Getting to Know You Activities
These activities are our absolute favorite ways to get to know our students!
I officially had my first back-to-school nightmare… in July. It was the first day of school, kids were arriving in 12 minutes, and I couldn’t open Google Drive to access my lesson plans. I was angrily threatening to physically harm my computer while crying out to my coworkers that I wasn’t ready. “What am I going to do with them!?” I hollered before jolting myself awake. Clearly, the first day of school matters, and teachers often feel the pressure to plan a perfect first day. We know that getting to know students and establishing relationships is the most important work, and it begins as soon as students walk through the classroom door. The following activities are our absolute favorite ways to get to know our students!
Design Your Morning Work Journal
At the start of the year, each student is gifted a special composition book for morning work journaling. Thankfully, this comes out of our team’s budget and we can still afford to buy 100 per year. If you are unable to purchase composition books, lined paper or digital journals can work perfectly too! We’ve found that journaling is the perfect low-prep morning work activity, and we typically have students write in them every other day. Journals provide time for students to express ideas, reflect on learning, activate background knowledge, brainstorm thoughts, and build writing stamina. At the start of the year, a lot of the prompts ask students to share about themselves or become silly, yet interesting, discussion topics. As the year progresses, our morning work journal prompts relate to books, topics, or themes we are studying.
From the very first day, we want students to LOVE their journals. First, we take a class set and wrap the entire pile in wrapping paper. Then, we unwrap the “gift” in front of the class and hand out one per student. Then, we invite students to the front kidney table to pick 3 special stickers to personalize the front of their journals (or one large and two smaller stickers). Of course, this comes with a catch. After selecting and sticking, students must complete their very first writing prompt, which asks students to explain the reasoning behind each sticker selection. Because it’s their first written prompt, we model exactly how we want the journals organized and share our sample entry. In terms of organization, each prompt gets a fresh page. At the top, students write the date on the first line and the title of the prompt on the second line. In this case, the title is “STICKERS!” Then, we provide 10 minutes for students to write about their sticker selections. After writing, students may share with table groups or partners, and we like to call on a few students to share with the class. Throughout the year, we have extra stickers on hand for rewards and prizes, and students are often excited to continue customizing their special journals!
*Storage tip! Put a piece of masking tape on the spine and carefully write each student’s name. Then, you can stack all notebooks with spines facing out in a plastic crate so students can easily grab, write, and return!
If you’re interested in viewing a sample of our morning work journal prompts, including the “STICKERS!” prompt, visit our Teachers Pay Teachers store!
All About Me; Play-Doh Edition!
Using Play-Doh as a getting to know you activity is certainly not a novel idea. In fact, it was inspired by two incredible books, Teach Like a Pirate and Play Like a Pirate. We highly recommend reading them if you’re interested in outrageous, hands-on classroom fun! We love using Play-Doh on day 1 to quickly get students talking and building. The best part is, once you buy a class set of Play-Doh, you can continue using it in lessons throughout the year!
Here’s how we put our own twist on using Play-Doh as an ice-breaker. We call this activity, “Who am I? Who are you?” First, we challenge students to answer 5 multiple choice questions and/or true/false questions about their teacher. To answer, students will craft either a T for true, an F for false, or an A, B, C, or D out of Play-Doh on their desks. This is a fun way for students to make guesses about their teacher while also being able to look around and see what answers friends are selecting. We read quiz questions aloud while projecting our Google Slides presentation on the TV. Then, when we reveal answers, we like to share pictures of us and our families. Once the five questions are answered, the game shifts from getting to know the teacher to getting to know the students.
For part two, we have 5 prompts asking students to sculpt something that reveals a little more about them. After each prompt, we ask students to share with table groups while we circulate the classroom. Then, we call on a few students to share with the class. We highlight connections and call out similarities. For example, if a prompt asks students to sculpt their favorite animal, we might ask for a show of hands while saying, “Who sculpted a cat? Who created a dog?” and so on.
Once the activity concludes and the Play-Doh is tightly capped, we like to challenge students to create two of their own true/false or multiple choice questions about themselves on an index card. It’s a great way to quickly see writing ability, and we can use the cards during extra time throughout the first week of school. If we line up a few minutes early, for example, we will pull out a card and ask the class a question. Students get excited to hear their classmates' responses and share the correct answer. Alternatively, we’ve had some students go home and craft 5-10 question quizzes for us to take the next day!
If you’re interested in using our Who am I? Who are you? template, check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Who-Am-I-Who-Are-You-Play-Doh-Activity-8285688
Would You Rather?
This is an old classic and another classroom favorite! We usually do a 20-minute Would You Rather activity as a class sometime during the first week of school. Once students understand the format, these also become excellent fillers if you have a few extra minutes, or they can be used to encourage quicker transitions. For example, you might hear us say, “If you line up quickly and quietly, we can squeeze in a few Would You Rather questions!” These questions also make interesting journal prompts! Lastly, to get students comfortable with a new “tech tool,” we enjoy encouraging students to generate their own Would You Rather questions and post them to a Padlet for friends to see. We model how to post and discuss the importance of appropriateness in a shared digital space!
If you’re interested in seeing some of our favorite Would You Rather questions, check out our slideshow in our Teachers Pay Teachers store!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Would-You-Rather-Google-Slides-8285756
Word Search with Names of Classmates
This activity will certainly get students out of their seats and will encourage student interactions. First, create a word search using only the first names of students. We purposefully omit the word bank, so the first thing students must do is build their own! To do this, students stand and introduce themselves. They have to ask the names of their classmates and proper spelling. Then, students can work to find each name within the puzzle. We let students work with a partner if desired, after all, the entire purpose of the activity is to build connections. Often, we give out a ticket (to be used during a Friday prize day) as a reward for completion. This is a quick, low prep activity that students always seem to enjoy. Our only recommendation is to double check that every student’s name is included and spelled correctly!
Here are some word search generators:
Word Search Worksheet Generator | Education.com
Create Your Own Word Search Puzzle | Discovery Education Puzzlemaker
Create Your Own Word Search | Easy Word Search Maker (mywordsearch.com)