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Hi everyone! What is your favorite first day of school science activity/demonstration? I will have my own classroom here soon, and am looking for awesome ways to capture my students' curiosity and imagination with science!! Best, Lauren Patton Future Biology Teacher

Science Room scavenger hunt- you can adjust to guide students to things you want them to check out (and things you don't) this is great not just for the nuts and bolts of where things are (which is especially helpful to new students) but you can also generate some curiosity and excitement about what is to come this year in science. Maybe there is a new classroom animal. For example, we have guppies as a 4th grade water quality project, but this summer I took them home because of a long commute to school. The students are used to seeing the guppies in the tank. They won't be returning to school until we are ready for the project. At the end of the summer I put a horseshoe crab, coral and a sea sponge in the empty, dry aquarium...it generated a lot of excitement and questions at the beginning of the year. Maybe you want to get them excited about tools they might use in the upcoming year, so the scavenger hunt might guide them to microscopes, a weather station or something like that. You don't have to have a dedicated science classroom to make this work, it is also a great way to point out all the science in a general classroom too!

I did a Volcano activity for a demonstration. I did not do it on the first day of school but I think it would be a fun demonstration to show the students. They will be able to come up and look at the lava and volcano up close table by table. My students got a really kick out of the volcano. I made it look very realitstic.

I did a space demonstration showing the distance the planets are from the moon and had the students physically moving to show how far away they were and included a solar system skit, where each child was a planet and had to act their part. It was a different way of showing the solar system and was actually a lot of fun. I think doing anything interactive to get students going will start the year off really well and will have the students excited as well!

I showed my students condensation by using a cold cup of water and ice and asked the students how did the water get on the outside. A lot of the students said that the water leaked through the cup, but then I showed them a cold coke can and asked why water leaked through the can when their isn't water in the can. I thought it was a great way to make them really think.

I am currently in student teaching 3rd grade. I am placed in Reading ELA split class so I have not got to experience science in the class room, This post was very interesting and I cant wait to experience science in elementary school next semester.

I did this activity with the students on melting chocolate. At what temperature does chocolate go from a solid to a liquid? Is it different for white and dark chocolate? • Put one piece of chocolate on a paper plate and put it outside in the shade. • Record how long it took for the chocolate to melt or if it wasn't hot enough to melt then record how soft it was after 10 minutes. • Repeat the process with a piece of chocolate on a plate that you put outside in the sun. Record your results in the same way. • Find more interesting locations to test how long it takes for the chocolate pieces to melt. You could try your school bag, hot water or even your own mouth. • Compare your results, in what conditions did the chocolate melt? You might also like to record the temperatures of the locations you used using a thermometer so you can think about what temperature chocolate melts at The students had fun and they learned.

I'm student teaching and today I watched a great "turn and talk" with my kindergarten class. We read a book called "The sun, the wind and the rain" It discussed the rock cycle in a very friendly child manner. It was also nice to hear what different information the students got from different parts of the book.

I just came across this "evolution puzzle" activity while searching for stuff on evolution. It seems like it would be a great activity to just introduce science in general.

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Hi Lauren- I think it's awesome that you're already starting to think of science activities you can incorporate in your future classroom. I recently learned about the following website: http://99centscience.blogspot.com/ The women who started this blog are experienced science educators who know how to create cheap science activities that are fun, explorative, and provide students with explanation. I think this website would have tons of ideas for you to do a short activity with your students the first day of school. AND the materials for each activity are affordable, too! Hope it helps.

I like the idea of doing something science related on the first day and some of the activities people have already mentioned seem like they would be a good fit! This got me thinking about how I would incorporate it into the busy first day and I think that a science activity would be a good way for a teacher to model several different instructional routines like gathering materials, working in a group, putting things away, etc. and then have the students practice them. Since teaching routines is such a huge part of the first few weeks this would be a way to help the students practice them in an engaging and fun way!

For young children, we decorated rocket ships using paper towel tubes and we tied a string at a diagonal from one end of the class to the others to get the rocket ships to go from Earth to the moon. Just make sure if you make a pointed top that it has an opening for the string to go through. Let the kids get creative, some of my kids made wings on the rocket ships and tied strings to the end so that it would have a nice effect and the kids had so much fun with this.

Here is an idea: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/89720217549517681/

What a great idea! First day back can be an exciting and scary time for students and new teachers like me. I think incorporating a science project will help the students be engaged and have a memorable experience. thank you

I always begin the first day with the students doing some real science. I have them observe an unknown substance , usually cornstarch and water. They determine the properties of this unknown substance. The next day, they observe regular ice and dry ice, and we begin GEMS Dry Ice Investigations. I also make sure that safety is always addressed for each activity. Doing science on the first day sets the tone for the rest of the year. On the first day, all the other teachers are going over rules, talking a lot. Students appreciate not having one of their 7 classes doing something fun and doing science.

You might look into doing several biology discrepant events just to get your students thinking. Another idea is to do an engineering design challenge like Save, Fred or build the biggest tower. It's a great way to have student thinking scientifically even if the activities are not directly related to biology. I also suggest having student set up their lab notebooks on the first day of class.

I am jumping into this to make sure I don't miss out on any future posts. Thanks for the great ideas!

The First Day of School is a nerve-racking experience for many students because they do not know what to expect from classes and teachers. Therefore, I find it important to give students a snapshot of how the class works. For teachers implementing inquiry-based learning practices, they need to demonstrate to students that they will never know what to expect in class, because they are in control of their own learning outcomes. Teachers could create a framework for a problem or project, allow students to work collaboratively, and bring students back together for a discussion on what they learned. The majority of suggestions for middle and high school science first day of school demonstrations are student-centered approaches where students are introduced to the scientific process.Teachers could provide guidelines to inquiry that help students think metacognitively and diverse assessments that analyze student's understanding.

These are awesome! Definitely looking at this for the next school year. Thank you for everyone who posted. 

A good first day of school activity could be reading Hurricane City by Sarah Weeks. This books is a really funny and covers storm names for every letter of the alphabet. This book teaches children about how hurricanes names are alphabetize and switch from girl boy order. After explaining this and reading the book. You could have the students put their names in alphabetic order and also in a girl boy pattern. This will not only teach them about the hurricane name list, but it can also help them learn the names for their classmates.

I really like the idea of having a science experiment on the first day of school.  I think this will help students get excited for school and give them an idea of the type of science they will be learning throughout the year.  Good idea!

As a pre-service teacher I am able to express lessons which have been successful with students who I have recently met and have taught a lesson to. I usually begin lessons with an exciting set or demonstration. Usually as an introduction a very cool demonstration is exceptionally effective for engaging the students into science. Making sure that the school year is started on a positive note is an important thing to keep in mind. Depending on the age of the students I would begin with some type of hands on  experiment, something as casual as making silly putty or planting plants. 

Scavenger hunts have been the most engaging for students, especially for the first day of school/week. You can use this to tap into student's prior knowledge and find out what needs to be taught or retaught. 

It’s so nice to be able to help our fellow teachers out–especially new ones. Check out this great resource for assignment help online.

I really liked the Scavenger Hunt idea, but it would be good to get an idea of what the kids know or maybe forgot. This will help you have an idea of what their prior knowledge is.

Try giving your students the opportunity to choose from pile of animals. Have the student draw the animal or maybe have them draw their favorite animal and describe what that animals needs to survive. 

Hello, here is the link to a YouTube channel I have been developing called FunScienceDemos. It has over a hundred video demonstrations that cover a wide array of topics that young learners should know. These videos are completely free and NGSS aligned. If you check out the channel and want to subscribe, we regularly release new videos and in the coming year we will be creating worksheets and complimentary materials to go with the videos. I hope this helps https://www.youtube.com/dashboard?o=U Best, Dr. George Mehler Ed.D., Temple University

Hi! In my science content class at my university, we read the book "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" and kinda played with it. We also tried to figure out if the oobleck was solid or liquid. It was fun, and I think you can have this activity in your class. Oobleck is mixture of corn starch and water.

Hi, For an introduction to Science, I did what seemed like a spontaneous picnic outdoors. We sat around outside with our journals, ate a snack, and observed intently to everything around us. The students used most of their 5 senses to write descriptive words and phrases to jot down all that they observed outside. I added a competing factor to this as well. I told the students that the person with the best, most detailed observations would get a prize in the end. They were all very engaged, focused, and driven to tune themselves into nature! I hope this inspires some ideas of your own!  Sincerely, Amerah

Not sure what grade level you are looking for, but for the younger students this is always a fun science experiment ! :) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/200832464610783281/

Some activities that would be fun to teach students on the first days of school would be to state of change in matter. Bring an ice cube or a cup that is full of Ice and have students observe what happens as the day goes on. A good lesson to teach students about liquid and solid. Anything like that students enjoy if it's hands on or they can see the object. 

My students enjoyed doing the lava lamp activity. This was a simple but fun experiment! It gets students interested in science. 

Hello, I am trying to remember fun science activities I did when I was in elementary school. One activity I remember is when I grew my own plant. I was 5th grade, and we had to grow our own plants. This activity was very fun and interesting. I learn so much from this activity. I learned how to grow a plant and how often to water the plant. I think this will be a great activity for students to learn about science! 

marshmallows and toothpicks, have a competition to see who can build the tallest tower!

The past two years, I have done an inquiry activity on the first day since they really struggle from transitioning from the cookbook labs of middle school to the inquiry labs of high school. Last year, I did the inquiry cubes and this year I did the black box activity. Both were activities where the kids were somewhat controlled (not all over the classroom) but were able to work in groups. These allowed them to realize that some activities would not have one 'correct' answer and experience a simple inquiry based activity. These activities also let me see/assess their processing skills and critical thinking abilities.


There are lots of links if you google 'black box inquiry activity' or 'inquiry cubes activity' but here are two good links :)
https://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih6/inquiry/guide/nih_doing-science_mstr.pdf

http://www.bio.utk.edu/biologyinbox/documents/Unit%2010_Black_Box_Exercise_with_Answers_Apr2012.pdf

I like the idea of introducing non-traditional pets such as mealworms which turn into beetles. Doing this at the beginning of the year allows students to watch the science happen before their eyes without even knowing it. It may not be a first day activity but maybe you can schedule it to a time frame in which you will be teaching life cycles. Hope this idea helps some!

I do an activity to reinforce the use of natural resources. I put students in groups with envelopes and they each have the same task but each has something wrong with the materials in their envelope of resources. It may be that their pencil isn't sharpened or their scissors are taped together. Whatever the problem they can't complete the task because their resources are mistreated or depleted. We then equate it not just to how we use the supplies in the room for the year but how we treat the resources in our world.

Inherited Traits/Learned Behaviors Scavenger hunt - I had my students complete a scavenger hunt around the room. They had a chart that listed different traits/behaviors and had to find students that could do the behavior or had the trait. This was more of an opener for a lesson regarding Learned Behaviors but it could be tweaked to use for students in your room and first day activities! 

I have my students do this Science Inquiry Puzzle every year on the first day. (I have mostly 9th graders) I printed the squares on different colored neon cardstock and laminated them and keep them stored in zip lock bags. I keep the small square in a separate bag so each student gets 4 pieces to start out with. After 3 years they are still looking great! It is a great introduction to the nature of science and getting students to be active in their learning. Also, I like seeing the students get frustrated when they can't easily solve the second puzzle. It helps you to see who are your students who are willing to persevere versus the students that give up easily. You learn a lot about your classes from this simple activity and get to have a great discussion about science!  http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/genscience/Choi04.html

Also does it depend on the grade level too, I want to teach third grade and need ideas for first day math and science, which I would like to intergrate.

A fun activity would be a science scavenger hunt. This way the students are up and having fun meeting and interacting with their peers. It also serves you, as the teacher, for a chance to observe and get to know your students. Observing them during the scavenger hunt, you will learn the ones that follow the rules, the ones that keep to themselves, and the ones that don't like to participate. These are things you need to keep in mind when creating lesson plans or seating arrangements. -Stephanie L.

I teach only science, so for me, I get the kids for a short time and I am looking to make it pop. In elementary classes, I start with procedures or expectations but I weave that into an inquiry/discovery lesson. Mostly I use units from the Picture Perfect Science books by Karen Ansberry & Emily Morgan. They include lessons on discrepant events like the jumping beans for 4-5th biology (where students learn that not everything is as it seems at a glance) or "Earthlets" where students learn the value of piecing together all the information that they discover. I've used their lesson on the learn'd astronomer or Rachel Carson, "a sense of wonder" in both cases to introduce in a soft-start way that science is more than "doing". It includes pondering, wondering, ruminating over how amazing creation is...and helping students to place themselves inside that story as active participants in the science journey.

Building off the idea of the scavenger hunt, I think it would a good cycle to then have the students create their own scavenger hunt later in the year. Based on their interests or a research project, they could create their own scavenger hunt for the other students in the class. Each week could have a different scavenger hunt presented for the rest of the class (and teacher) to work on. (Also a good way to make Mondays more appealing.) They would have prior experience and they would be having fun as it is based on student interest.

I've doe the time capsule in the past and it is so much fun. We turn empty Pringles cans or paper towel tubes into miniature time capsules. Ask each child to create a time capsule that includes such items as a handwriting sample, a hand tracing, a self portrait, and so on. At the end of the school year, compare samples from the beginning of the year with new samples. It is great to see the changes at the end of the year.

I love the time capsule idea and may try to implement this into my high school classes and the students' current skills set. Thanks!

These are all great ideas to incorporate in a science classroom. Thank you so much! I am excited to one day use these activities in my future classroom.

I really like the idea of doing a more hands on activity for the first day of school. The first day is such a nerve racking experience for young students sometimes, and doing something that could serve as an ice breaker and an educational moment at the same time would be beneficial. One activity that could be done is teaching about spider webs and how they are made. This process can be done by having a student hold a ball of yarn and say a fun fact about themselves, then they can throw the ball across the circle to another student while still holding their ball of yarn. This would be a fun way for the students to get to know one another while learning about spiders and their webs.

If you have new students you can do a scavenger hunt around the science room. I've done this and the kids love it. It also helps to introduce them to any important safety items, and even things that end up being super helpful to you later, like the trash can, sink and pencil sharpener. You can also put out some things that will peak their interest as they wander around the room.

Hi! The first week of school is always hectic for me because of all the important things that we have to get done. During the first week, the students are doing most of the talking because I want them to get to know one another and etc. In science, I informed them about lab safety. On Friday, the students explored many types of lab safety hands-on activity. Doing this helped them see the importance of lab safety. It also helped them remember the lab safety. For an example, I put a cup of blue water (food coloring) while I had my lab coat and goggles on. Some students went ahead and picked the cup up. They smelled it without my instructions as well. Some students caught on and said that they were not supposed to touch anything as well. As the closure, I asked the students why I included that activity. From that day on, they did not pick up anything without my instructions. Hope this helped!

I am going to share you an idea that I see online. The activity is called Windbag Wonders Team Building. The goal is really quite simple… blow up the Windbag as fast as you can. There is just one little hitch. The bag is 8 feet long! So, how many breaths does it take to inflate an 8 foot long bag? It seems impossible, doesn’t it? After you uncover a little secret called Bernoulli’s Principle, you can inflate the entire bag with just one breath of air. Give each child two or three Windbags and have them inflate each bag. Divide the students into groups of 3 to 5 students. Have the students work together to build a free standing structure. The highest structure wins the challenge.

The First Day of School Science Activities I would like to do five sense. I will encourage students use their five sense to observe the school.

Thank you for all these great ideas! My cooperating teacher began the first day of school with a safety video that was appealing to the students because it was a song. I am in a second grade class and have learned that no matter the age, children love songs! I would add a game board on lab safety to support this topic because we played it in our science class and it was so much fun!

I think a scavenger hunt will be a fun first day of school activity for science, where students are able to work together as teams and communicate with one another. Students can work together to find different objects from newspaper ads or magazines and then have them paste it on one sheet of paper with different categories.

I think that just taking the students outside to observe the nature that surrounds the school would be a great first day of school activity for science. It is laid back, and it is student led so you can see what your students are interested in. It also allows for the teacher to float around and talk to the students about what they are seeing and observe their prior knowledge about science topics. Along with this, students will get to collaborate with peers and build a sense of community on the first day. I strongly support inquiry-based learning, and introducing the students to the idea of guiding and building their own knowledge from scratch will be helpful in the long run!

I will definitely take these activities into consideration!

I really love the idea of incorporating a scavenger hunt on the first day of school. Whether it is science related or not, I believe it's a great way to introduce students to the layout of the classroom, different materials, and where they are located. It is also a great way to get students out of their shells, help them feel more comfortable, and get them up and moving!

I CT had students shake their first day "jitters" into a jar! The jitters were represented with fireflies and by the end of all the jitters being shaken out, there was a jar of "fireflies". From there the conversation went to bugs and insects and we started a lesson on them! It was such a smooth transition :) Great method to use!

These are all such great ways in introducing kids to science! I really like the "spin-the-wheel" activity where the teacher plans a lesson/activity, and the students spin the wheel to complete it. That makes it fun and somewhat competitive! Thanks, guys!

My favorite first day of school science activity is a paper airplane contest. Separate the class into groups of 2-4 and give every group one piece of copy paper. The students are supposed to work together to make the paper airplane that will go the furthest. Although this activity relates directly with Physics, it is an activity that any science class can do the first day of school because it shows how one has to think through what they will do and how to improve a science experiment/scientific inquiry. It also helps students be more comfortable with each other and forces them to work together.

I absolutely LOVE this activity! Not only is this a much better ice breaker than "Three truths and a lie," but it also fosters immediate collaboration amongst your students! Another fun spin-off of this activity would be for them to use this later in the year with content. Students could be provided a prompt such as, "List what you know about force and motion." Students would then list everything they know about force and motion. Once everyone was finished, students would send their paper airplanes across the room. Each student would pick up a paper airplane that landed near them. They would then send these airplanes across the room. Students would pick up new airplanes and launch them one last time. Students would then pick up their last and final airplane, read them, and discuss them with their group members. Once this is completed, students will come together for a whole-group discussion about force and motion.

For the first day of school I like to get the students excited about learning science. The first thing I do is talk to students about all the fun science activities we will do during the year and show them work from prior students.

I enjoyed reading many different methods you all have come up with for first day activities. As a teacher I believe it is imperative to make an attempt at simultaneously breaking the ice so that students are comfortable with each other while at the same time subtly getting a feel for particular students that may have to make accommodations or adaptations for. Every student has various methods that can be utilized to best articulate lesson plans and assess their comprehension of it.

On the first day of school science activities, it is better if you do not start with the subject. You can have some activities related to science like come up with some species picture and let students guess what these are and ask them to tell their features or you can try science word search. On the second day of Science subject you can start with what the syllabus is all about and what is expected. http://ukessaywriters.blogspot.com/

I feel this topic does not have a bright enough light shined on it. I never thought of doing a science activity on the first day! What a great way to start the year engaging and having fun. It would be way better than the first day coloring sheets they have the students do! I would work with starting to grow something and tying it into how the students minds will grow with science this year!

Wow!! There are so many Great ideas in here that will be useful once I am in the classroom!! I cannot wait to try them out, thanks to everyone for sharing their AWESOME ideas for kids learning Science! ~Michelle

I can't wait til student teaching so that I can learn some first day activities, the only guide I have is Pinterest. I think I will write down some of these activities I'm reading on these posts.

One of the most memorable science demonstrations that I recall was in my chemistry class, where on the first day, my teacher showed the burning of different substances to get the flame to show different colors, such as purple or green. This was a great way to capture the students attention and get them interested in the subject.

Another suggestions is to do activities that will both get students engaged and interacting with their peers. I have found this happens best when activities include a bit of competition between groups. Of course, when competition is an element in the classroom it is important to monitor students for any rising conflicts.

The first day of school is always so exciting and the kids are eager to explore their new surroundings. An interesting activity that one can do for science is to do a scavenger hunt. This usually can takes place during any of the class period than can help students become familiar with their new classroom, satisfy their curiosities, and burn off some of that energy. While the students are completing the scavenger hunt, it really gives me a glimpse into the dynamics of each class. Some students like to work alone, some like to work with a partner, some are super focused and task driven, some students prioritize what they want to find first and make a plan, some students are more relaxed and let the answers find them as they walk around making quiet observations, some students pair up and find half of the items and share their information, some will trade answers for things they can’t find. It is really interesting to watch it unfold.

Maybe doing an activity to what science means to them. Then they can share in a table group. In a classroom we drew what scientist looked like, and it was a fun activity. Everyone practically drew Einstein, and there was a handful of women or children scientist so the discussion opened up that everyone is a scientist.

I currently teach middle school science and I use the first week of school to introduce students to the common skills and strategies that they will require in science. I try to have students engage in collaborative activities: work in small groups to build a geometric structure ( using triangles, squares, pentagons and hexagons shapes) from toothpicks and marshmallows, or using index cards and paper clips to build a platform for a book.  In addition, I will have the students take a learning style inventory to identify their learning styles.  Most students are a combination of learning styles.  When they take the inventory, they discover their best learning styles and I have them represent it in a ways that reflects their personal style ( draw a picture or write a short summary about their style).  I also am an AVID teacher, so I will start teaching them how to take Cornell Notes. After completing the Webinar about Engineering Design today, I would modify these first week activities.  I would introduce the Engineering process using the information from today.  Then I would have the students develop their first engineering project after they understand the process.  They would use engineering workbooks, to brain storm, sketch designs before they actually began building their projects.

Working on planning for the start of the year and was just reading through all of the posts here. I had already thought of the Scavenger hunt and also connecting it to safety in the classroom. I saw in one of the earlier posts the idea about the "Shared Resources" where one item in each envelope can't be used as is. I had a lot of issues last year with mistreatment of resources so I think I will incorporate this in some manner. Thanks for all the sharing.

Hi Lauren, I love to set-up a lab safety scavenger hunt where I hide clues throughout the classroom space. Students read a riddle on a strip of paper and need to locate the next piece of safety equipment to continue the process. It is a really engaging and hands-on way to get students to review lab safety procedures.

Yes, Ruth, I would be more than happy to. Let me get them converted to a doc and I will link them here.

My school requires me to go over class expectations but I'm going to get my students moving around the room while doing this instead of just standing there and telling them! i found a game called Scoot online. Every student is given a gameboard with 20 squares - you can use this same gameboard for any topic. You write questions on index cards or sticky notes around the room, these are numbered 1-20 also. Students start at whatever desk they are at and answer that question and put the answer in the corresponding box on their gameboard. Since I am using this to tell them my class expectations I am going to have 2 cards at each desk, the 1st card will tell them an expectation and the 2nd card will be a question about that expectation. after a minute or so you say "SCOOT" and students need to move to the next desk, if they started at 19 they go to 20 next...then 1...etc. You need to give students time to read and answer the question,but the game should be fast moving. For example: #1a - Before doing any lab or activity you must always read all procedures and safety precautions. #1b What 2 things must you always do before starting a lab? When students have completed all of the boxes they will have all of my class expectations written on their gameboard, but they didn't just have to sit there and listen to me! Lots of SCOOT games on Pinterest

The dry chemical mentioned in the "Where Did the Water Go" can be easily obtained from opening up a diaper and taking out the powder contained in it. It has the same effect as the chemical powder you could purchase from a science supply and it is much cheaper!!!

Our campus has a first 3 days of high engagement policy. We spend time presenting build challenges, group activities to get to know each each other, and a mystery safety accident. Students are not in seats, moving around the room, interacting with fellow students and myself (the teacher). My favorite activity is a team building exercise "Lost at Sea." Teams are on a sinking ship and only have time to grab a few items, they must rank the items in importance to survival. Students have a great time completing the activity before I show them how the U.S. Coast Guard ranks them! As the teacher I quickly learn the personalities of my students.

I have several observation/inquiry activities I do. A lot of them are like the campfire games you might play such as "Both up, 1 up 1 down, both down" which refers to the speakers hand positioning. I also use what are called inquiry cubes, where the students are observing a cube with different items drawn on each side. They record their observations, ask questions (inquiry) and share information with those that cannot see their side. They then try to figure out what is on the bottom of the cube.

This was a super fun discussion to read through! I am a practicum student this year so it is super fun to hear all of the fun ideas of incorporating science into the first day of school! I remember back in grade school walking around outside the school my first day with my new classmates and we collected all sorts of materials from the outside world around us. We then talked about each item we found as a class and talked about the importance of the item to the earth and the people that live in it. This activity has stuck with me a lot longer than most other first day activities and this makes it even more special.

I think the first day of school sets the tone for the rest of the school year. As a future teacher, I want my students to be engaged and focused during science. I love all of the shared ideas throughout this post and I am looking forward to implementing them in my future classroom. I want to promote discussion, problem solving, hands-on activities, and inquiry in my classroom from the very beginning.

I would agree. The first day of school does set the tone of your classroom for the rest of the entire school year.

The first day of school sets the tone of your classroom for the rest of the school year. You want to get off on the right foot with your students and the first day of school needs to be an engaging day for the students.

A great activity to do on the first day of school is to have kids categorizing. Students will be handed a