friend Activity
• What I Wish My Teacher Knew About Me
• Back to School Ice Breakers & Writing Prompts
• Classroom Procedures Checklist

Other Great First Week of School Ideas

"I love making Snapchat videos with funny faces and welcoming [the students] to my classroom. Doing so automatically brings laughter and comfort to my class. The greatest ice breaker of all time. The kids love it!" - Valerie Golden Nies (Mrs. Golden) 3rd Grade

"I ... like using the iPad in my classroom. We're lucky enough to have one per student. They go to the app Pages and create a poster using shapes, stamps, photos that have taken etc., that represent themselves and their interests. Then through Apple TV, the children are able to use their iPad to show their poster on the screen. They really love this, and have fun asking each other questions." -Anonymous

"I have the kids use Spark Video to make a video presentation about themselves. I then post it on Seesaw and send home QR codes to parents encouraging them to log onto Seesaw to see their child's first day project. I use Seesaw A LOT and this gets many parents to log on that first day. It's also a great way to get kids excited on the first day with an iPad project." - Terri Brown 4th grade

"Students sit in a circle and write their fears on a piece of paper. We crumble them up and stomp on them. The kids love it!" - Anonymous

"Students create a timeline using only 5 events and tell us about why they chose events." -LeAnne Boyer

"A wrinkled heart activity to teach compassion and self control of words and actions. The kids unknowingly decorate a huge whole class red heart with things they love and their name (taking group turns for two days). When they’ve all finished adding their part, the class sits in a circle and I begin by saying words can hurt as much as actions and can leave our hearts worn. Each bad thing I say, the heart gets passed and each kid must wrinkle a part with the hurtful words I say (I don’t let them say the bad phrases). Once it made its way around, we discuss how we feel. We talk about how apologies are helpful, and so are actions of kindness. We do it all again, but this time I say positive phrases (surface level and deep such as your hair is cute or you’re a great mathematician) Once it’s gone around once again, we look at our wrinkled heart. We discuss how we need to think before we speak, because words can wrinkle hearts." - Anonymous (If you like this idea, then you should check out these other ideas to create a culture of kindness in your classroom.)

"I have them throw a marshmallow into a garbage can. We talk about how everyone is different and for some it's easy (they are close to the can) and some it's hard, but we all have the same goal. Some students might get different help so they can also meet the goal." - Anonymous

"We always make a 'time capsule' at the beginning of the year. Students fill out a sheet that details their favorite books, songs, movies, how they are feeling about starting 4th grade, wonders, worries etc... Then we put them all together, roll them up, put them into a tube and seal it until the last day of school. It is so fun to take out our sheets and see how much we have changed over the school year!"   Peg Pearson, 4th Grade

"I write and leave my new students a letter on their desk. It introduces myself, tells them all about me personally and I give them a little third grade background. At the end of the letter I give them a direction to use the paper provided and write a friendly back to me telling me all about themselves and what they are most excited about in the third grade. It allows me to see how well they can read, write a friend letter and follow directions. It also lets me learn more about them!" -  Anonymous

Check out these other back to school activities and ideas for upper elementary students.  

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I loved reading your suggestions. Thank you so much, it’s just what I needed to set a fire under me for the upcoming school year.

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Easy First Week of School Activities for Middle School

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time for team-building activities that also teach and reinforce classroom expectations. 

The best thing about all of these first week of school activities is that you can use them to teach routines , build relationships, and develop class pride .

Make sure to grab the activities mentioned below here !

1. How to work in groups with an Interview Activity

This realization came to me once a couple of years ago when I found out that in November some of my students still didn’t know the names of their table mates! Say what!? In order for students to be successful in class, they have to have the full support of their teammates. It is harder to ask for help from someone who is nameless.

The Expectation: Students in my classroom must ask for help from every person at their table before asking me. I explain to my students that they can learn by teaching each other!

The Activity: Table interviews are a perfect way for students to break the ice. You give students a list of questions and they take turns asking the questions to their table mates. This allows them to learn more about their table neighbors, is non threatening for students who struggle with math/reading/science, and is an activity where you can float around and answer interview questions from students, but only after they have asked everyone at their table . 

2. How to Move Around the Classroom Safely with a Matching Activity

The most stressed I felt as a teacher is when students were out of their seats without permission. This does not mean that students must always remain seated in class, it just means that I had very specific procedures around moving safely around the room. 

The Expectation: Students must stand, push in chairs, and wait for permission to move around the classroom for various activities. They must move at an appropriate speed and talk at an appropriate volume. It may seem like overkill, but being proactive never led me in the wrong direction!

The Activity: To build culture and practice this routine, students participated in “Salt and Pepper.” Essentially, students will all have words taped on their backs (one student might have the word ‘salt,’ and they will have to walk around until they find their match (‘pepper’) using only descriptive clues. A spin on this activity is to make students get in birthday order without talking. They get to release their wiggles, practice how we move around the room, and use their brains.

3. How to Work Together as Partners

In an effort to add more ideas to this blog post, I searched our Facebook group for ideas from teachers. This idea was a standout and I thought it would be something students would ask to do again and again.

The Expectation: In a group activity, students must work as a team to solve problems.

The Activity: Can you save Fred? Katie from Gift of Curiosity designed the most engaging activity. Working in pairs, students must save a gummy worm that has capsized and lost its floatie. Students must use paperclips to place the gummy worm back in the gummy ring and return the gummy worm to his boat. 

4. Tangible Way to Build Relationships

I found this idea as I searched the beautiful, online math community, and I was struck with the simplicity and the impact. I also felt silly that I hadn’t thought of this myself! All of the credit for this idea (and I believe you can download the freebie) goes to Sara Van Der Werf . 

The Expectation: Both students and the teacher are part of a classroom community. This also creates a culture that students feel heard and cared for.

The Activity: Students create name tents to use for the duration of the first week of school. On the inside of the name tent, there are boxes each day for the student to write a note/comment/concern/ask a question and a box for the teacher to reply. Each day, students write their note in their name tent and turn it into the teacher. The teacher replies in written form in the corresponding day’s box and returns the name tent to the student to read. I highly recommend going and checking out Sara’s blog to see some examples. 

5. Other Ideas

Although these first week of school activities don’t align to a procedure, they can still help build culture and break the ice with students.  

• Two Truths and a Lie – Quick ice breaker that requires no prep work.
• This or That – Builds camaraderie among classmates.You could have students defend their answers and practice answering in complete sentences. (Stand if you prefer waffles to pancakes. Call on students and ask them to explain why.)
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Posse – This teaches students to cheer their teammates on even when they lose.
• Telephone or Pictionary Telephone – If you have 2-3 minutes to kill and you need students to be quiet. 
• 4 Corners – I saved this one for last because this is my absolute favorite. The way to survive in this game is to remain as quiet as possible. This game practically ran itself in my classroom and could keep quiet the most spirited students.

Even if you don’t have extra days allotted for culture building in your scope and sequence , having some of these activities on hand will make sure you stay prepared. Lessons sometimes run short, or if you are in Texas, you could be required to stay inside for recess due to the extreme heat . It is always better to have this stuff on hand, ready to go! 

If you are interested in more activities to build culture in the first week of school (or really anytime), check out this bundle here .  The activity includes the Interview Questions Worksheet, the Salt and Pepper Matching Activity, a paper version of This or That, and 8 more activities.  If you want to be extra prepared for this school year, be sure to grab our Back to School Starter Pack which includes these ice breakers, classroom posters, homeroom activities, and a substitute binder.

What are your go-to first week of school activities?  

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December 27, 2016 at 11:21 am

The site rocks. So many great resources. Thank you.

July 17, 2024 at 8:25 pm

Thank you for the amazing suggestions to start out the first week of school. I would struggle with figuring out what I want to do on the first day of school partly because I was nervous about not having enough time to get through the curriculum. Thank you for providing such amazing resources. It will definitely help with the prep work.

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5 Best First Week Of School Activities For First Grade

Page Contents

First Week Of School Activities

Day 1 – first day jitters.

It's good to have a “soft start” to the school year and that includes lots of stories, crafts, and fun. Students need to build their stamina for sitting and working for long periods of time. I find that when I do these fun first week of school activities with my students I have a better year in the long run.

We start our first day by reading an all-time favorite First Day Jitters . This is a cute story about being nervous on the first day of school. Throughout the story, it shows someone who is nervous about going to school.  The book makes it seem like it's a child but the surprise ending is that it's the teacher who is nervous!  

After reading the story, we talked about our feelings and made a simple graph to show how we were all feeling on the first day of school.

Next, we did all the First Day Jitters activities .  We made some Jitter Juice to help ease our worries and did an interactive writing activity listing the ingredients for Jitter Juice.

Finally, the students used a simple writing template to tell how they felt on the first day of school and made a cute jitter juice craft. These first week of school activities are the perfect way to get off to a fun start to the school year!

Day 2 – Stick And Stone Friendship Activities

On day two, it's time to get to know the other students in your class. Some kids will know each other from kindergarten but others may be new or just shy. It's a good idea to do some friendship activities to ensure that everyone has a friend in class and someone to play with on the playground. 

We start our friendship activities with the book Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry. This cute book tells the tale of two little friends and all their fun adventures together. It shows them having some troubles with a bully and getting lost but through it all, they stick together and are best friends. 

After reading the story, the students get a partner to work with for the day. We set up friendship stations around the room and the kids work with their new friends for the day. They paint kindness rocks and play a memory game about friendship. 

Next, students work with their partners to make friendship bracelets . They help each other out by taping it on their friend's wrist. 

We end our second day of school by making some friendship soup. This “soup” has all the ingredients for friendship – kindness, fun, respect, and more. Head over here to see this whole lesson in action and everything we do for the day. 

Day 3 – David Goes To School

On the third day of school, it's time to talk about your classroom rules. David Goes to School by David Shannon is a perfect read-aloud when you're teaching students about behavior expectations in your class! If you've never read the “David” books they're adorable stories about a little boy who has some naughty behaviors but a loving heart underneath it all.

After reading the story, we discuss David's behavior in the story. We talk about what was naughty and why these aren't good behaviors to have in our classroom. This is the perfect opportunity for another shared writing activity by making your class no-no's.

Students can help make an anchor chart with some of the behaviors they don't want to see in class. When we were finished we made a cute David craft to hang with our chart. 

Later, we made our actual classroom rules written in more positive language. We kept these rules hanging in our classroom all year. I always number our rules and write them in different colors. If someone is struggling with their behavior I can say ” Remember Rule #1 or Remember the blue rule”. It helps students begin to put these rules in their minds and follow them daily. 

Day 4 – School Bus Safety

Day 5 – Pete The Cat Rocking In My School Shoes

Save these ideas for later!

Take a minute and save these ideas to your favorite back to school Pinterest board.

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September 4, 2017 at 12:18 pm

I love your flip journals 🙂 Do you know what brand they are??

September 5, 2017 at 9:39 pm

Thanks1. We order the journals from Really Good Stuff – Here's a link: http://bit.ly/2wDgJRp

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11 Memorable First Week of School Activities That Are So Much Fun

The power of first impressions.

During the first week, students are all jittery and they must have 200 things going through their heads like, “What’s this new grade like? Are the assignments easy or difficult? Do I like this teacher? Do I measure up to my classmates?”

Fun Activities That Will Smash Your First Week Goals

1. the best reward.

On a sheet of paper, have students write their names and rank the rewards according to their preferences. After this, ask for volunteers to explain their rankings. Make a record of the students’ responses so you’ll know how to reward and best encourage each student.

If you still have time, divide the class into groups and ask them to reflect on how you can best encourage them to do their best in class and motivate them when they are in a slump. Ask them to make a consolidated list that you can keep and refer to throughout the school year.

2. I Belong Here

This activity will help learners see school as a welcoming place .

For older learners, ask them to fill this paper with unique trivia about themselves (e.g. weirdest food they’ve eaten, their favorite song of all time, etc.)

3. Quick Classroom Inventory

Here are some sample questions you can try:

4. Two Truths And a Lie

Like it or not, we have a big influence on our students’ perception of school. Our students are constantly looking at our cues and our body language. In the first week, they are eager to know if we are simply the strict enforcer of classroom rules or someone they can relate to and trust.

Prepare three pictures and statements that describe who you are as a person. Two of these statements should be real facts about you and one should be a lie.

Divide the class into small groups and ask the students to do the same task. Ask group representatives to report to the class what unique things they have learned about their classmates.

5. All About Me Bag

6. my numbers name, 7. my signature action, 8. let’s play throw and catch.

Tell the group that they need to play throw and catch by first catching the attention of their classmate and then saying their name.

The thrower must first catch a person’s gaze and then say “Here you go, (student’s name)” before throwing the ball. The catcher should then say, “Thank you, (student’s name).” It’s important to remind the students to first make sure the other person is ready before throwing to avoid any accidents.

9. Groups and Lines

You won’t ever regret adding this to your fun first week of school activities because this one is genuinely so much fun.

10. Classroom Scavenger Hunt

With some creativity, you can have students practice these routines as an exciting part of their first week in class.

11. Talk to the Hand

Ask the students to trace their hands on a sheet of paper. Instruct them to summarize what they know about a certain topic in the palm of their drawings. Then write five facts or vocabulary words related to the topic on the fingers.

Jump In : If you don’t wish to use smartboards but instead focus on traditional classroom activities, then you should try indoor recess ideas that will surely make your 1st week of school a blast! Read about them here — Indoor Recess Ideas: 47 Fun Break Time Activities For Kids .

Related Questions

How much class time should i spend on these activities, how can i best introduce myself to the class.

Use the activities “2 Truths and a Lie” or “All About Me Bag” to effectively introduce yourself in unique ways.

What if students are hesitant to participate?

Final thoughts.

They should also help students learn more about each other, set the tone for the course, help you gauge your students’ prior knowledge and motivation, and excite students for what’s to come for them.

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Obsessed With Learning

Helping Teachers Get Their Lives Back

Five Activities for the First Week of School

It’s officially back to school season! Whether you’re already back with the kiddos or you’re knee deep in teacher workdays, we are right there with you. To lessen your load, we come bearing gifts in the form of Five Activities for the First Week of School that you can put in your lesson plan book today. Let’s dive right in!

Activity #1: Spaghetti in a Hot Day Bun

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Marie Dismondy is the cutest picture book about being unique and having confidence. It touches base on topics such as anti-bullying, forgiveness, and friendship. With its intriguing title and relatable story, it is perfect for the first week of school.

Here is a FREE quick Venn diagram we made comparing and contrasting the two main characters, Ralph and Lucy.

Complete this activity after reading the book for a quick whole group informal assessment. Comparing and contrasting also opens up discussions on comparing ourselves to these characters. Have we ever been unkind like Ralph was to Lucy? Have we ever felt different for being ourselves like Lucy? This book celebrates individuality and differences. It’s a perfect connecting point for that first week back.

If you would like to use our full unit including writing prompts, a craftivity, vocabulary, graphic organizers, and so much more, check the link here.

Activity #2: Establishment of Class Rules

The first week back to school is a great time to collaborate with your class to discuss and make specific classroom rules. Students have greater autonomy in following the rules if they help create and establish them. It’s best to start with a couple of non-negotiable rules and have students offer ideas to expand from there. Also, students can rephrase rules to fit more of their language. Writing up the rules on poster board and having them sign their names around them is a good idea, so everyone knows they are working as a team to follow them. Creating rules also opens up a discussion of the rationale of the rules. This creates a desire for students to follow them.

We have an editable farmhouse classroom rules signs resource here if you are interested:

Activity #3: First Writing Activity for the Year – All About Me

One of my first writing activities for the year is not your typical assignment. I find students get really excited about fictional writing, so I like to bank on that excitement before I go into narratives. My middle school students and past upper elementary kids loved to write about being a superhero. They loved to discuss what superpowers they would have, the movies they’ve seen like Avengers and The Hulk, and what villains they would fight. I credit this idea to my sixth-grade math and science teacher who would regularly discuss this idea for fun as brain breaks. While this could be a quick writing assignment to assess writing abilities, you could also turn this into a longer unit. To make this fit more into back to school, you can have students fill out our FREE superhero all about me banner. They can fill it out based on the character they’ll be writing about, or they can write all about themselves.

We have a superhero resource bundle here including a PowerPoint that opens up a great dialogue about character traits, in which students can use in their writing. You can connect it back to how students should behave in school.

Activity #4: Interesting Non-Fiction Reading Passages

Ever wondered what to do during those first couple of days of school AFTER you’ve gotten through the very first day? Oftentimes I love to start the year off with some interesting nonfiction reading passages. I feel like it’s a good way to ease into language arts without going into an extensive unit. It’s a way to informally assess reading and comprehension skills and also peak students’ interests.

We have a FREE zoo animals nonfiction reading passage resource all about barred owls with questions and a scientific organizer. Download here.

To expand on reading passages about animals, we have a larger unit here that spans a couple of lessons.

There are so many free websites out there that have non-fiction reading passages for students. Readworks.org is a wonderful free website with a variety of passages from fiction to scientific.

Activity #5: Pineapple Growth Mindset Activity

Lastly, the first week of school is a great time to discuss growth mindset. We want our students to have a growth mindset versus a fixed one. We want them to always continue to grow and develop their education, skills, and talents. Students achieve more when they have this type of mindset. That first week back is a wonderful time to educate students on how to have a growth mindset. An easy example to compare it to is that of a pineapple. Students should stand tall and grow their abilities just like a pineapple grows bigger and taller. I love to use this visual for the kiddos to understand.

Make a list together as to what it looks like to “stand tall.” This requires advanced thinking as it’s definitely more than just sitting up straight in your desk! Ask students what does it look like to grow academically and emotionally throughout the year? Some examples would be: I will choose to have self-control in situations I could be silly. Another example is: I will choose to study my times tables, so I can grow in math. Once students see what a growth mindset is in concrete ways, have them write down their specific goals in a list or in a paragraph.

If this activity interests you, we have FREE pineapple printable and digital paper. Click image below.

If you wanted to expand this into a craftivity, we have a cute one right here: click image below.

These five activities for the first week of school are perfect for any elementary to middle school classroom. These activities target social-emotional health, growth mindset, classroom collaboration, and reading and writing skills. With the four FREEBIES listed above, we hope you’re able to fill in that lesson plan book swiftly!

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Mr and Mrs Social Studies

A Teaching Blog

8 First Week of School Activities for Middle School Students

First week of school activities.

Before we know it, the first week of school will be upon us! Will you be ready? This blog post will highlight 8 must-do first week of school activities that you can use with your middle school students!

Activities for First Week of School

One of the most important things you can do at the start of a school year is have clear expectations and procedures. How do you want your students to enter your classroom? What are the first things they should do when class starts? Do you have a procedure for when a student is absent or has missing work? What is your device policy? There is certainly a lot to think about! Taking some extra time to brainstorm these procedures and display some visuals in your classroom can make a world of difference, and not having these ready when I first started teaching was one of my biggest regrets! To see examples of the types of procedures I have used, check out our classroom procedures visuals .

Distributing a class syllabus is also a must on the first day of class, and it is also a great handout to give to parents at open house! You can keep your syllabus simple, but be sure to include your contact information, course description, materials, grading policy, expectations, consequences, and a spot for students and parents to sign, if desired! If you’d like to check out our editable syllabus templates, take a look at them here.

Getting to know your students is also a priority during the first week of school, because it can help create a more positive classroom community and build trust with your students. Honestly, we have found it beneficial to spend about 3-4 days dedicated to building community, rather than rushing into course content. A fun game that I like to play on Friday of the first week of school is a variation on Two Truths and a Lie, teacher edition! I start by sharing a total of 10 truths and 10 lies about myself, and the students take turns guessing what is true and what is a lie. Here is the template that I used for this.

Then, I have students come up with three statements about themselves: two truths and one lie. We go around the room and give students a chance to share more about themselves (if they’d like to). You can see that template here.

A get to know you activity that you might not have heard of is the “What’s In My Backpack?” Collage Activity. In this activity, the backpack serves as a metaphor for student identity, and students must identify what they carry with them throughout their lives. This might pertain to their background, their interests, their heritage, their goals, and more! It is a creative assignment for Google Drive that you can learn more about here.

One additional get to know you activity is a student inventory. This is a must to get to know more about your students, along with their interests and learning preferences. We have created a Google Form version that is editable and allows you to go paperless, which makes it easier to refer back to the results of your students! Click here to get a copy of this student inventory.

A bonus teaching idea that will save you a lot of time is using classroom jobs! Many students love to take on a leadership role, and by assigning classroom jobs, you are able to reduce your workload while also helping interested students develop meaningful skills. Here is how we have chosen to use classroom jobs.

Lesson Plans for First Week of School

In addition to all of the activities described above, an often overlooked lesson is teaching your students how to write emails. The ability to write a professional email is arguably one of the most important skills students learn, especially in times of remote or blended learning, but it is rarely taught. However, that doesn’t need to be the case! Here is a walkthrough about how we teach email etiquette and the practice activities we use.

In case you are wondering how all of these different pieces fit together, you are in luck! We have a FREE resource in our TPT store that breaks down these activities, among others, for your first week of school! It also includes an editable Google Slideshow, which can help you and your students stay organized! Get your freebie here.

Of course, while this post has mentioned a lot of different activities to use with your students, the classroom environment matters as well. I love to have a variety of inspirational quotes hung up around my classroom! Here is a set of 20 inspirational posters featuring some quotes that help students be courageous, kind, and develop a growth mindset!

First Week of School Activities for Middle School

If the activities covered in this blog post seem like a good fit for your classroom, consider checking out our bundle of First Week of School Activities for Middle School Students , which contains all 8 of them (plus 2 additional resources)! All of the activities are compatible with Google Drive or even designed exclusively for Google Drive, which makes them a great option no matter what your school year looks like this year! Even better, if you choose to purchase the bundle, you will save 30%! Click here to check it out!

If you want to improve your classroom organization this year, check out this blog post to learn about the 13 types of classroom forms that are must-haves for all middle school teachers!

Are you looking for some new teaching ideas to engage your students in your social studies class? If so, you’ll love our FREE guide: 5 Creative Projects to Ignite Student Engagement in Your Social Studies Class . These activities have both printable and digital options and can work for any social studies subject!

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Free first week of school activities.

Your first week of school planning-made easy! Grab free activities to help build a class community and get to know your students in the first week of school.

I'd love to see your first week plans and activities in action! Tag me on  Instagram  or send me your photos at  [email protected]

Happy Teaching!

Inspired Together Teachers

What to Do in the First Week of School

August 15, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 1 Comment

Recently, we received a letter from Andrea, a new fourth grade teacher from California.  Andrea sent us a question which is probably on the minds of many of you at this time of year.

Andrea wrote,

“As I begin my first year, I am overwhelmed by a lot. The biggest thing overwhelming me right now is what to do during our first week. Of course, I plan to really layout and enforce those expectations as well as start to build a community within my classroom, but what sort of thing should I be doing curriculum-wise? What sort of fun things can we do?”

Andrea, we love your questions.  The first week of school is an important time to lay the groundwork for a successful school year, but it is also a time to start engaging students in meaningful learning and show them that learning can be fun and engaging!

Here are our suggestions for things you should do during the first week of school:

Be professional.

First impressions matter.  Establish yourself as a teacher, an adult who is confident and in charge.  You don’t need a suit, but you don’t want to look like a student.  The weather may be warm, but this is not the time or place for flip-flops.  Trust us. Yes, some teachers dress very casually, but you want to use every bit of advantage you have to start things off right.  Dress in comfortable clothes and low- heeled shoes.

Professionalism also means being where you are supposed to be.  Do not leave students unsupervised.  Be on time for lunch or recess duty.  Supervise passing time in the hallways. Have a procedure for duties such as attendance and lunch count and take them seriously.

Make students feel welcome.

Welcome students with a sign on the door or in the hallway outside your room.  Great them as they enter the room.  Consider having them create a product in the first few days such as an About Me page to share on a bulletin board.  Another great idea for the first days of school is to ask students to fill out a survey indicating their interests and their strengths and challenges related to your curriculum areas.

Find a few fun, age appropriate community builders and plan to do one each day.  This will help you get to know students and help students get to know each other.

For example, using a marker, write questions on a beach ball such as, What are your favorite foods?  How do you like to spend your free time? What sports do you like?  What kinds of pets do you have? Then get in a circle and throw the ball.  Students answer the question nearest to their right thumb.

Search Pinterest or Google classroom community building activities for many more ideas.

Learn student’s names as quickly as you can.

Seating charts can help.  You may want to create name tags they can wear around their necks or place on their desks.  Greet students by name as they enter the room.  Take pictures of small groups on the first day and label them with names.

Using student’s names as often as possible is good practice.  Dale Carnegie, who wrote the classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People noted that “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Knowing student’s names will go a long way towards building respect and ensuring a positive classroom environment.

Teach Procedures.

Have class schedules posted. Have procedures for dismissal, moving to another area of the building, bathroom use and pencil sharpening. Know what your non-negotiables are, and explain them to students. Share your homework policy and what headings you would like students to use at the top of their papers.

Discuss rules and expectations, or consider creating them with students.  This recent article discusses how to create a list of student rights and responsibilities.

Try to keep discussion of rules and procedures to no more than 50 percent of your time in the first week.  You will want to spend 50 % of your time on curriculum, too.

Be prepared with emergency procedures .

Walk students through the plan for fire drills and other emergency procedures.  Know the exit routes from your room.  Have an emergency kit and class lists near the door to grab quickly. You may not have a formal drill in the first week (though some schools require it) but it is a good idea, especially with young children, to practice a drill and set expectations for emergency procedures. Don’t let the first emergency drill catch you unprepared!

Another emergency situation to be aware of is students with medical concerns.  Check student files and be sure you know of students with severe allergies, epi-pens, diabetes or other issues.

Use a little humor.

You may or may not be the funniest person on the planet, but a little humor is often unexpected and welcome.  Share a relevant cartoon or poster. Tell a silly joke that is related to your curriculum.

Why were the early days of history called the dark ages?  Because they were full of Knights.

What do you call a number that can’t keep still? A roamin’ numeral.

Why did the scientist take out his doorbell?  He wanted to win the no-bell prize.

If students are groaning, you have their attention.

You might even have a joke of the day calendar and read it while waiting for announcements.

Plan a read aloud.

Every elementary teacher and possibly secondary teachers should set up a regular read aloud time.  Reading aloud to students is a great way to model many different reading skills and habits and increase reading pleasure.  Most students love to be read to.  Students who love reading will read more and in the process, increase their reading skills.  It is also a chance for secondary students to discover intriguing or fascinating information. Read a chapter a day, and be sure to stop at an exciting spot!

Check out our list of favorite read aloud books . Here is a list of favorite fall books .

Plan an activity to help students become familiar with curriculum materials.

Consider materials that you will use often such as textbooks or websites. Plan a scavenger hunt where students will dig through their books to find examples of things such as indexes, charts and graphs, vocabulary boxes and review sections.  Send them to a website and have students find different sections or different types of information.  Here is a source to get you started planning scavenger hunts .

Plan a few engaging lessons related to your curriculum.

Interactive lessons will engage students more than lectures.  Look through teacher’s guides for problem solving activities, which are often very engaging.  Puzzles are also high interest.  Another idea is to bring in many different resources and have students use different books and materials to find information about a topic and complete a graphic organizer.

Here is an example. To introduce a unit on mammals, one teacher brought in many library books and found many websites related to different animals.  Without defining them, she then gave students a graphic organizer to list as many examples as they could of mammals and non-mammals.  Then students looked at their examples and in small groups, made lists of characteristics of mammals and non-mammals.

Plan at least one portion of each class period during the first week for exploring and getting excited about the curriculum.

Plan a small group activity.

Many students learn best through social interaction. Plan a small group activity that will get them up and moving and talking with others. This will allow you to assess their social skills, and see who the class leaders are.

Give students clear directions and clear explanations for the task. Have a product they must complete individually, though they are working together. Circulate as they work to answer questions and prevent unwanted behaviors.  Smaller groups of 3-4 are better than larger groups.  Graphic organizers often work well for group work. Small group work often makes for a good assessment of students’ prior experience and knowledge.

Example:  In groups of 3 or 4, create a KWL Chart. Make a list of everything you know about the American Revolution.  List people, events, and places.   Then make a list of things you want like to know or things you think an educated citizen of the United States would need to know.

If you don’t get to them, you can always use your lesson plans another day.  It is far, far better to over plan than to run out of things to do and try to wing it. Do not succumb to the “talk amongst your selves” time filler.  It is a recipe for behavior problems and sets you up as being ineffective.  Have some fillers always at the ready. Teach students a quick review game and use it when you have a few minutes at the end of a period. Have students make a “Top Ten Things We Learned about ____ ”  list.   Have students write exit slips. Read from a book of funny poems or extraordinary events.

The first week of school is both exciting and exhausting.  When you are ready and well-planned, you can enjoy the week.  This is what you have prepared to do and you are ready. This is your time to shine!

Go knock their socks off!

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• Categories Homepage Featured , Weekly Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans: First Week Of School, Numbers And Counting, And King And Queen Of Kindergarten

• Greg Smedley-Warren
• August 3, 2024
• No Comments

It’s time for lesson plans and Schedulin’ Sunday for the first week of school! Summer is over, and we are ready to kick off year 20! I cannot believe I’m starting my 20th year of teaching. WOW! Each week, we do our Schedulin’ Sunday post, where we share what we’re doing in our classroom for the week! We hope you find ideas, resources, and strategies to make your planning and prep easier!

So here’s what we have planned for the first week of kindergarten!

Lesson Plans

As always, you can download our weekly lesson plans by clicking on the image!

You can get our lesson plan templates here:

Lesson Plans: The First Day Of School

The first day of kindergarten is hard. It’s fun but hard so we take lots of deep breaths and focus on making memories while working on routines and procedures. Our first day is a half day, so it goes by quickly, and we never get everything done, and that’s ok!

For our morning arrival, we’re doing something new this year! As the kids arrive, they’ll get to join their friends and color our giant banner!

We start with our morning meeting. During our first morning meeting, we focus on learning MY NAME! I want the kids to leave the classroom knowing my name in case they get lost or confused after day 1. We go around the circle, and everyone says their name. Then we do our morning message and sing!

We do our first read-aloud, which is The King Of Kindergarten.

After reading the story, we talk about King’s Day and our day. We talk about the days are the same and different!

First Day: Names

On day 1, we also write our names. We do a name chart where everyone, including me, writes our names. Everyone does their best, and we cheer for each student!

After the name chart, everyone does independent practice. This is just to give me a baseline document and for me to observe if they can write their name, can they hold their pencils, etc.

We use our School Supply Research Project to learn about crayons. The kids come up with the rules for crayons and then they practice coloring a soccer ball. Why a soccer ball? I like all the different sections for the kids to color.

Click the soccer ball to get your FREE FILE!

The kids get their first day of school hats! I make these ahead of time and just staple them and put them on the kids at the end of the day!

And, believe it or not, we’re making cookies on the first day of kindergarten. True story. We make school bus cookies. Why? It’s a great way to make memories because it’s fun!

Lesson Plans: The First Week Of School

The first week of school is focused on routines and procedures, building relationships, and making memories! We also work on numbers, reading comprehension, colors and so much more!

Lesson Plans: Reading

We read The King And Queen Of Kindergarten this week. We work on listening, talking, and answering questions. I like these read-alouds for the first week because the kids can connect with the stories easily! They can relate to what happens in the stories because it’s what we did on our first days of school. We will talk about emotions and how we get to school. And we will draw of ourselves as the king/queen of kindergarten!

We also read Brown Bear Brown Bear and work on our favorite colors! After reading the story we color the pictures to see if they remember the story! And we graph our favorite colors!

Lesson Plans For The First Week Of School: Math

We kick off the first week of math by exploring manipulatives, number recognition, and counting. We also kick off Number Bootcamp!

Number Bootcamp is 20 days of number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and math vocabulary!

We work on number recognition by pointing to numbers! Super easy and super informative! I just say a number and see if the kids can find the number and point to it!

Grab the FREE number mats here:

We also practice counting to 10. We are using our new Number Sense Mats! I give the students a school bus mat and manipulatives. I say a number and see if the kids can count the correct number of manipulatives onto the bus!

The First Week Of School: School Supplies

This week, we will learn to use pencils, scissors, and glue sponges! Each day, we do a different supply. The students generate the expectations. Then we practice. Each school supply contains a cut apart puzzle, which we use to practice cutting and gluing!

Friendship Bracelets

We also make friendship bracelets this week! This is another fun way to make memories and observe letter recognition, name recognition, and fine motor skills.

Here’s how it works:

Ahead of time, I place a name card, a pipe cleaner, and the letter beads for the name in a Ziploc bag. The student removes the name card and beads. They match the beads to the letters on the card. Once I see that they have the letters matched up, they slide them onto the pipe cleaner!

You can get the beads here:

Foodie Fun Friday

Foodie Fun Friday is a classroom tradition where we make a snack each Friday.

This week, we are making friendship salad. This snack sets the tone for the entire school year because we decide what kind of classroom we want and whether we want rotten bananas. We reference rotten bananas all year long!

The recipe is included in our Foodie Fun Friday resource!

WEEKLY RESOURCES

Click below for the resources we are using in our classroom this week:

For more information, check out these posts:

Blog Categories

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Classroom set up is essential to student success, and our classroom layout is focused on students and making sure we have the space and materials

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Classroom Organization Ideas: Teacher Binder

One of my constant struggles as an educator is classroom organization and I’m always looking for classroom organization ideas. I am not a very organized

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88 Back to School Writing Prompts for the First Week

This post may contain affiliate links.

I am struggling to write my first back to school post of the season! That means summer vacation is nearing the end.  But the start of a new school year is also an exciting season!  Today I have a set of 88  Back to School Writing Prompts to help you out during the first week of your new school year.  They are a great resource for the first day of school!

As the new school year approaches, it’s time to gear up for some fresh new lessons, a new classroom, and learning ideas. It’s difficult on teachers and on students to gear up to the work load of a new school year.

One nice way to ease children back into the school routine is through creative writing prompts. Writing prompts can be a fun way to inspire creativity, improve and refine writing skills, and make the transition back to school smooth and enjoyable. 

Back to School Writing Prompts

I have a several sets of back to school writing prompts for you in this printable for every grade level. There is a set of 20 writing prompts for elementary students. I have a set of 20 back to school writing prompts that will work well for both for middle school students and high school students. I also have a set of prompts tailored specifically to homeschool families!  

I’m sure that you’ll love adding this writing activity to your English language arts lesson plans for the beginning of the school year! They can help you and your class get back into the swing of things. Read on to learn how (& why) to use the Back to School Writing Prompts effectively!

Why You Should Use Writing Prompts:

• E ncourage Creativity: These prompts are a fantastic way to give kids a starting point with their writing. They can use their imagination and explore new ideas, or write a short story without the pressure of coming up with a topic from scratch.
• Enhance Writing Skills : Regular writing practice helps improve grammar, vocabulary, and overall writing proficiency. Writing prompts are the perfect way to provide structured practice in a fun and engaging way.
• Stimulate Critical Thinking : Writing about different topics encourages kids to think critically, organize their thoughts, and articulate their ideas clearly.
• Build Confidence: Completing a piece of writing gives children a sense of accomplishment, boosting their confidence and encouraging them to tackle more challenging tasks.
• G et to Know New Students: At the beginning of the year, these prompts are a great way to help you learn more about the students in your class! You can learn about their favorite hobby, their summer vacation, what she of their favorite things are, 

How to Use These Printable Writing Prompts:

You can cut these questions up into small strips for kids to draw from a bowl. Or choose one prompt for everyone to answer as a class.

• Daily Journals: Incorporate writing prompts into a daily journaling routine. Have a notebook designated to your daily writing.  This regular practice of journal prompts can help kids develop a habit of writing and improve their skills over time. Use different themed prompts through the months of the year. They can take them home at the end of the year and have a book full of memories!
• Class Discussions: Use prompts as a starting point for class discussions for the whole class or for small groups. Write the prompts on a whiteboard and let them spend some time on it. After writing, students can share their responses, helping them get to know one another better and maybe build a new friendship!
• Creative Projects: Use writing prompts as a starting point for larger writing projects. Encourage kids to expand on their prompt responses by turning them into short stories, a personal narrative, plays, or illustrated books.
• Homework Assignments: Assign writing prompts as part of homework to keep the writing practice going beyond the classroom.
• Incorporate Technology: For older kids, try using digital platforms or blogs where kids can post their prompt responses. This not only makes writing fun but also teaches them how to use technology responsibly.
• Morning Work or Writing Stations: Use these for independent work time with your students. When you need something to fill extra time or need a quiet activity for them to work on, incorporate some writing time! 

Download the Free Writing Prompts for Back to School Now!

This is a free PDF file.  Download it here. 

Back to School Writing Prompt Examples:

Here are a few examples of some of the writing prompts in this download. 

• Imagine your school year is transformed by magic. Describe the magical events that happen and how they change your everyday routine.
• You discover a time machine in your school. Write about where you go and what historical events or future scenarios you witness.

What is your favorite subject in school and why do you enjoy it?

  If your class could have any pet, what would it be and how would you take care of it?

Imagine your school bus could take you anywhere in the universe. Where would you go and what would you see?

What are three academic goals you have for this school year? How do you plan to achieve them?

Do you think schools should have uniforms? Why or why not? Provide reasons for your opinion.

How can learning about different cultures benefit kids your age?

Describe your homeschool learning environment. How does it help you focus and learn?

Incorporating writing prompts into your back-to-school routine can make the transition to school time smoother and more enjoyable for kids. There are so many great benefits. I hope you’ll enjoy using this free printable download. 

Happy writing and welcome back to school!

See More Creative Writing & Language Arts Ideas:

Choose Your Adventure Writing Prompts

Spring Writing Prompts for Kids

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Former school teacher turned homeschool mom of 4 kids. Loves creating awesome hands-on creative learning ideas to make learning engaging and memorable for all kids!

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Kersey days, ault fall festival and more community fun in the best of the week of aug. 3-9.

A few surrounding communities will put on their town celebrations, while one local barbershop will make sure students get free fresh haircuts before they go back to school in the Best of the Week of Aug. 2-9.

Day 1 of the Ault Fall Festival starts with a dinner at 6 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. with a fireworks show. Day 2 of the Ault Fall Festival starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with a craft fair, pig catch, car show and more. At 10 a.m., the parade begins. The beer garden is open from noon to midnight. Day 3 is Sunday at 7 a.m. for a pancake breakfast, followed by Church in the Park at 10:30 a.m. For more information, go to the festival’s Facebook .

Day 1 of Kersey Days starts with mower races at 3 p.m. Day 2 of Kersey Days starts at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with the Bronco 5K at Platte Valley High School, 901 Campbell St. The day will also feature a vendor fair spot, a parade, a cornhole tournament, cowboy games and more. For more information, go to kerseyexperience.com .

Xclusive Barbershop hosts a free back-to-school haircut event from 1-5 p.m., 1819 9th St., Greeley. The event is for students from pre-K to seniors. There will also be various vendors and live music, too.

Blooming Health Farms hosts Cakes & Eggs at 9 a.m. at Glenmere Park, 1600 Glenmere Blvd., Greeley. Along with breakfast, there will be a petting zoo, egg games, a pop-up library from the High Plains Library District and more. For more information, go to Blooming Health Farms’ Facebook .

The final Moonlight Movies event of the summer starts at dusk with a screening of “The Marvels” (PG) at Lincoln Park, 800 10th Ave., Greeley.

The High Plains Chautauqua starts at the Greeley Aims Community College Welcome Center, 4901 W. 20th St. This year’s theme is “Game Changers.” Performers will bring portrayals of notable Americans who have “shaken things up,” each leaving a legacy in their field. All the events are free. To see a full schedule, go to coloradohumanities.org/programs/high-plains-chautauqua . The event goes until Friday, Aug. 9.

Bingo starts at 6:45 p.m. at the Greeley-Evans Moose Lodge, 3456 11th Ave., Evans. Doors open at 5 p.m., the snack bar opens at 6 p.m.

A sewing circle is from 4-7 p.m. at the LINC Library, 501 8th Ave., Greeley. Sewers of all levels are encouraged to join and work together with others on various projects. You will need to bring your own supplies.

Afroman with special guests takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. at the Moxi Theater, 802 9th St., Greeley. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased from moxitheater.com .

Friday, Aug. 9

High Brau Taphouse hosts Jazz Jam from 8-11 p.m., 915 16th St., Greeley. The free event features live jazz every second and fourth Friday of the month.

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