Favorite First Grade Back to School Activities

The first week of first grade can be exhausting to say the least! Usually by Friday I’m ready to crawl in bed by 8pm. Definitely a whole new level of #teachertired Surviving the first week of first grade is a little easier with some go-to low-prep activities to use year after year! So what do you do during the first week of school? Here are a few of my favorite first grade back to school activities!

First Grade Back to School Activities: Idea 1

Jitter Juice Book, Poem, and Treat

This is an oldie but goodie! First we read First Day Jitters. This is the first read aloud we do on the first day of school. It is the perfect opportunity to practice procedures for sitting on the rug and listening to the read aloud. We learn how to do a turn and talk with our elbow partners and make some quick predictions during the story. The book has a surprise ending that the kids love! 

A little later in the day we read the Jitter Juice Poem. We read it a couple different times and I have students come up and circle sight words they recognize in the poem. 

Finally, students get to enjoy some jitter juice! Which is really just a pitcher of green Hawaiian Punch 😉 while they drink their juice, they get their very own copy of the jitter juice poem. They can find and circle sight words or just color! 

First Grade Back to School Activities: Idea 2

Chrysanthemum Name Activities

First graders love their names! I always incorporate name activities during the first week of school! 

Our second day of school read-aloud is always Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I tell the students this is my FAVORITE book and ask them to think about what their favorite book is. Then we practice a turn and talk again and share our favorite with our elbow partner! 

As we read we discuss what the author wants us to learn in the book- It is important to be kind and our words have power to hurt others or help others! 

Later in the day we talk about our names and how each one is special just like Chrysanthemum’s name! Then we do some name station activities. This is the perfect opportunity to practice working in “centers” and learn about the word work materials they will use throughout the year during reading centers. 

At each of the classroom tables I put a different activity and a class name list for students to practice making their name and their classmates’ names! 

Some of the activities include:

Magnet letters

Letter Beads and pipe cleaners 

Play-doh 

Water color 

Stamps 

I like to spread the activities out over a couple days. The centers give us the chance to practice procedures for how to clean up materials quickly and quietly and transition from one activity to the next! 

First Grade Back to School Activities: Idea 3

No Prep Writing Craft (FREEBIE!)

Another one of my favorite first grade back to school activities is completing a No Prep Writing Craft! The first week of school is a great time to learn procedures for using scissors and glue. Before I even pass them out we model and discuss how to use each supply safely and correctly. Then students complete one of my no-prep writing crafts. I love starting with these because of how simple they are! And they are so cute for hanging up in the classroom or back to school bulletin boards! 

You can grab these no prep crafts for free here! 

First Grade Back to School Activities: Idea 4

Solve the Room

Solve the Room is a math activity that students complete during math centers each week throughout the year! I love having them practice as a partner activity during the first week of school. I tape a set of my Solve the Room Math Task Cards around the classroom. I give each student a clipboard and a recording sheet. Students walk around the room with their partner, find the task card, solve, and write the answer on their recording sheet. Read more about how I Manage my Math Centers here!

You can find my Solve the Room Year-long Bundle here!

First Grade Back to School Activities: Idea 5

Back to School Night Writing

Another one of my favorite first grade back to school activities is this Back to School Night Writing!

Our Back to School/ Meet the Teacher Night is usually about a week or so after school starts. I love having students complete a little writing activity at the end of our first week together to leave for their parents when they come in. First we brainstorm all the things we’ve done and learned so far in first grade. I record their responses on an anchor chart. Students then complete their writing/drawing activity independently! 

One thing that I’ve learned about the first week of school is that you never get to everything you have planned, and that’s perfectly okay! Do what you have time for and save the rest for next year.

I hope these first grade back to school activities and ideas are helpful. After the week is over make sure you treat yourself to something special! (Your favorite adult beverage perhaps? 😉) You deserve it!

Will you try out any of these activities this year? Let me know in the comments! Happy first week of school!