Getting
to Know You: Activities for the First Day of School
Every veteran teacher has his or her favorite first-day-of-school
activities. Here are a few of mine. Let me hear about your favorites too!
Excited about the first day of school? Terrified?
If you're an experienced teacher, you probably have a few favorite activities
that you use every year to get acquainted with your new students. They
work --- so you stick with them -- or maybe this will be the year when
you try something new.
I'll share a few of my favorite first-day-of-school activities if you'll
share your favorites with me!
A FEW GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU ACTIVITIES
My favorite first-day-of-school activities aren't particularly unique
or creative. They are intended only for fun and to be helpful to me as
I get to know my new students. Let's jump right into our first circle
activity.
My name is _____, and if I were an animal I'd be a _____ because....
I demonstrate for my students: "My name is Mr. H., and if I were an animal,
I'd be a turtle," I say, "because I'm always rushing around. Sometimes
I wish I could slow down."
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Then I give the students a little time to think about what animals they
might like to be -- and why. I encourage them to be creative, to be different
and unique. The first student to one side of me in the circle starts out.
After the first student finishes, I say, paraphrasing, "My name is Mr. H.,
and if I were an animal, I'd be a turtle because I'd like to be able to
slow down. This is Emily, and if she were an animal, she'd be a hyena because
she likes to laugh a lot." Then it's on to the next child. After each child
speaks, I try to repeat all the other kids' name-and-animal combinations
in order. That's always good for a laugh or two -- shows the kids right
from the start that the teacher isn't perfect!
Next, I ask the kids to draw themselves as their animals, leaving space
at the bottom of the drawing for their first writing assignment. I ask
them to write at the bottom of the page a complete sentence following
the form "If I were an animal, I would be a(n) ____ because..." When we're
all done with the activity, I know all the kids' names and a little something
about them.
As I call on students during the day, I always repeat their names --
and their animals! But I learn a lot more about my new students from this
little activity. I find out who is able to follow simple directions. I
learn about their writing abilities and their creativity. And I have a
hint about which students might be independent workers.
We are all unique!
Each day throughout the school year, I introduce a Word of the Day. The
first day's word is unique. I write the word on the board and ask
students to read the word. (I don't recall any of my third graders ever
identifying the word without a few clues. My last clue, using proper emphasis,
is usually "This word is a unique word!")
Then I use the word in several statements, the last of which is "Each
of us is unique." We talk about ways in which we're each unique. I'm the
only one more than 6 feet tall. Mia is the only one who's wearing a pink
shirt. Sam is the only one of us who has a pet ferret. (I learned this
from the previous activity.) And so it goes.
Next step: Out comes the roll of white mural paper. I tear off a sheet
about 10 feet long. Sometime during the day, each child goes out into
the hallway and uses markers to draw his or her name on the mural paper.
"Make it unique!" is my only direction.
I start out by writing "Mr. H" in big bubble letters inside an explosion
design such as you see declaring NEW! or IMPROVED on product packaging
in the grocery store. I draw colorful polka dots inside the bubble letters.
When completed, this colorful mural makes a great hallway bulletin board
under the cutout-letter headline We Are All Unique! I can also see from
this activity who some of the truly unique characters will be in my new
class!
Let's play detective.
I hand out a Clue Sheet to each student. We go over the statements on
the sheet, and then I ask the students to find a quiet spot where they
can fill in the blanks in statements such as
"My favorite hobby is ________."
"When I grow up, I want to have a job as a _________."
"The most fun thing I did all summer was __________."
I preface this activity by telling the students that this will be one of
the few times this year that I don't want them to put their names
on their papers. As the students finish filling out their Clue Sheets, each
picks up the sheet and a book and joins me on the rug for a class meeting.
They hand the sheets to me and read quietly while the rest of the class
finishes the task. Then I introduce the activity. I hand an anonymous Clue
Sheet to each student. If a student ends up with his or her own sheet, we
make some switches.
"I want to see whether you're good detectives," I tell the students.
Then I invite them to move around, asking questions of their classmates,
narrowing down the list of "suspects" until they find the one person who
matches all the clues they hold.
Note: If it's a nice day, you might move this activity outdoors.
Set up boundaries -- the basketball "court" -- if that isn't carrying
the detective-suspect theme too far! -- for example, or the base paths
on the ball field. When all the students have located their "suspects,"
each student takes a turn introducing the guilty party, telling others
in the class a little about that boy or girl.
Getting
to Know You: Activities for the First Day of School