I fully remember the stress of back-to-school craziness. You have a whole room to piece together, a new roster of kids to learn, and the expectation of having the first couple months of lessons planned to a ‘T.’ It can definitely be a lot!
I found the easiest way to be prepared to handle at least one of those stressors is to have ready-to-go materials that are effective, fun, and engaging. The first few weeks are filled with ice breakers and get-to-know-you moments between you and your students. So, I would take advantage of this time by doing activities that informally assess where the students are while they are learning.
Here are 3 of my favorite activities for the beginning of the school year. These are super easy to implement and can be lifesavers during pre-planning!
Not only did my students love this fun game, but I did too! I loved how students could record their measurement estimates and then practice using a ruler to see the true measurements. Some students would get a bit competitive in their groups and see who would get the most right, and a little friendly competition is just the perfect ice breaker!
There are many images for the students to measure, as well as types of measurement. They practice measuring to the nearest inch, half-inch, quarter inch, centimeter, and non-standard unit of measurement. To make this a bit further, I would add a unique non-standard measuring tool, like a crayon, and let students guess how many crayons the graphics are in length. It definitely surprised some!
You can make charts and graphs with the findings. You can use this as morning work, individual work, or centers. This one simple activity is an absolute must-have and was a staple in my classroom!
Here is a class favorite! As I’ve hinted before, games are the best ice breakers. A friendly game of bingo is the perfect resource in any classroom. Bingo is a classic that can be utilized often as a fun pastime, a challenging practice activity, and a relationship builder in the classroom.
I highly recommend THIS bingo kit as it has 4 different types of activities based on fractions, place value, tens frames, and telling time. Probably the best selection of review subjects there is, really! I loved keeping these in my back pocket for rainy days as well. Your substitute teacher can easily use them, your students can use them during centers and small groups, and you can even bring them out for a friendly competition with a prize!
So, overall, these can be used all year long, not just at the beginning of the year!
Probably one of my ALL time favorite must-have math resources in any classroom is the Math Skill Checks Bundles. If you are looking for a lifesaver, boy, have you found it! These were the absolute reason not all sanity was lost during pre-planning.
These kits are specific to each grade, for Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth grades. If you decide you like the year-long bundles, you can get printable and digital versions of multiple skills check worksheets based on each standard in your grade. Yes, you read that right!
I LOVED the differentiation these worksheets brought to the table and how they helped provide multiple ways to show mastery of each skill! We all know each student isn’t the same and doesn’t express their mastery in the same ways either. That’s exactly why I loved these!
This is another resource you can use YEAR LONG and not only during the back-to-school season. However, this is the perfect material for non-formal assessments at the start of the year and after lessons. They can be used as homework, whole class work, group work, and door tickets. Just so many reasons you need this in your class!
All three of these resources are the perfect fix to some of your pre-planning worries! If I could snap my fingers and help you set up your classroom and learn all about your future students, I would definitely do it! Until I figure out how to do that, I hope you enjoy your new year and these wonderful activities!
You can find more resources like this at my shop!
