Back to School All About Me Projects

I have lots of favorite projects, but this one tops my list for back to school!

 It was easy, fun and so darn cute!

 We made All About Me Bagpacks!

This is a twist on the original project by the clever Brooke Hilderbrand, but I just had to have these blue lunch bags from Target! We chose green cardstock for the rest of the backpack pieces, but they can be copied on any color for use with a traditional brown bag!

The back of the bag has information for the student to fill in about themselves, their likes and things that make them special. I sent a copy of the back side as a home assignment, so the parents could help their children with correct spelling. We recopied the words onto the green paper in class.

Step by step and piece by piece, the children assembled the bags. We did this as a whole class activity for our Fun Friday. The bags stayed in the room over the weekend to dry.

A note went home in a Ziploc bag asking the parents to help their little ones gather five items that could generate some ideas that the children could tell to their classmates as a getting to know you activity. 

Some brought in pictures, others found a favorite toy or a medal they had earned. The only requirement was that it had to fit in the baggie. On Monday, we gently placed the items in the bagpack. 

As a listening and speaking activity, the students shared their project by reading the back side aloud and then showing and telling about their items on the document camera. They loved that part the best! 

 This little princess shared her crown! Smiles!

Some students brought in funny toys that did silly things and we all had a good giggle too!

I can't wait until the parents see the finished project come home! They will love them! 

My class used to do a similar project in a "me box", but since I am pretty much brown bag project crazy, I will definitely do this one again next year! If you'd like to grab a copy for yourself, you can find it here!

If you love this lunch bag craft, stop by again soon.

My class is working on a cute little brown bag book for apple week. :)

Back to School Icebreaker Activity Cards

On the first day of school, a new class is usually super shy and most of the kids are nervous. I always like to do a lot of getting to know you activities, especially during the first week. As you probably know, I just LOVE task cards of any kind in the classroom. I have stacks of them handy and ready to use for so many activities! I'm super excited to share with you the latest in my card set series! This time, it's all about creating a fun and comfortable classroom environment from the start! Here it is!

It's a 40 card set with all kinds of cuteness featuring Melonheadz Kidlettes! 

You can read the full description here if you like!

 This is my plan. On the first day of school, I will have my kids sit in a circle. These cards will be face down in a draw pile. I will pick a stick and that child will have a turn. They choose a card, read the prompt and TALK! The others will practice attentive listening while we all get to know each other better. If any of the kiddos are feeling too shy to share on the first day, I may give them the option to pass and come back to them at the end in case they change their mind! I think they will once they see how fun and easy it is.

BEFORE the activity starts, I will choose a few cards and answer them. This way, the kids will get to know me and I can model the way I want them to elaborate with their responses. 

We can do this again on another day too, because each child will likely draw a different card the second time around. We may even use these for quick writes here and there!

I know they will love it and I hope you do too!

Happy teaching!

Star Student~ All About Me Posters!

Everyone loves a chance to be the center of attention! Do you acknowledge a Student of the Week in your classroom? A fun idea I have used with my littles is to give each child a turn to create a special poster as a take home project and display it on a Star Student bulletin board! This is also a great way to help the class to get to know each other better throughout the year.

Presenting... 

All About Me Tees! 

The posters come in black and white, so this one above was a work of art!

So who get to be my Star each week? There is no rhyme or reason to selecting who the Star will be. Everyone will get a turn. But somehow, the students always respond well if I tell them I am watching them to make my decision!

A Family Project

I send the prized poster home with the chosen "Star" along with directions for the parents, in a big bag or cardboard tube several weeks in advance. Open house in the beginning of the year would also be a good time to have the parents take the poster home and work on it slowly because they do take some time and are a super cute keepsake.

The students may decorate their poster any way they like and in my letter I encourage the use of crayons, stickers, craft items, glitter and all sorts of creativity! 

You can download this letter (editable) from my Dropbox here.

Of course our Star Student also gets special privileges like reading in the beanbag chair, the front of the line and all of that important stuff too!

Superstar Presentations

When it is presentation day, usually a Friday for us, the Star reads and explains their poster to a group of super attentive classmates. They love this time to shine!

 Afterward, the class may ask some questions and the child will answer them. This is a great activity to practice speaking and listening skills.

 I start shopping now for things I know I will need next fall. 

I love the option to bring it in and store it away for the summer rather than keeping it at home.

 Even better is to order online and have some items shipped directly to the school!

I just placed my order from Really Good Stuff for next year's Stars!

What great ideas do you have for celebrating a STAR?