Jorgiana Jordan #15

4.) First Day and Second Day Activities

First Day of School Activities:
1. Guess Who: Students become detectives in this get-acquainted game, in which they uncover
the real identity of a fellow classmate. Give each student an index card and ask them to each
record four clues about themselves. At the bottom of their cards, they should sign secret code
names, such as Buddy or Spot. Gather up the cards and, later on, hand them out randomly.
Challenge everyone to find the student who matches the clues on his or her card. In this brainboosting activity, students move from classmate to classmate asking questions to learn the
identity behind the code name. The catch? They must avoid using any of the words on the clue
card!
2. The Penny Jar: Fill a small jar with pennies. Pass the container around and invite students to
remove as many or as few coins as they wish. Explain that for each penny they take, they must
share one piece of information about themselves. For example, if a student chooses three
pennies, she might share, "I have three sisters," "I love to play basketball," and "I am a good
builder." The teacher is also able to take their turn with the jar too, and then end the activity by
letting everyone keep the pennies.
3. Human Bingo: An interactive icebreaker that gets the students moving, and allows them to
get to know each other better. Each student will receive a Bingo handout. The students will walk
around the classroom with a pen/pencil, and they will ask their peers some of the statements
from the BINGO sheet to see if it applies to them. Their peer will sign on the space that applies
to them, but they can only sign your sheet once. When a student gets five horizontally, vertically,
or diagonally they will shout, BINGO! This student will then say their fact, and introduce the
people that signed their sheet. This activity can be modified for students who cant read by using
pictures and words, instead of just words.
4. Whats your favorite animal? Students will arrange themselves in groups based on their
favorite animal without saying any words. Students will make noises or sounds when trying to
match with other students and figure out who has the same favorite animal. Once everyone is
organized within their favorite animal groups, they will take turns announcing to the whole class
what their favorite animal is. For example, if a students favorite animal is a dog, that student
will bark without saying anything other than that noise. The student will then listen/look for
other students making the same noises and pair with them.
5. Picture Rules: While introducing the class rules and expectations, the teacher will have a
student model each desired behavior. The teacher will then take a picture of it and use them in a
PowerPoint. The teacher will make a slide of each rule with the childs picture for the
background. Then, print the slides and post the picture rules on the wall. The heading for this
could be Model Behavior or Welcome to Our Picture Perfect Class.
6. Classroom Scavenger Hunt: Doing a scavenger hunt could involve students searching the
classroom to find things like the pencil sharpener or the hall pass, supplies like scissors, glue

sticks, markers or where students should place their backpacks as well as submitting homework
assignments.

Second Day of School Activities:

1. Social Contract: This is a good way to introduce rules to the students when discussing good
choices and bad choices. Write on a poster the rules students promise to follow, such as making
good choices, sharing with their friends, following directions, helping each other, being kind to
one another, and being a good listener. Students will then place their painted hand on the side of
the poster, with their name next to it, standing for their signature. When paint is completely dry,
hang poster on the wall.
2. Bookmarks: When the children arrive on the first day of school I have a bookmark waiting
for them on their desks. I ask them to make it as beautiful as possible as it will be very important
to them throughout the year. Later that morning we look at everyones bookmarks and talk about
how we are all going to become even better readers that year.
3. Cover Sheets: Many of the classrooms in several districts are arranged in a way where groups
3 or 4 students are together in individual desks. On the second day, have the students decorate a
plain manila file folder with their name and any other decorative elements that they choose. Have
the students place these in their own desk to use as needed for cover sheets or open them and
create their own personal cubicle for test times.
4. I Spy the Classroom: Students will look around the classroom, and find an item that begins
with each letter of the alphabet and write it on the line from a worksheet provided by the teacher.
5. M & M Challenge: Students will each scoop a cupful of M & Ms from a bowl. When its
the students turn, they will reach into their cup and grab an M & M. The student will then
answer a question based on whichever color he or she grabbed. At the end of the activity, the
students will be able to eat and enjoy the M & Ms as a treat.
6. Marshmallow Challenge: In their table groups, student will work together to construct the
tallest free standing structure only using spaghetti, string, masking tape, and a marshmallow on
top of the structure. With only 20 minutes, groups are permitted to use as little or all of their
resources and break the spaghetti, string, and tape as they choose. The team with the tallest
structure supporting the highest marshmallow at the end of the 20 minutes wins. This is a great
way to get students to learn how to work together socially.

 List of books to read on the first day of school:

1. The Kissing Hand by: Herman Parish The first day of school is starting in the forest,
but Chester Raccoon does not want to go to school. To help ease Chester's fears, his mom,
Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of
her love any time his world feels a little scary. An activity that can relate to this book could
be, each student will have a traced cut out of a hand with a heart glued on top of the hand.
Whenever students are feeling sad, or miss their mom, they can hold on to the kissing hand
for security.
2. Amelia Bedelias First Day of School by: Herman Parish This book is about a very
excited little girl who loves all things about school. She is excited about having a new
teacher, making new friends, having her own desk, and taking classes such as music, gym,
and art. She experiences many misadventures as she takes everything her teacher says
literally. This book would be good at helping to explain how a normal school day runs and
how students should act while in class.
3. Miss Nelson Is Missing! by: Harry Allard This book is about Miss Nelson, a class
teacher in Room 207 where the kids misbehave every day and show her absolutely no
respect. She is a very sweet teacher and the students take advantage of her. Spitballs are
stuck to the ceiling, and paper planes are being thrown through the air. One day, Miss
Nelson gets fed up and decides to dress up as a mean substitute name Viola Swamp, who
yells at the students, gives them a lot of homework, and makes them work extra hard. The
students begin missing Miss Nelson and when she finally returns, the students have learned
their lesson and made the promise to never misbehave again. This book can be used in an
activity relating towards discussing rules and classroom expectations with students.
4. Oh, The Places Youll Go! by: Dr. Seuss Suitable for all ages, this book reminds us that
we can be all of the things we want to be, with a little bit of work and will power. It informs
students that even though life may not always go according to plan or how we want it to go,
we should still get out there and make things happen. Dr. Seuss tells students that anything
is possible for someone who puts forth a little effort. Success does not happen to people
who just sit around and wait for good things to come to them. According to the story, doing
nothing at all is the worst choice that you can make; for nothing can be gained, if nothing is
risked. With this book, students can create a Bucket List writing prompt activity thats
crafty listing their top 5 places in the world that they would like to go, followed by what
they want to see there, or what they want to do there.
5. A Bad Case of Stripes by: David Shannon This book is about how peer pressure can
highly affect one person. Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she never eats them because
she is worried about what other people would think of her, which leads to her breaking out
in a bad case of stripes. This book can relate to the positive and negative sides that peer
pressure has on people specifically when discussing the topic of bullying. An activity could
be to have students discuss what bully means to them, and why it is not a good thing to bully
their peers.
6. The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by: Mike Thaler - On the first day of school, a boy
falls asleep and dreams that he is assigned to Mrs. Green's class. In his nightmare, Mrs.
Green is a monster with a tail and smoke coming out of her nostrils. He is so happy when he
awakes to see the real Mrs. Green that he gives her a hug. A classroom activity after reading
this book could be to have the students discuss what is a good teacher to them.