Today I am so exited to share with you my top 5 activities for the first week of school. My last blog post that I did about what I do on the first week of school in a special education classroom turned out to be very popular and I ended up with so many messages thanking me that I decided to put together a quick blog post with just my top 4 favorite activities to do on the first week of school with my students. And ones that have been tried and tested over the years that my students continue to love.
There’s Only Bun of Me
This was a tough one for me to choose between this and the ‘Let’s Taco ‘Bout Me’ activity. But I think the burger one does always become the favorite with students because they can personalize it so much to make their very own burger designs as well.
This ‘Only Bun of Me‘ flip book is a fun way for students to share all different types of information about themselves while making a burger. Over the years of using this activity I’ve watched students get creative with their burger designs and they look great hung up around the classroom when completed.
Students will be able to work on;
- This is a drawing of me..
- My name is..
- My birthday is..
- My favorite color is..
- I live in..
- I live with..
- My favorite food is..
- My favorite drink is..
- When I grow up I want to be..
- My favorite activity is..
- This is a drawing of my family..
- This is a drawing of my friends..
- This is a drawing of my pet..
- I like to..
- I am good at..
Check it out here and download to use with your students too!
Who Stole the Teacher? Crime Scene
If you follow me, you’ll know that crime scenes are my jam. Me and my students love them. They’re fun, hands-on and students just love following all the clues to solve the different crimes. And this crime scene activity is the perfect introduction to them at the start of the school year.
This crime scene is designed to be interactive, engaging and adapted to suit students ability levels.
This crime scene includes the following activities;
- Taste
Something has been left behind for students to taste! (Carrots) Students have to taste the item, decide what it is and then match it to the suspect who likes to eat it. - Smell
Something has been left behind for students to smell! (Pepper) Students have to smell the item, decide what it is and then match it to the suspect who likes to smell this. - Lost and Found
The culprit left behind a few of their items. Hide these either in a sensory tray or around the crime scene for your students to find. They then need to match them to their owner. - Matching Footprints
Footprints have been left behind at the scene! Students need to look at the footprints and try and match them to the suspects footprints. - Clue Book
Students put their clues into the clue book as they go along. This way they are able to keep track of all the clues they have found. This will help them when they need to make a decision on who they think has stolen the teacher. - Wanted Poster
Once students have decided who they think the criminal is – they need to make the wanted poster to capture them! Students can either draw and write the criminal’s face and name onto the wanted poster or use the pictures and names we have included to cut and stick onto the wanted poster instead.
The crime scene even comes with a teacher walkthrough to make it easy for you to set up and use with your students. Read more about the crime scene here or download it for yourself to try out here.
Our Class Book
This is probably one of my favorite resources to share with you for free. It’s a book that I’ve used for years with my students and staff, and it’s so sweet to look back on many years later.
With this book, students draw and write their name on each page. It comes editable and with different difficulty options so students can either write their name independently, or use a gray font to overwrite or a dotted font to overwrite their name. You can then choose whether to have students stick a photograph of themselves in the book or draw a picture of themselves.
I like to print the pages out on different color card so that the book is like a rainbow when completed!
Once everyone has completed their page (I include staff and students!) I laminate and then bind all of the pages together like a book so that it will be stronger and longer lasting as well. Then, we place the book out for students to look through all year long. It’s a great opportunity for students to learn their peers names quickly.
Download it for free here.
Don’t Say It! Ice Breaker Game
This ice breaker game is a fun way to start the year, but also to use all year long. Students love working together to work out what the different answers are. The clues on each card are also helpful if students get stage fright and are unable to think of clues on the spot.
Download it here.
Classroom Rules Visual Book
I always find it very important to work on rules of your classroom from day 1. It helps everyone to understand your classroom rules and what is expected of them from the beginning. Rather than letting them get comfortable with no rules, and then try to introduce them later on.
This visual book is perfect to use during morning meetings and quiet times to give students a visual walkthrough of the different classroom rules and what you expect from them.
Download it here.
To find out more about what I do during the first week of school, including my schedule, visit this blog post here.
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How are you preparing for the first week of school? Let me know in the comments below.
Nikki
