A Snapshot of First Day Activities

The first day of school for students is soon approaching! I begin on Monday & Tuesday with Professional Development and Wednesday is Classroom Set-up Day. The students begin on Thursday. So, as I await their arrival my brain is overwhelmed with ideas and activities to do with them on the first two full days of school. I can't shut my brain off at night!! (I'm sure you feel my pain.)

So, here is my tentative schedule for Thursday, which I am sure may change slightly because I'm sure I'll find another fabulous idea from one of my blogging buddies.

First Day of School


1. The first activity that  my students will encounter upon their desks is a Word Search I will create with class names using PuzzleMaker. Having students working quietly will allow me time to speak with their parents, and for me to stand at my door to greet new students entering.

2. Next and most importantly is teaching the Class -Yes and the 5  WBT Rules! I am really looking forward to this because this is something new for me. Love these rules I printed for Free from Tales of a Teacher.

3.  Then I plan to introduce how we will conduct Shared Readings in our class and give students their first partner who they will then conduct purposeful conversations with for the next two weeks. I plan to read First Day Jitters with students with a focus on Making Connections and engaging in Purposeful Talk.

Love this Anchor Chart for Purposeful Talk!

4. Then students will fill out a Classroom Job Application for the classroom jobs for the first week of school. Here's a look at a few of the Classroom Jobs. I can't remember where I adapted this from to give credit. 

5. Next, is a fun team building activity that I found from Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies. Students will participate in a puzzle race. You can check out what the puzzles look like on her site. I bought the exact ones from Target at a $1 a piece. I really like this activity for the fact that it will give me another opportunity to observe students engaged in discussion. We will of course review the expectations for Purposeful Talk on our Anchor chart before we begin.

6. Then students will learn how to create an "All About Me" Wordle.

7. Next, I will distribute their first homework assignment, which is a brown bag activity. Students will fill their bag with things that Represent them. Check out this site here for an example of this activity and other wonderful first day of school activities.

8. Finally, we will end the day with a Read-Aloud using Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.