Back to School is here! The first few days back will be jam-packed with routines and procedures, but this is also an important time for you and your students to learn about one another. ‘All About Me’ activities are an engaging way for your students to open up to the class. This will allow them to feel like a part of the group and will help them build connections with each other! Today I am going to talk about 4 fun ‘All About Me’ activities for the first week of school!
Ask Them to Fill a Paper Bag
This first activity is a classic! It is simple and effective. Each student will receive a paper sack. The assignment is to fill the sack with 5 things that they love or 5 things that represent themselves. When they return to school, they can each share the contents of their bag, showing us a bit about themselves. This can be done in small groups, whole group or even one-on-one! I like to send the paper bags home at Meet the Teacher Night. This way, you can begin your activity on the first day back!
Practice Directed Drawings for Self-Portraits
This next ‘All About Me’ activity is great for the first week of school or even the first day! A directed drawing will allow your students to practice following directions. It will help you establish some speaking and listening routines, and it will help your students get to know one another.
One way to do this activity is to direct the class while drawing the head, neck, shoulders, and ears. (Direct, meaning give the direction and model the drawing for each of those pieces). Then, ask your students to draw their hair, eyes, lips, nose without modeling each, so they can make those parts unique to themselves. On the back of their self-portrait, they can write 5 things about themselves.
Another way to do this activity is to use the drawing as an information key! Direct the students to draw each part based on a piece of information. For example, when drawing eyes, have them draw a triangle if they have any pets, a circle if they do not. They could draw curly hair if they have siblings, a purple smile if their favorite subject is math, etc. Use the drawing as a key to getting to know each student!
I suggest vertical 12×18 construction paper for this! I also suggest stocking up on skin-colored crayon packs so your students can find their skin color easily! Here are affiliate links to Amazon!
Create a Class Bulletin Board
Looking for an idea that combines back to school bulletin boards and all about me activities? This all about me bulletin board allows students to introduce themselves in the first week of school while decorating your back to school board!
Daily Mix-Pair-Share Activities throughout the First Week
This is another fun ‘All About Me’ activity for the first week of school! If you use Kagan, you will already know about Mix-Pair-Share! If not, I highly recommend looking into some of Kagan’s collaborative sharing methods. For a quick explanation: Students stand and “mix” around throughout the room. When you call “Pair” they pair up with the classmate that is closest to them. Then, share their responses to your question or prompt. You may continue the process, mixing, pairing, and sharing until you feel your students have shared and listening to enough partners, or until your prompts and questions have been used.
For this ‘All About Me’ activity, students can Mix-Pair-Share using the printable prompts from the Back to School ELA sets for Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd, and 3rd & 4th grades! The guiding questions and prompts will help students share about themselves, and, can help direct their focus and stay on topic!
Make a Book About Themselves
A great way to go paper-free for ‘All About Me, is to have your students create a digital book about themselves! Throughout the first week of school, your students can fill out the digital ‘All About Me’ pages. This can be during short transition times, for early finishers, or in larger blocks if you are practicing time routines and such! Then, at the end of the week, students can present their books to one another, as small groups or partners!
Suggested Resources From This Blog Post
- All About Me
- Kinder- Back to School ELA
- 1st & 2nd Grade- Back to School ELA
- 3rd & 4th Grade- Back to School ELA
- All About Me Bulletin Board
