First Day of School Introductions
So – this is something I did every year on the first day of school. I’m still very sad that I didn’t keep these books when I left first grade the first time! But – it’s still a fun idea, IMO!
On the first day of school, I would take a picture of each student. Sometimes I took more than one, depending on my theme. My last year, my kiddos were Super Stars – so I took a pic of them all dolled up like they were on the red carpet, and then another regular one that I would use for the project below.
Innovative Books
So – has anyone heard of creating innovative books? Honestly – I think this started with one of our ELA curriculums, and I’m SURE that this terminology has changed (that was when guided reading first came to our district) – but that’s the wording that has stuck with me. Innovative books… Well, for us, an innovative book was taking a book that we were very familiar with, and changing it up. So, that’s what we did with Brown Bear, Brown Bear Who Do You See. (Thanks to Mrs. Coleman for another great idea.)
We would read this book, and then I would present the innovative book to the students. They absolutely LOVED it!
Here’s how it worked:
With the pictures I took on the first day of school, I would import those pictures into a PPT – and then use the “chant” from Brown Bear, Brown Bear- but instead it would go like this:
- Mrs. Juneau, Mrs. Juneau, who do you see?
- I see Adrianna looking at me!
Then the next page would have a picture of Adrianna – and it would say:
- Adrianna, Adrianna who do you see?
- I see Brock looking at me! (then this page would have Brock’s picture)
- Brock, Brock who do you see?
- I see Caitlyn looking at me! (then this page would have Caitlyn’s picture)
That would go on until I not only had all my students, but I also added our administration, counselor, custodians, front office, nurse, and other teachers that my first graders would need to know. We also used our Who’s Who google slideshow to help learn our faculty and staff.
Then the last page would be a picture of the entire class (taken on the first day of school as well). It would say:
- Mrs. Kebodeaux, (our admin) Mrs. Kebodeaux,
- Who do you see?
- I see Mrs. Juneau’s class looking at me!
Fun first day of school activity
This was the perfect way for students to learn other kiddos names, as well as a great little book to be put into our reading center.
Before paper, ink, and privacy issues – I always printed one book for our classroom, and then made a copy for each student to bring home to practice reading our FIRST first grade book.. Many parents thanked me for this – as it helped them put faces with names as well. Not sure you could send it home now – but again- still a great idea for reading center.
Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you try it out!
**Now you can even present it on the Activboard as a presentation through Google Slides. But I would still print it out for students to look at during center rotation. I’m serious – this book was always a favorite – they loved looking at the pictures, and how much they change throughout the school year.
Other Fun first day of school activities
As we all know, that first day (first few days) can be sort of crazy trying to get all of the supplies done, trying to keep your students engaged and content, while dealing with everything else that comes your way. Here are two other resources we use to get to know students and to have something to focus on to get their minds off of the fact that they miss their parents. We have a back to school I have who has game, as well as the Who’s Who Google Slide or PPT.
I’d love to hear from you!
Did you end up using this the first week of school? Did you improvise and use it differently? I’d love to hear what you did!
Sincerely,
Shanon Juneau
We Are Better Together
