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Welcome to the First Day of School!
Classmates participate in a variety of getting-to-know-you activities for the first day of school. They make resolutions, become detectives about their fellow classmates, learn about each other by playing switch, and make welcome bags.
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Meet Your Neighbor: Action Verbs
Get your kids moving on the first day of school! This action verb activity doesn't have to be used as an ice breaker, but it sure will work as one. Simply place pairs of cards face-side down on the carpet, each with an action verb...
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Control the Classroom from Day One
Avoid the beginning-of-the-year scramble by having a strategy for the first few days of school.
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Board Game: Race to 100
Who can get to 100 first?! It may be in the hands of chance, but either way kids will have to practice counting and adding along the way. Partners take turns rolling two dice and moving their game pieces that many spaces until one pupils...
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Preparation Tips for the New School Year
A back-to-basics review to prepare you for a smooth and memorable first day of school.
Word Up Project
Mini Games
You've got a few minutes left at the end of class to practice vocabulary, but what can you do other than call out a word and ask for definitions? Play one of these 12 quick games! Each game is explained in detail and easy to modify for...
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First Day of Class
Students create birthday bar graphs, read books, make math windows, and more for the first day of math class. In this first day of class lesson plan, students also create pyramids.
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ESL: First Day of School
In this first day of school worksheet, students review a picture of students not paying attention to their teacher, then list 7 things the teacher can do to get their attention.
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introduction
Students participate in a lesson that is intended for the first days of school. They are led through introductions and how the class is organized for working on a daily basis. They sign behavior contracts and other paperwork as directed...
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Special Candy Game
Building a strong classroom community starts with group activities focused on sharing and respect. The class sits in a circle, shares a talent they possess, then tell peers to throw them a piece of candy if they don't have the same...
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First Day of School: I'll Get to Know You
Students participate in a letter matching game that pairs students so that they can introduce a new friend. They listen to the Shel Silverstein book, The Giving Tree and write a letter to the class telling them what they will give to the...
Cru High School
Games / Icebreakers
Twenty-three, fun-filled activities make up a list of icebreakers designed to familiarize class members with one another, and add a sense of community to the classroom.
Education.com
Playground Scavenger Hunt
Encourage children to take full advantage of their school's playground with this fun scavenger hunt activity. Including ten separate activities, from climbing across the monkey bars to playing hopscotch with a friend, this resource will...
ESL Kid Stuff
Intro ESL Lesson (Ages 8-14)
Introduce language learners to class behavior expectations, and each other, with activities that include greeting and name games, conducting a class survey, and creating a classroom rules poster.
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How To Calm Back-to-School Nerves
Set students up for success with these tips for getting the year off to a smooth start.
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Elizabeti's Series--Classroom Guide
Second graders explore the books in the Elizabeti Series. In this reading comprehension lesson, young readers discuss pre-reading focus questions about their feelings on the first day of school. They investigate the book and describe the...
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Clever Conversations Game
Build social and conversation skills with a fun game! Special needs and children with autism can play this game to practice asking friendly questions and giving appropriate responses. After playing, have them ask one person a friendly...
PEGAMES.org
Duck Duels
If you're stuck inside on a rainy day for PE, or just want to give your class a body break, try out this fun game involving quick mental math and movement. Waddling around the classroom as ducks, learners compete in math duels, trying to...
Curated OER
Pi Day: The Other Math Holiday!
Happy Pi Day! This collection of games, experiments, and activities leads participants through an exploration of the many aspects and attributes of that mysterious quantity, pi. Activities range from using statistical experimentation to...
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Planning and Drafting a Personal Narrative
Bring your learners together to write a class narrative about the first day of school. Start off by teaching them about sequence with a quick oral activity. Then, work together to fill out a story map. Finally, compose the class...
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First Day of GT
Students listen to and discuss a poem about a gifted student. They discuss what being gifted means to them and their families, and participate in a game that helps students to bond with each other.
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Jelly Bracelets: Fashion or Sex Game?
Ever-changing fashion fads are the ideal context for an engaging sociology experiment for adolescents. Through research and conducting a survey, learners draw conclusions about the controversial jelly bracelets fad, banned in some...
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Living With Rules
Young children explore the concept of the Golden Rule in this fun primary grade lesson. To begin, the class sings the song "The Lion and the Mouse" before discussing what the Golden Rule means and how it applies to daily life. This...
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Floogle Game
Students participate in a game of concentration, listening, and speech. While standing in a circle, students pass around an object which has been named a nonsense word. Two objects are passed around the circle, in opposite directions,...