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Classroom Resources

Monthly Themes

Back to School

Writing Prompt

Personal Narrative/Story:

Instead of having students write what they did over the summer, have them write about what they've always wanted to do over summer vacation.

Activities

Grade K: Art
New Faces Mural

Have students get to know one another with a classroom mural showing their names and faces.

  • Who's That?
  • http://www.eduplace.com/activity/k_1_act1.html
Grades K–2: Art
Coloring Pages

Here are some back-to-school pictures for your students to color.

  • School Bus
  • http://www.kidsrcrafty.com/tgcolor/school14.gif
  • Schoolhouse
  • http://www.kidsrcrafty.com/tgcolor/school05.gif
  • Pencil
  • http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/back_to_school/color8.htm
  • Backpack
  • http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/back_to_school/color6.htm
Grades K–2: Language Arts
Name Game

Help students learn one another's names (and run off some steam) with this game.

Grades K–4: Art
On Your Block, Get Set

Work out any bugs in your “back-to-school” morning routine with this fun (and filling) neighborhood activity. Have your child color the invitations and make a card that everyone can sign for the bus driver.

  • Bus-Stop Bagel Bash
  • http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/famf89school/famf89school2.html
Grades 1–2: Language Arts
New Classmates Survey

Have your students get acquainted by taking a simple survey of their favorite pets and holidays.

Grades 1–3: Language Arts
Memory Game

Students will have fun as they strengthen their memory skills when they play School Concentration.

Grades 1–4: Language Arts
Getting to Know You

Have students get to know their new classmates and then write an acrostic poem about their new friends.

Grades 1–6: Language Arts
One-on-One

Have students pair up and interview each other about their summer activities.

Grades 1–8: Language Arts
Word Scrambles

Can your students unscramble these fun school words?

Grades 1–8: Science
Bring Out Your Inner Inventor

Have an convention in your classroom or school and let students show off their inventiveness and ingenuity.

Grades 2–3: Language Arts
What I Really Like

Have students start the school year by making a list of favorites. This can become the basis for an ongoing project that results in a book of favorites at the end of the year.

Grades 2–4: Language Arts
Who's Behind the Screen?

Test how well students know one another's names with this game.

Grades 2–6: Language Arts
Stories About Yourself

Tell students a little about yourself, using a cool diagram, and then have them write stories about themselves.

Grades 2–8: Language Arts
Plan Ahead

Help students get off to a great start this year by giving them a homework plan. Homework is an important part of their learning, and planning ahead can help make homework easier.

Grades 2–8: Language Arts
Back to School Word Find

Have students find back-to-school words hidden in a puzzle.

  • Back to School (grades 2–3) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_easy_wf.pdf
  • Back to School Answer Key (grades 2–3) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_easy_wf_key.pdf
  • Back to School (grades 4–8) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_hard_wf.pdf
  • Back to School Answer Key (grades 4–8) (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_hard_wf_key.pdf
Grades 3–4: Language Arts
Mystery Words

Students will have fun decoding 13 back-to-school words.

  • Decoder
  • http://www.billybear4kids.com/graduation/back-to-school/puzzles/decoder.html
Grades 3–6: Language Arts/Social Studies
A Long Time Ago

Show your students this picture of students in a classroom in 1907. Then ask them to write a story from the point of view of the children in the picture describing their first day of school.

Grades 3–8: Language Arts
Back to School: The Movie

On the first day of school, just about anything can happen. Have students create a movie scene about something funny or strange that happens on the first day of school.

  • Filmstrip (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/pdf/filmstrip.pdf
Grades 3–8: Language Arts
Study Strategies

Help students get started on the right foot. Go over this list of study strategies with them. Then have them each write down five strategies they will focus on this year.

Grades 3–8: Language Arts
School Wacky Web Tales

Students can create wacky stories about school by filling in the blanks with parts of speech.

Grades 4–8: Language Arts
Friends Forever

Help students think of words that explain what makes lasting friendships. Have your students fill in the game grid. A dictionary or thesaurus might be helpful.

Grades 4–8: Art
3-D Collage

What can students do with all those summer movie and concert stubs, extra post cards, seashells, and whatever else they collected? Why not make a 3-D collage? Using bits and pieces from everyday life as conventional art materials is not new, but it took artists such as Pablo Picasso to make collage recognizable as fine art.

Grades 4–8: Science
Fast Food

Have your child learn how to make a simple and nutritious snack for lunch or after school.

  • Yummy Hummies
  • http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0997/hummies.html
Grades 4–8: Social Studies
Kids Today Have It Easy

Did children really have to walk two miles (in a blizzard and uphill) to school years ago? Have your child interview a relative or a friend to answer questions about the similarities and differences of school days then and now.

Grades 5–8: Language Arts
In Case of Emergency

Help your child create a useful home-alone or baby-sitting guide.

  • Home Alone!
  • http://www.eduplace.com/activity/homealone.html
Grades 6–8: Language Arts
Be Prepared

Have students create an emergency drill guide that will help them know what to do in the event of an emergency at school.

Grades 6–8: Language Arts
Crossword Puzzle

Have students solve this back-to-school word puzzle.

  • Back to School (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_xword.pdf
  • Back to School Answer Key (PDF file)
  • http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/august/pdf/school_xword_key.pdf
Houghton Mifflin