Ideas for the first week of school
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Laminated hearts with students’ names: used for DPS compliment cards. Pass
out one heart to each student; students have to give a compliment to the
person on the card. Also cards can be used to get to know each other – ask
the person whose name you have a question about themselves.
Icebreakers: throw the ball, around the world (review from first grade), toss
a ball of yarn to someone who shares something in common with you
(interconnectedness of the community)
Name game: sit in a circle and say the names of all the people who have
already said their names, then say your own.
School tour: get to know the new school: exits, bathroom, gym, music,
religion, recess, dining room, etc.
Journal about vacations (take home journal and decorate it)
Copy schedule in the agenda
Pass out notebooks
Name and label notebooks
Ask for pencil case and small photo
Note students’ birthdays and make a bar graph of birthdays by month
Write a paragraph about what to expect in second grade and what they want
to learn
Review English vocabulary with songs
Calendar activities (season, year, month, day, time)
Whole class reading (comprehension questions)
Review Jolly Phonics 42 basic sounds
Mental math activities to review from first and informally discuss strategies
(esp. ways to make a ten)