Back To School Worksheets
We have an amazing amount of high quality resources for teachers that are returning to school from the long summer break! You'll find tons of things to print.
Getting To Know You Worksheets
- Getting To Know You BINGO - You will have twenty minutes to meet all the students in your class. The teacher will then call out the Last name of a student. Look below at the letters in the boxes. See if you can write a word that begins with that letter. The word must describes that student. It can be a personaility trait or a fact about them.
- Getting To Know You: All About Me - Introduce yourself to people in your class.
- Getting To Know You Scavenger Hunt - Find someone in your class that is described by each item found in the boxes below. Put their name in the box that describes them. For each box a different person must be selected.
- Getting To Know You: School Trivia - With a partner, answer the following questions about your school.
- Getting To Know You: Student Interview- interview a member of your school.
Classroom Rules
- A Letter Home To Students - An easy send home for you parents.
- Elementary Level - Four different rule sets for you to consider.
- Middle Level - each set could apply to different times throughout the year.
- High School - Funny how older kids need more instructions.
Seating Arrangements For Students
These are a series of different ideas for how to arrange the desks in your classroom based on your focus, at the time.
- Arrow
- Aisle
- Centers
- Direct Teaching
- For Projects
- Giant "U"
- Groups Of 4
- Science Lab Tables
- Semi-Circle
- Staggered Seating, "Z"
Name Plates For Students
Print these out for student desks to get to know each others names.
- Abe Lincoln
- Apple School
- Banjo Play
- Canada Hill
- Clown
- Flowers
- Frog
- Happy Pencil
- Magic Bunny
- Native American
- Off To School
- Pilgrim
- Ship
- Singing
- Stack Of Books
- Turtle
Name Tags For Students
You can get sticky labels to print these on for a little more creativeness.
- Butterfly
- Cheer
- Clown
- Cowboy
- Crystal Ball
- Doggie
- Doggie b/w
- Dollar
- Frog
- Giraffe
- Horse
- Karate
- Mailbag
- Penguin
- Penguin b/w
- Rodeo
- Shoes
- Sparkle
- Star
- Town Crier
Bulletin Board Characters and Songs
SongsTeacher Center Signs
Signs for your classroom so students can follow along on their own.
- Alphabet
- Art, Biology
- Chemistry
- Computer
- Creative Writing
- English
- Environment
- First Aid
- Geography
- Hands-on
- Handwriting
- Health
- History
- Home
- Language Arts
- Maps
- Math
- Media
- Music
- Penmanship
- Physics
- Plants
- Poetry
- Presentations
- Reading
- Science
- Social Studies
- Spelling
- Study
- Weather
- Writing
Teaching Theme Signs
These are good to help your students get in a state of mind.
- American Revolution
- Animals
- Antarctica
- Canada
- China
- Christmas
- Civil War
- Colonial America
- Community Helpers
- Constitution
- Dinosaurs
- Earth
- Egypt
- Electricity
- Explorers
- Forces of Nature
- Halloween
- Hanukkah
- Human Body
- Insects
- Inventions
- Japan
- Light and Color
- Magnets
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Nutrition
- Oceans
- Presidents
- Rainforests
- Rome
- Space
- Thanksgiving
- Valentine's Day
- Veteran's Day
- Volcanoes
- Voting & Elections
School Area Printable Signs
- Apple
- Birthdays
- Boy's Bathroom
- Girl's Bathroom
- First Week of School
- Handicap Restroom
- Library
- Restroom
Bulletin Board Characters and Songs
Great Back-to-School Activities for Teachers
Summertime is over, and it is time for the students to get back to school. As a teacher, it is up to you to create a positive and welcoming classroom that encourages students to work hard and helps them stay organized throughout the school year.
If you are wondering how to make the upcoming school year a success, we have put together some great back-to-school activities that will help. So, start the school year with a positive mindset and teach the same to your students. Keep reading to find out more.
Eight Back to School Activities for Teachers
Here is some great back to school activities for teachers that will help students ease back into the regular school life:
1. Distributing Welcome Packs
Welcome packs are a great way to kick start the new school year and give your students some encouragement and motivation to do well. You can include anything you like that will help welcome the students in the new school year. Here are some ideas:
- A welcome note or letter
- Stickers
- Name tags or badges
- Essential stationery items
- Candies or other treats
- Material for arts and crafts activities on the first day back.
- Academic calendar
- Syllabus
2. Essay Writing Assignment - "What I Did Over the Summer?"
Assigning an essay to the class will help improve their writing skills and get their creative juices flowing. You can assign them topics such as:
- Things I learned over the summer
- How I spent my summer
- Places I visited over the summer
After the assignment, allow all the students to share their experiences with the class. This will also help introduce new students to the class and give them a chance to introduce themselves.
3. Assigning Classroom Jobs
Assigning classroom jobs is a great way to teach students how to be responsible and perform their duties as and when required. Assign a small role or task to all the kids. Design a colorful chart with their names and roles assigned.
If you want to turn this into a fun activity for your students, get some paint and brushes and ask your kids to make handprints on a chart and write their names and jobs on the handprint.
4. Rearranging the Classroom Layout
It's a new year which means it's time for a change. Ask your students how they prefer the classroom layout to be, for example, theatrical, round, etc., and involve them in the process of changing the layout. This way, the students will feel important, knowing their suggestions have value and have a say in how they like to be seated in the class. You can also assign a seating chart or consider flexible seating; that is entirely up to you.
Besides changing the layout of the class, also consider some new seating options that are different than the traditional table and desks found in classes. You can go for a large center table with seats around it or several large rectangular tables with multiple seating options allowing the students to be seated in assigned working groups throughout the school year.
5. Introduce Classroom Reward Coupons
Introducing some incentives or rewards is an excellent way to get your students to follow the rules and work hard. Make a chart with goals and paste it on the notice board in the class. Emphasize the importance of achieving these goals and how rewarding it will be for them. Here are some creative classroom reward ideas that will serve as an excellent incentive for the students:
- Movie day
- Storytime
- Toy show and tell
- Extra recess
- Free seating day
- Picnic day
- Having a class outside
Use this reward system to encourage students to follow the rules, be punctual, finish the assigned work on time, and complete their assigned jobs.
6. Self-Assessment Survey
Allow students to take ownership of their learning by conducting a self-assessment survey. Encourage them to be honest in the survey and reward truthfulness. This will allow students to assess how far they have come in their personal and academic growth journey and how far they still have to go. This activity will make the first few weeks back easier for your class and make the rest of the school year better for them as they have a tool to assess where they stand.
7. Designing Back to School Photo Frames
Get crafty and design some back-to-school phone frames with the students. You can ask them to bring pictures from the places they visited during the summer. Not only will they have fun designing the frames, but we are sure parents will also appreciate this thoughtful gesture. This activity is really simple to set up. You will only require some basic stationery items, which are as follows:
- Scissors
- Glue
- Construction paper
- Makers
- Pictures
- Glitter and stickers
- Ribbons
- Pictures to be framed
8. Creating a Set of Class Rules
Starting the school year by introducing the classroom rules is a great way to get things rolling. It would help the students to know precisely what is expected from them. Involve them in the process of deciding a few rules to help make them feel like they are responsible for them. Class rules help set the decorum and structure for how things will be throughout the school year. It also teaches students the importance of following rules. Here are some common classroom rules to add to the list:
1. Be kind
2. Be honest
3. Help your peers
4. Respect your teachers and elders
5. Be punctual
6. Finish your work in time
7. Keep your school clean
8. Be prepared for class
9. Raise your hand before speaking
10. Remain silent when the teacher is speaking
Wrapping Up
Back-to-school activities are essential for adjusting the students to the new school year. As a teacher, it is up to you to build a sense of community in the classroom and also reward and encourage positive behavior. We hope these ideas will allow you to have a great time helping your students settle in the New Year. Good Luck!