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.