5 Activities for the First Day of School

What do kids expect on the first day of school? Rules! Lectures about procedures and expectations! Maybe throw in some some cheesy name games, like having to introduce yourself using alliteration. ("My name is Abby and I like apples." *cringe.*)

There's a better way to do the first day. Let kids discover more about each other than just a "name and a fun fact." When students make connections with others, they feel more comfortable. When they feel comfortable, they participate more in class.

Here are 5 fun ways to get students interacting with each other:

1. M&M Introductions

What's better than walking into class and seeing candy on your desk? Not many things. Not many things.

Push the tables into groups of 3 or 4 and assign seating. Set a bowl full of M&M's in the center of each group. Tell the students to not eat the candy--not yet.

Pass out a handout that assigns a question to each color, like this:

Students take turns grabbing an M&M at random and answering its assigned question for their group. They get sugar, and get to know more about their classmates. Win, win.

2. Play dough sculpting

Dave Burgess, the author of Teach Like a Pirate, incorporates Play Doh into his first day routine. And who doesn’t love that salty, squishy goodness?

I just wanna squish it!

Instruct students to create something that represents themselves. While students are constructing their masterpieces, use the time to speak with them individually.

Rather than have students present their creations, consider walking around the classroom and presenting them yourself, asking each student a few questions about their creation. This way, no one feels like they’re being put on the spot.

3. Shoe Interviews

Instruct half the students to remove their shoe and throw it in the middle of the classroom (beware: this could get stinky!) Then have the other half of the class scavenge and pick a shoe. They then must search out the shoe's owner, who will become their partner for this activity.

Each partner must create five interview questions for the other and conduct an interview while taking notes. When time is up, they can introduce their new friend to the class.

You might even go more in depth by having the students create a poster about their partner, complete with illustrations. This lets the students get creative, and allows the artistic ones to shine!

4. Recipe for "Me"

Have the students introduce themselves by writing a recipe for themselves. This is a great way to introduce the concept of genre and modeling.

Study a few recipe samples, having students point out the features of the genre (The title, the list of ingredients, the measurements, the paragraph of instructions, the formatting, etc.) Write their observations on the board.

Next, have students create a recipe for themselves, using the features commonly found in the "recipe genre." What really makes them? Should we add some extra spice, or extra sugar? Do they need to be thawed up a little because they are shy? Should we add extract of basketball--because it practically runs through their veins? (As always, give guidelines such as how many ingredients to include, etc.)

Show them your own example first to get their creative juices flowing, and then let them go at it! These are great to hang up around the classroom as well.

5. Teacher Introduction with a "Me" Bag

We can't forget one majorly important introduction: the introduction of YOU, the teacher! Believe it or not, the students are all trying to figure you out, majorly curious about what makes you tick.

(Note: this activity works best with the younger secondary grades, because of its overt yet pleasant cheesiness.)

Bring in a bag with objects that represent yourself. Pull each out one at a time and explain their significance. You might even have one student at a time come up, feel an object, and guess what it is before pulling it out.

For example, I brought in some sheet music, a glue gun, a picture of my family, and I wand. This let me talk about my love for piano, crafting, my family, and fantasy books. Students love catching a peek into your personal life,. It reminds them that you are, indeed, a human.

If you bring in obscure objects, you could even have students guess at their meaning before you tell them. For example, bring in a sponge. Could this mean that you are very cleanly and like doing dishes? Does it mean you like to soak up all the information you can get? Are you a SpongeBob fanatic? Students will love stretching their brains to find meaning!

Of course, it is important to go over rules and procedures--but that can wait until day 2.

For ideas on how to introduce classroom rules in fun and interactive ways, stay tuned for the next post!

Also upcoming: Activities for the First Week of School!