First Day Activities 5

Some activities are all about serious information gathering than.

1. Contact and Other Information - Have students give you the following information: 1) name; 2) nickname; 3) father’s and mother’s (or guardians’) names; 4) home address; 5) home phone number for father; 6) home phone number for mother; 7) work phone number for father; 8) work phone number for mother; 9) birth date; 10) favorite subject; 11) what he or she would like to learn in this class this year; 12) any other important information he or she thinks it would be helpful for you to know.


Pros: This is the best day to get real, honest parental contact information, not on the day that a kid knows you need to call home to discuss behavior problems. Get as many phone numbers for parents that you can on the first day.

Cons: Most teachers require students to fill out this kind of information on an index card. It's not original and students may be bored with this activity. You might want to add a few odd questions to keep them awake such as "What's your favorite jelly bean flavor?" or "What's your favorite book or movie?"


2. Strengths and Weaknesses - Have students chart their strengths and weaknesses in general skills or specific subject-related skill sets on a line sectioned into the following: can help others, can help others sometimes, comfortable, need help sometimes, need help.


Pros: It helps to know where students think their skill levels are. This can point to actual problems or mental blocks. Also a great way to find out what strengths your students have.

Cons: Students may not give accurate feedback, but these charts can be a good jumping off point for discussing strengths and weaknesses with students.


3. Person Goals - Have students make a list of four personal goals for themselves for the class. What would they like to know about the subject at the end of the year?


Pros: If there is class follow-up throughout the year with free choice projects, students can experience what it is to direct their own learning.

Cons: Some students may not be familiar enough with the subject - or like the subject enough - to come up with any personal goals on the first day of class. In that case, a sheet for personal goals could be kept in a class binder/notebook/folder, and students could return to the sheet and add goals later during the first quarter.

First Day Activities 4

I've done this interviewing activity many a time on the first day of college and grad school classes. (Education professors seem to like us to show us what an activity is like from actual experience with that activity.)

Students divide up into pairs. Each student interviews the other for 5 minutes. Then students switch roles. Finally, each student introduces his or her partner to the entire class.

For class numbers that aren't even, one group of three may be used. Or one student can be paired with the teacher.

Pros: Good get to know you activity. Involves speaking/presentation, interviewing skills.

Cons: Each student only gets to know one student well, but it's on a deeper level than he or she would participating in a scavenger hunt activity, for example.

First Day Activities 3

Scavenger Hunt

A good get-to-know-you activity. Students circle the room finding classmates who match statements on their list.

Example Sheet:

First Day Scavenger Hunt

Directions: You will have 10 minutes to get as many items as possible on this sheet signed. To get a signature, you must find a person who matches the statement. You may only get one signature from each person.
_______ 1. Person is ambidextrous.

_______ 2. Person listens to jazz music.

_______ 3. Person has red hair.

_______ 4. Person can draw cartoons.

_______ 5. Person plays a musical instrument.

_______ 6. Person has dyed his or her hair.

_______ 7. Person is on a baseball team.

_______ 8. Person has baked a cake.

_______ 9. Person has sung in public.

_______ 10. Person knows origami.

_______ 11. Person has more than 3 siblings.

_______ 12. Person can use chopsticks.

_______ 13. Person is the youngest member of his or her family.

_______ 14. Person has broken more than one bone.

_______ 15. Person is an only child.

_______ 16. Person has been in an ambulance.

_______ 17. Person's favorite color is purple.

_______ 18. Person can draw people's faces.

_______ 19. Person has traveled to a continent outside North America.

_______ 20. Person can speak more than one language.

_______ 21. Person has relatives in New York.

_______ 22. Person has been in a wedding.

_______ 23. Person has more than four pets.

_______ 24. Person can do a hand stand.

_______ 25. Person’s family owns a motorcycle.

_______ 26. Person has had his or her picture in the newspaper.

_______ 27. Person has been on a boat.

_______ 28. Person is left-handed.

_______ 29. Person likes to eat mushrooms on his or her pizza.

_______ 30. Person can rollerskate or rollerblade.

_______ 31. Person lives in a brick home.

_______ 32. Person has met a celebrity.

_______ 33. Person likes to read mystery books.

_______ 34. Person has twins in his or her family.

_______ 35. Person reads comic books.

_______ 36. Person wears contact lenses.

Pro: Gets students moving around, interacting, and learning about each other.

Cons: The activity can become more about getting signatures than getting to know people. Needs supervision to make sure students don't get too rambunctious.

First Day Activities 2

Sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone.....get to know your students with a first day activity and decorate the classroom bulletin boards/walls at the same time.

Here are a few such activities:

1. Have each student create a bio-poem to read out loud and then place on the wall of the classroom.



Bio-Poem Format

Line 1: Your first name only
Line 2: Four adjectives that describe you
Line 3: Sister/brother/son or daughter of …
Line 4: Lover of … (three nouns—things, people, or ideas)
Line 5: Who feels … (three items)
Line 6: Who fears … (three items)
Line 7: Who would like to see … (three items)
Line 8: Resident of … (city, country, or street)
Line 9: Your last name only




2. Have each student create a poster describing him- or herself for the classroom wall.


3. Have each student create a coat of arms to put up on the wall. Students can be given a paper with a shield-shape on it, divided into quadrants.




Directions for Coat of Arms Activity: Complete the coat of arms below. In the upper left quadrant draw a picture that represents yourself and write four words that describe you. In the upper right quadrant draw pictures and write four words that describe your family and friends. In the lower left quadrant draw pictures and write four words that describe your hobbies and other things you like. In the lower right quadrant draw pictures and write four words that describe what you expect and how you feel about this school year and this class. Decorate your coat of arms, so it represents you!

Pros: Students feel pride seeing their work decorating the classroom walls. It makes them feel involved. Students enjoy reading each other's bio-poems or looking at each other's artwork regularly. It's a nice visual way to learn about your students - and have them learn about each other.

Cons: Some students don't want to be so vulnerable with their classmates, so they won't put much information on their poster. Also, you need to watch for vandalism and graffiti on any of the posters. Sometimes kids can be cruel to one another.

First Day Activities

I know that many school years have just ended or are about to end, but it's never too early to start thinking about the next school year.

Coming up with interesting first day activities can be a challenge.

Over the next few days, I'll be listing some that I have collected while teaching and while in grad school - including any pros and cons that I'm aware of.

1. Friendly Letter

Have students write you a friendly letter introducing themselves. You may want to ask them to include answers to specific questions.

Pros: Nice way to get to know more about students, see their writing skills, and review friendly letter writing form. Students also really enjoy receiving replies to their letters. I actually had a real mailbox in my room to hold our correspondence back and forth.

Cons: Keeping up with writing reply letters to students is time consuming - especially if you have a lot of students. Some students may not express very much in their first day letter.

Variation: Have students pretend that they are a friend or a family member. Have them write a letter to you as that friend or family member. He or she should tell you what that student’s strengths and weaknesses are, how he or she feels about the subject, how he or she feels about school, what kind of student he or she is, etc. (This might make it easier for students to share information about themselves.)