First Day Survival Kit

It's fun to give something to your students for "Surviving" their first day of school.  We have a cute poem that we use at our grade level but because of allergies in my classroom, I had to tweak it a little. Here is what I do (in case you'd like to steal it).  

You will need, band aids, Smarties, erasers, stickers, baggies and Starbursts.

I then wrote the following poem:

Today was your first day of first grade.

I knew you'd make it through.

We had a lot of fun today

and tomorrow we'll have fun too.

There are many things I have planned this year.

I know you'll learn a lot.

And so I've made this little kit

to remind you of what you've got...

*An Eraser: The best way to learn is from mistakes, and we'll make a lot together.

*A Sticker: This class will stick together and cheer each other on.

*A Band aid: You have a teacher who cares about you and will take care of you while you're at school.

*Smarties: You are a smart person today and tomorrow you'll be even smarter!

*A Starburst: You are a STAR!

Let's have a great year!

~Mrs. Doran

Then I put all the items in little baggies and hand them out at the end of the first day of school 

(that is if I survive it...).

First Day Fun

I was at a staff retreat recently and we learned this fun activity to get to know each other's names (though most of us knew each other) and learn a little bit about each other. This is a great game for the first days of school.

All you'll need is a beach ball and a marker (or I used clip art and packing tape).

On the beach ball you can write questions like "What makes you scared?" or "Where is your favorite place to be?" etc... Or if you have lower elementary students (like I do), you could find clip art that represents questions.  For example the dog and cat picture above could be, "Do you have any pets?" and the bus picture could be, "What is your favorite thing about school."

The way the game works is you stand in a circle and throw the beach ball to someone.  When they catch it they say their name.  So if I caught the ball, I would say, "Hi, I'm Laura." To which everyone would reply, "Hi, Laura!" Then I would look at the pictures near my thumbs and share something about myself with the group. Below my thumb landed on the crayon box so I would share with the group my favorite color.  Then it would be my turn to throw the ball to someone who hasn't had a turn. 

This is a fun game to play that helps you learn names and a little more about your students.