How to Create the Best First Week of School in Upper Elementary Grades!

Are you drawing a blank about the what to do on the first days of school in the upper elementary grades? I can help!

(And if you’re already past the first week of school – some tips here might help you too!)

Here’s the first thing to know: the day will go by more quickly than you think. It helps to prioritize the most important things you want to accomplish on the first day.

Here are some of my priorities:

*greeting students and helping them to feel welcome in my class

*collecting school supplies

*learning names

*building classroom community

*establishing classroom routines and procedures

*make them want to come back the next day! 😉

This quote from Michael Linsin of Smart Classroom Management sums it up for me:

“My number one goal on the first day is not that they know the rules and consequences. It’s that they’re excited to be part of the class. That they run home to their parents and say, “Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. It’s going to be great.”

A key thing to remember on the first day of school is to be flexible. Some things (maybe most things) will not go as planned. Some activities may take more time than you think and others will be finished quickly. It’s a good idea to OVER-plan, but realize that some activities may have to be scrapped.

With that in mind, here is a very general template for what your first three days might include.

Template for the first day

*To prep in advance (besides all the things you’ve done to get your classroom ready, that is!):

~seating chart and name tags so students know where to sit on the first day (it is anxiety-producing to have to choose their own seat or to potentially be told they aren’t welcome to sit with someone)

~easy, non-threatening morning work options such as one or two of these:

1 – a word search puzzle with classmate names. There are several sites for making these, but here is one site and here is another good one.

2 – complete some kind of student questionnaire like this one.

3 – Give them a small ball of Play-Doh and tell them to make something that represents them somehow

4 – coloring sheets. We Are Teachers has some free signs you can download and print for your students.

~Decide which supplies you will collect (to be used as community supplies) and which supplies you want students to keep at their seats.

Then set up an area to collect the community supplies – use bins, boxes, whatever but include a label for each supply (pencils, notebook paper, binders, etc.).

~Morning routine slides that give directions for finding your cubby & unpacking, putting supplies away, which supplies to keep at desks, finding your seat, and morning work.

Now to get the day started! A key principle: as best you can, keep a balance between sitting/listening activities, movement/talking activities, and desk work activities.

As you start your day:

*Greeting – introducing yourself, reviewing names of students (maybe by having them introduce themselves and tell one interesting fact about them), and reviewing the schedule for the day.

*Introduce morning meeting. Some options for doing this:

~Use a question of the day. This resource is a good one and here is another option from Just Two Teachers.

~Adapt these morning meeting slides shared on Bitmoji Craze for Educators group on Facebook.

(If you’re not familiar with morning meeting, read my post about starting that routine HERE.

*Try some kind of game to build community. This could be a name review game or anything else that’s quick and fun and gets them standing up and moving around.

Some fun options:

~classmate scavenger hunt

~Walk Talk Swap is a fun activity to get students walking around and talking to each other

~rock, paper, scissors tournament – when students lose, they follow the person they lost to and cheer for them throughout the tournament

~try these fun “would you rather?” questions from Just Two Teachers

~another fun activity is to play Four Corners with these questions from Just Two Teachers

~if space is a factor, you can play the line game with these questions instead. Put a line of masking tape on the floor. If something applies to the student, they step on the line.

*Now it’s time to introduce some classroom routines and procedures (see my list below for what to teach on the first day and what can wait until later).

One of my favorite things to do is to make a list on chart paper of the procedures we will learn during the first week. I draw three checkboxes beside each procedure. The first box is checked off when I actually teach the procedure. The second box is checked when we review it/practice it (maybe the next day). The third box is checked when we agree as a class that we understand and can do the procedure with consistency (possibly in the next week or two).

*Try another activity where they learn more about each other (see the ideas above). Another fun option: pass around a roll of toilet paper and tell students to take “as much as they need.” Next, have them count the number of squares. Tell that that they have to share one thing about themselves for each of their squares of toilet paper. Kids love this game! (If anyone gets uncomfortable and runs out of things to share, it’s fine to stop – this should be low-pressure.)

*Then it’s back to seats to talk about more procedures (possibly related to restrooms, lunch and recess, depending on your schedule).

*This might be a good time to set up binders or work folders in whatever way you are going to use those this year. Upper elementary students want to “get down to business” more quickly than younger students, and setting up their work materials is important to them. (This also gets some of those “supplies to be kept at your seat” organized and put away.)

*If you have time before lunch and recess, consider a fun picture book read-aloud or chapter book read-aloud.

*After lunch/recess, reset with another another read-aloud. (This is a great way to reset after lunch/recess all throughout the year.)

*Share some information about yourself! Kids want to know more about their teacher. Here is a link to editable teacher slides from We Are Teachers.

*When the day is nearly over, consider this check-in inventory from Just Two Teachers.

*End the day with some sort of closing circle to wrap up the day. I don’t do these all year, but I like to do them during the first week of school to help me get to know my class. We just reflect on what we did during the day and answer a question, such as “What is one thing you learned about a friend today during our activities?” or “What is one thing you are going to share with your parents about your first day of school?”

*Some fun “homework” options:

~send home some homework for grownups to complete about their child!

~have students prepare to share more about their interests with this “It’s in the Bag” activity.

You will probably be exhausted by the end of the day! But here is some homework for you.

*Take some notes about how the first day went – which activities were successful? What did you notice about how your students interacted with you and with each other? Who is quieter and who is more talkative? What about seating – are there students who might need a different space? Think about what changes you might want to implement on day two. (By the way – this is a good task to do any day of the school year!)

*Make some “rules” for yourself to protect your time and energy. Begin implementing these rules on the very first day.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

~Don’t check email after school hours (or at least not in the evening).

~Set a daily time when you will plan to leave school and stick to it as best you can.

~Set a workout time and place for yourself (three times a week is a habit!).

~If you need to do work on the weekend, get it done on one day and leave one full day entirely work-free.

~If possible, leave your school laptop at school.

~Plan something fun to look forward to in your personal life – a weekend away? A dinner with friends? Date night? Plan it and schedule it and look forward to it.

*Call or email a few of your students’ grown-ups at the end of the first day. (Try to reach out to all of them by the end of the week.) Share something you appreciate about their child or just say that their child had a great day and you look forward to your year together. This helps establish positive relationships with families right from the start.

*Get some sleep! Back to school exhaustion is real.

Template for the second day

Continue trying to alternate a quieter, listening activity with a more active, talking activity.

Think about using various games as your active/talking activities. This allows you to observe your students and get to know them in a different way.

Here are some options:

~play some math games (multiplication games for grades 4 and 5, addition/subtraction games for grade 3). Here are some great game options HERE.

~Saving Fred (how to do this activity and some other Saving Fred variations HERE)

~cup stacking challenges – there are lots of fun ideas HERE

~a marshmallow and toothpick tower challenge is always fun! Here’s how to do it.

Now onto some ideas for the second day.

*Morning work – try giving them another simple activity.

Curriculum Corner is a great resource website. Here’s a link to their September welcome messages and their September morning work ideas.

*Morning circle & greetings; review names; review schedule for the day

*Share more about yourself with your slides

*On a piece of chart paper, write the words “What do you need from your teacher?”. Allow your students to write their responses on post-it notes and add them to the chart.

*Do a fun read-aloud – I like to read something about the importance of our names (knowing everyone’s name and pronouncing them correctly).

*Review procedures (possibly by playing a game). Here is an option.

*Talk about establishing the importance of kindness in your classroom. There are lots of great read-alouds for this topic. My list has a full category of books HERE.

Here are some fun, free posters about kindness from We Are Teachers.

*Possibly incorporate an art activity.

~This could be simple (like the coloring sheets from day one) or something more complicated, like creating self-portraits. (Here is my favorite self-portrait version.)

~A name design is fun too, especially if you read a book about the importance of names. You can write student names in cursive or print and have them trace around their name using different colors until there is no white space left. Or let them do the writing of their name. This makes for a great display and helps your classroom to look more kid-centered (instead of teacher-created).

Here is a fun name tag STEM challenge!

*Introduce one academic block time – possibly ELA. This would be a good time to have students do some independent reading for about 15-20 minutes. It’s a great time for you to observe which students love to read and which students have more trouble choosing a book or staying focused for the full reading time.

It’s also a good idea to provide books in bins at tables instead of having students browse in your classroom library. Save that activity for after you have taught those procedures.

Here are some fun, free reading posters from We Are Teachers.

Another idea for your ELA block is to use a reading survey such as this one.

*Are there other work materials to set up? Such as math notebooks or science notebooks? Today would be a good idea to get those materials organized and ready for learning.

*If any students brought their brown bags to school today (from THIS activity), have one or two students share their bags with the class.

*Extra recess is always welcome if you need another activity!

*Do another closing circle. Here are some possible questions: What is one thing you learned about your teacher today that surprised you? What are you looking forward to doing this afternoon after school?

*Your “homework” after the students leave for the day:

~connect with more students’ grown-ups

~honor your work boundaries with the “rules” you set for yourself!

Template for the third day

*This would be a good day to fully implement your morning arrival routines. Whether your school does “soft starts” or whether you’re expected to start with some kind of morning work, today would be a good idea to gradually introduce that.

“Gradual” meaning one-three soft start choices (even if you will allow others later), or relatively easy morning work (math review, for example).

*Morning meeting & activity

*Share more about yourself with your slides

*If any students brought their brown bags to school today (from THIS activity), have one or two students share their bags with the class.

*If you have not yet used technology devices, today would be a good idea to introduce them, discuss rules/routines/procedures for device use, and do some activities with devices. You might introduce Google Classroom (or other learning platform), and you could also include some games using Blooket or some of these fun Quizizz activities.

*Continue the academic block you introduced yesterday, and introduce another one or two blocks.

Here is a fun math activity to kick off your math block from Just Two Teachers. (By the way – please subscribe to my blog to see my future posts about math block routines and resources along with science & social studies routines and resources!)

Math Coach’s Corner is one of my go-to sites for math. Here are some place value games from her site and here is a fun computation game.

*Create identity maps with your students. Here is a post I wrote about how to do that based on the activity in Sara K. Ahmed’s book Being the Change. (These make a great classroom or hallway display.)

*If any students brought their brown bags to school today (from THIS activity), have one or two students share their bags with the class.

*Continue implementing your schedule and academic blocks.

*Continue read-alouds.

Template for subsequent days

*Continue implementing your schedule and academic blocks

*Continue reviewing/practicing/reinforcing procedures

*Share more about yourself with your slides

*Continue sharing student brown bags

*Continue read alouds

*Continue your academic blocks and begin content instruction

*Begin or continue assessments

*Consider using dialogue journals

*Remember that a little extra recess is always a good option!

Some fun ideas to reward yourself for making it through the first week!

Bracelets (Taylor Swift-ish)
Stanley tumbler
Emily Ley teacher planner
Teacher’s last nerve lavender candle
Teacher stickers
Post-it dispenser
Otter tape dispenser
Panda stapler
Teacher notepads

If you’re new to teaching upper elementary grades and you want more guidance, take a look at my course Get Started Teaching in Upper Elementary Grades.

Need more inspiration for back to school activities? Here are more suggestions!

How to build classroom community – 10 easy tips

5 Tips for Back to School Tired

The First Six Weeks of School

10 of the Best Back to School Activities

10 More of the Best Activities for Back to School

Engaging Activities for the First Two Weeks of School

Get Your Reading Block Started – 15 Tips

Getting Started with Writing Workshop and Word Study

Getting Math Block Started

12 Tips to Rest and Reset After the First Week of School

Resources for Social Studies and Science