Some Sample Activities for the First Week of School (and Beyond)

The first week of school, and beyond, gives teachers the opportunity to set the stage for the rest of the school year. Beginning of the year activities can model student engagement and enable students to preview the coming year’s academic questions and challenges, get the know more about the lives of other students, learn more about what and who they value, collaborate, consider rules and expectations that can make a difference in learning and in life, create meaningful symbols of their classroom and school, and much more.

 Below are some examples of activities that can help meet these goals. I hope that not only are useful as they are, but that they also trigger your own ideas for beginning a new school year. Feel free to modify and adapt them to meet your needs.     

• Preparing  for the academic year

           Share your expected outcomes and expectations for the coming academic year, either orally or in writing. If possible, share this information in the form of relevant questions or challenges that will be discussed and explored  during the year. Ask students to respond to the following questions:

·      What do these outcomes-expectations mean to you?

·      What do these expectations and outcomes suggest that we will be focused on during this school year?

·      I’m hoping that you will “aim high” in my class this year. What does “aim high” mean to you?

Then ask students to reflect on these expectations and outcomes and put them in their own words to share and discuss. Have them draw a representation of our expectations and outcomes to place around our classroom and in the hallways.

Design a set of classroom rules and expected behaviors to support reaching the expectations and outcomes. How should the rules and expectations be enforced? What can students do to help make sure that the rules and expectations enable us to fulfill our outcomes and expectations?

 Be prepared to periodically revisit the outcomes and expectations, to ask students how we are doing in meeting them, and what should we be doing differently.

• Getting to know each other - The Name Tag Exercise

(Note: This could be done in each class, several   classes together, or by an entire school).

 Give out large index cards to each student. In the middle of one side of the index card, have students place their name and a nickname, if they have one. They will then put something in each corner of the card, such as the following.

o   Left upper corner -- Something you like to do, such as a hobby

o   Right upper corner – someone who is a hero for you

o   Left lower corner – something you are proud of

o   Right lower corner – a goal you have for the future

Ask students to walk around and exchange their cards in pairs for discussion. Students switch pairs after two-four minutes so that they can share and discuss their cards with many others.

Then, in a large group, ask students what they learned that was interesting about others from doing this exercise.

•  ·What do I value? - Values Writing Activity

(Note: This short activity has been demonstrated to shrink the achievement gap among students. In a study, students who wrote about this for fifteen minutes and didn’t even discuss it shrank the     achievement gap by 40%!).

In order to analyze student’s writing skills and examine what students value, conduct the following exercise: Have students answer the following questions: What do you value the most and why? What are your most important values and why? Then, ask students to share their responses in pairs.

 Discuss as a large group. List the values described by students. Discuss whether the values include helping others, solving problems, dealing with injustices, etc. Discuss whether there are values that are missing. Put key values on a posterboard or similar large poster and post in the classroom to periodically remind the class what they value and discuss any new thoughts or changes.

•   How can we collaborate well with each other during the year? - The “Helicopter” Activity

(Note: You will need a stopwatch or some other means of timing the devices made for this activity)

After organizing the class into small groups of 3 or 4, present students with the following problem: Use one sheet of 81/2x11 paper to design an airborne device that will descend from a seven foot marker at the slowest possible rate of speed.

 Limitations and specifications:

o   No materials may be used other than the one sheet of paper

o   The paper may not be torn into pieces

o   The paper must be designed into some form other than a plain 81/2x11 sheet

o   The device must be released from a stationary point at a seven foot height and fall free-floating to the ground without any external interference.

 After students design the device, the teacher should hold a competition to see who has designed the slowest device according to specifications. The winning team should receive some sort of simple prize.

 Then discuss the small group process students used to design the airborne device. Was their significant cooperation among the students? What collaboration problems emerged (if any) and how were they resolved? Who became a leader? What other roles did students play as they developed their device? Share the idea that collaboration will be important this year, with the hope that students will collaborate well with each other as the year progresses.

•   What is a peaceable classroom and school?

Ask students to define the following:

o   Peace

o   Peaceable

o   Community

If students have trouble, share the following definitions:

o   Peace – a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relationships

o   Peaceable – inclined toward or promoting peace; not hostile

o   Community – a group of people working together to advance mutual interests

 Work with the class to develop common agreed-upon definitions of these terms.

 Then: Generate a list of specific qualities that characterize peaceable classrooms and schools. Some examples include:

o   People cooperating with each other

o   Good communication

o   Respect for one another

o   Tolerance for differences

o   Finding ways to resolve conflicts peacefully

o   Lots of good problem solving

 Encourage discussion and specificity of these characteristics.

 Finally, discuss the question: What do we have to do to create classrooms and a school with these characteristics? Brainstorm ideas and put the best ideas on a poster to display in the classroom and to share with others in the school. Use these ideas to develop a set of rules and expectations for the coming year.

• Logo Design Contest

Beginning a new school year provides an opportunity for students to design a new logo for a classroom or school. First, discuss the idea of a logo for a class or school, how it represents the important values of the classroom or school, etc. Then have students either work alone or with others to develop a logo for the coming year. The art teacher can help with this project as an initial activity, and the students can vote to decide on the best logo for the school year or the teacher or principal (with a teacher committee) can choose the one that best represents the classroom or school. The best design can be posted around the classroom or school. It can be placed on new clothing apparel sold to students. It can also be used on e-mails sent to parents and others, new brochures, bookmarks, school stationery, etc.

• Simple things that we can do to make the world a better place

Share this idea with students: Sometimes we think that making the world a better place requires a great deal of time and energy. The reality is that there are many simply ways to make the world a better place, things that can be done in the classroom, school, at home, or more generally on a regular basis.

Give some examples:

o   Be kind to someone

o   Help someone who needs it

o   Do something nice for a classmate, schoolmate, family member, etc. (something unexpected)

o   Volunteer to tutor a student who needs help in a subject you are good at

 Brainstorm a list of simple things that might be done by all of us this year make the classroom, school, families or world a better place. Make a list of the best ones and place the list in a visible place in the classroom. Then ask every student to pledge to do one of the simple things as often as possible  during the coming week. Have them write their pledge on a piece of paper with their name on it and turn it in to you. At the end of the week, give them back and ask students whether they followed through on their pledge. Ask them to consider making a pledge for the next week and see if they can do it. Try to encourage students to as often as possible during the coming year do things on the list to make the world a better place.

 • Who are the heroes?

First, discuss the idea of a hero. What is the definition of a hero? Who are the heroes that come to mind and why? Focus not only on people that they know personally but also people that they’ve learned about who made important contributions to science, government, exploration, education and to the betterment of lives in general. Make a list of names and discuss why they are heroes if it seems appropriate.

 Then, give students an assignment to interview up to five people that they know to discover who they consider to be heroes and why. Have them keep a list of the names of the heroes and the reasons why they were chosen. Collect this assignment and take the time to discuss and share the responses with the entire class.

 Ask students to choose from either their own brainstormed list or from the names suggested by others one person that most represents heroic qualities to them. Have them write a reflective essay on who they chose and why. Post their total list of names collected through this activity and their essays on who they chose and why around the room and in the hallways.

 Finally, ask students to reflect on the qualities of heroes and how they each might become a hero to others. Ask them to consider how they might behave during the coming year so that others might value who they are and they might work towards becoming a hero to others, either through their behavior or their future careers. Periodically return to this activity to review the characteristics of heroes and add names to their lists.

• Self - Contracts

(Note: Self-Contracts are a good way to get students to become independent, self-sufficient learners. They can be used in many ways during the school year).

In this activity, students are asked to make a contract with themselves to indicate what they will do this year to improve their lives and the lives of people around them, both things that they will continue to do and changes that they would like to make in their lives. Give some examples:

o   Be nice to my siblings

o   Work harder to get better grades

o   Get less angry and be better problem solver

o   Be more tolerant of others

o   Use my time better – play less games and watch less TV

o   Ask for help when I need it 

Each student should start by writing on a sheet of paper: I, (name) promise this year to:

Then give them some time to write their responses and look it over.

Come back to their responses a week later and ask them if they have begun to fulfill their contact. What are they doing well? What needs to be done better? Have them write their responses. This is an activity that a teacher can come back to periodically to have students add to and change their list, judge how well they are doing, share parts of their contracts, etc.