The end-of-year period is a great time to pause and reflect on the experiences that made up the school year. Let the reflecting begin with a worksheet that prompts scholars to think back and respond with important lessons...

Use a set of quick and easy to use literacy centers at the beginning of the year as you start to assess your learners. The 13-page packet provides writing and reading activities with simple directions that allows new class members...

Youngsters analyze a book discussing a child's fear on the first day of school. They discuss the characters in the book, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. Then they discuss their own fears and uncertainties about starting a class with...

Get ready to laugh with your class by reading the book Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School. After they read the book and do activities comparing their first day of school with Amelia' they will then have conversations around the story....

Foster community in your classroom and encourage learners to get up and get to know each other. Individuals each receive the classmate inventory handout included and use it to fill in information about their fellow scholars. Once they...

It's that time of year again – the beginning of a new school year! Recognize the new start with appropriate stationery. The page featured here includes cute clip art and a border of diplomas and ABCs. See the materials tab for additional...

This second lesson in a larger unit is perfect for the beginning of the year because it explicitly teaches 3rd graders how to use close reading skills by identifying unfamiliar words, figuring out the gist, and defining important...

Third graders answer text-dependent questions of the story Nasreen's Secret School both independently and then collaboratively through using the carousel of questions strategy. This plan is the seventh instructional activity in a...

If you are working on colors, printing names, introductions, and other projects in the first few weeks of school, use a series of activities designed for English language learners. It includes cute ways to wish your little ones...

Give observational and writing skills a boost with a worksheet that takes scholars on a sight-seeing journey around the school. Learners read sentences and color a corresponding picture, then write their own observational sentence...

What does showing respect look like? What behaviors show disrespect? After modeling such behaviors, primary graders create a flag that they hold up while demonstrating respectful behavior as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The...

Use this attitude survey to find out how your class members feel about reading. You can then analyze the responses, and design a unit study of Rowling's novel based on these attitudes.

Check out this detailed resource for some beginning of the year activities. After examining examples, class members uses the computer lab to create a personal brochure enhanced with clip art or photos to introduce themselves to the...

What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...

Get your kids moving on the first day of school! This action verb activity doesn't have to be used as an ice breaker, but it sure will work as one. Simply place pairs of cards face-side down on the carpet, each with an action verb...

Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...

This writing pre-assessment has minimal instruction but maximum support and encouragement. It begins with a review of the book, Rain School, through a think-pair-share and small group discussion. The discussion...

Help your learners get a good grasp on grammar. An insightful pre-test allows teachers to learn about their young writers' knowledge of the building blocks of grammar, so they can begin building a unit of study. It includes a...

In many places in the world, people go to great lengths to get books to read. This beginning-of-the-year activity uses pictures of people reading in extraordinary situations to stimulate effective listening and speaking using the...

The Election of 1912: an election with four competitive opponents. Pupils get to know the candidates with informative reading passages that provide context to the election. Then, the class engages in a debate and answers questions as one...

Acrostic poems are a great way to get your class in the back to school mode. Each poet will compose a poem using the letters of the words 'back to school' as the beginning of the first lines of each line of the poem. There are many...

Join the newspaper business with a series of lessons and exercises focused on elements of journalism. The packet focuses on distinguishing fact from opinion, writing effective headlines, sequencing events, and editing and...