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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

“Write On” With This Back to School Activity

Click HERE for more info and pics!

Where does the time go? I admit that I've been missing in action for a bit of time now, but I have a great excuse... KIDS! 

This has been a whirlwind of a year and I'm actually really excited and looking forward to returning to the classroom but it wouldn't be a fun and exciting "Back-to-School" time if I didn't get to share my new Back-to-School activities with you! 

Here are some ideas and tips to help you dive back into your classroom routine. This activity will serve as not only a fun activity, but also provide an opportunity for your students to work on literacy skills and even some social skills. In addition, this activity works to help break the ice. After all, it’s so hard to come back to school after being out all summer, right?!

Providing fun activities that include practicing literacy skills is so important for our students. As a teacher, I feel super successful when I am able to incorporate literacy into other activities and centers in my classroom. I am also always thinking about creative and constructive ways to do this, especially with a classroom of diverse students. This Back-to-School Bus activity meets all of these teaching goals for me! It is designed to not only help students acclimate back into the classroom setting in a fun and easy way, but it provides an avenue for them to reflect and express fond memories about the summer. 

The Back-to-School Bus activity comes with several writing prompts for different age and grade levels. While students are practicing their critical thinking, sentence organization and writing skills, they are actually participating in what feels like a fun art activity. Students are able to creatively express themselves in writing. I know my students love thinking and talking about themselves and their precious experiences so this activity provides that fun opportunity while also engaging students in other ways. It barely feels like schoolwork! 

As a teacher, I will also model how to do this assignment by telling my students about my own wildly fun, and somewhat quick, summer vacation. This ensures engagement and provides a starting point for students. In addition, as an extension to this activity, teachers can have children get into small groups or pairs and discuss their projects in more detail. This extension helps them practice budding social skills and helps me to model appropriate social skills as I flow through the classroom and informally assess them, even though it’s cleverly disguised as fun conversation! This activity provides teachers with a beginning assessment to really see where students are at and what their interests are which is so important at the beginning of the school year, especially. This helps me become a better teacher as I get to know my students in a way that helps me teach them more effectively. 

For this teacher, that is a well-played win =)

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