Alright guys, I'd LOVE to share some pictures of my classroom with you, but I am EXHAUSTED.
I've been working on school stuff until 11:00 the last two nights, in addition to 6+ hours at school. Tomorrow is teachers' first official day back, and I still have a bunch to do-but I have to be totally ready to go before I leave tomorrow.
'Why,' you ask. Well tomorrow is a full work day, but Friday is all meetings. Saturday is my bachelorette party, and Sunday is my first shower.
So you could say that I'm a little busy.
Here's where you come in:
I need some REALLY great beginning of the year activities.
Think you could help me out? :)
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I do lots of team-builders the first few days - get-to-know-you Bingo, Partner Interview Presentations, Teamed Puzzle Races, and Personal Artifact Bags for homework....fun, but with a purpose!
ReplyDeleteHere is my post from earlier in the week if you want to check out the details....
http://allensteachingfiles.blogspot.com/2012/08/get-to-know-you-activities-beautiful.html
And Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!! When is the date?
Corrina
Mrs. Allen’s 5th Grade Files
Those look great! We may have to do some of those!
DeleteThe wedding is October 7th-it's coming up quickly!
I played would you rather with my kids...anddddd it did not last as long as I was expecting it to last. Looking back I would have had some get to know you Bingo with them instead!
ReplyDeleteI am feeling the same way right now with staying up till 11 pm working on school items! First week of school is next week and everything needs to be ready for back to school night tonight!!!! Some of my favorites for the first week/day are having a snowball fight (hand out a half sheet of paper, write 3 favorites or vacation facts, crumple up into ball, and throw for 1 minute to pick up someone else paper to introduce), get to know you Bingo, and team building strategies. One activity I use is have teams build a tower out of note cards. Afterwords, discuss their strategy and why they did or did not work as a team. Good luck!
ReplyDeletehttp://teachingtrainingandtots.blogspot.com/
I went into my classroom yesterday and found my folder of first week of school activities. I thought I lost that last year when I moved classrooms. I was very happy!
ReplyDeleteI posted yesterday about a get to know you activity called a Me Bag. Everything is on the link below.
http://teachtravelthrive.blogspot.com/2012/08/me-bag.html
-I work on goal setting (I have a soccer ball worksheet that they write their goals on)
-We read "Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. Then we paint the bottom of our feet (I KNOW!) and decorate the front of my classroom with adjectives around our footprints. I also hang up a quote from the book "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."
-I read Frindle every year with my 5th grade students so I can get to know their reading levels.
-There are always those blank Bingo boards... Sign your name if you went on vacation, play soccer, have green eyes, etc.
Hope that helps!
My 5th grade students LOVED this activity! http://mrsrojasteaches.blogspot.com/2011/08/great-picture-book-find-w-printable.html to help introduce rules and help learn why we really have rules.
ReplyDeleteLOVE it! I just paid extra to get it here by Saturday-if I'm this amused by it, the kids are going to find it to be HYSTERICAL!
DeleteI teach 6th grade also, we haven't done me bags this year yet but they usually enjoy them. I played a game called 2 truths and a lie this year that they LOVED! They write down 3 things (2 being true and 1 a lie) and then put them in a bucket. I draw and read the cards and they guess. It was really funny when one student put down I have blond hair and they guessed every kid in the class with blond hair - turns out that was the lie- they often forget that part! I found a classmate scavenger hunt online (blog or pinterest) that they really enjoyed also.
ReplyDeleteWe do a Post-it Note getting to know you activity. We write down five facts about ourselves and spread them throughout the room. Then kids get to choose one, read the fact, and we guess as a class who it might be. Since I have 26 kids and 5 notes each, plus 5 for me, it draws out all week!
ReplyDeleteI also have my kids write Goal Letters to themselves about what they want to accomplish this year (both in school and out). We seal them and the kids get them back in January to revise them, seal them again, and then again in May.
I do team builders, lots of practice with rules and procedures, and introduce a few important concepts in my class. I blogged about my first week here: http://thatteachingblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/what-we-did-during-week-one-yay-for-alliteration/
ReplyDeleteAnd my first day here: http://thatteachingblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/my-sixth-first-day-part-one-or-my-sales-pitch-for-kagan/
and here: http://thatteachingblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/my-sixth-first-day-part-two/
Kristin
I with everyone on the team building activities. In the past, my students sat in groups, so I had them create team banners. They divided the banner in 5 sections. In the top section, they had to create a team name and decorate it. I don't remember exactly what the other sections were, but they were something like favorite subjects, favorite past times, one word to describe each person. It really could be anything. We then hung them up at their tables.
ReplyDeleteAnother cute activity I just recently learned of is to give them 12 balloons and a strip of masking tape. They have 3 minutes to discuss and plan how to build the highest tower. Once the building begins, they have to do it with absolutely no conversations. It is a great way to see how they work together.
Congrats on getting married. That is so exciting for you. Hope you have an amazing year! :)