1. A Teacher's Top Secret by LaNesha Tabb:
Pens or Pencils (with a free tag download)
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Are you looking for a back to school gift to start the year off "write"? Try tying tags onto a pen or pencil that say, "You are just 'write' for our class!" I give these to my students before school starts. We have students come in to do assessments before the first day of school. They come in small groups, and they are usually pretty nervous. I start by reading the book A Teacher's Top Secret. I found this book last year, and it is awesome! It tells the students a big teacher secret––that we pick them to be in our class because of all the special gifts they have to offer our classroom family. It talks about how sometimes it gets pretty heated and teachers throw down over the students to make sure they get them in their class! It's really cute. After we read the book, it's time for them to start their beginning of year assessments. I give them their pen and tell them it is a special pen that will help them do their best!
You can download the tag for free here in my TpT store. I print the tag on different colored AstroBright card stock and use a 3 inch circle punch to cut them out quickly (Note: You have to cut off some of the extra paper to get the hole punch close enough to cut out the circle perfectly). These tags are made for the 3 inch punch. Then I use a regular hole punch in the top and curling ribbon to tie it onto the pen.
This year, I'm adding this little fairy or elf door to my classroom. I'm going to let the kids know that we have some magical friends that live in our classroom who left the pens for them to use during their assessment days, and I will show them the little door. I will let them speculate on who or what could be living there! Once school starts, one of our first units is fairytales and folktales. After I read The Elves and the Shoemaker by Jacob Grimm and Jim LaMarche, it will lead us to the discovery that we have magical elves that live in our classroom. Our elves will leave little notes, drawings, and words of encouragement sporadically throughout the year. I think we'll also have some visits from their cousins from the North Pole around Christmas time and their friends the leprechauns will visit around St. Patrick's Day and play tricks on us!
2. Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour:
Make a Bed For Pebble
Lubna and Pebble is a beautiful book that I love to use to start off the year. It is about a little girl who is a refugee (it doesn't specify from where) who comes to a new country, and she feels lonely and scared. Her best friend is a pebble that she holds when she is scared, and she talks to it when she is lonely. When they make camp and pebble is cold, dad helps Lubna make a cozy bed for pebble. When a new boy joins the camp, Lubna becomes his friend because he is lonely and scared too. When it's time for Lubna to leave the camp, the boy doesn't want her to go. She leaves her best friend pebble with him so he has someone to hold onto when he is scared and talk to when he is lonely. It is a very touching story of friendship that is beautifully written and beautifully illustrated.
After reading this story, we talk about who feels a little scared and lonely in a new classroom. Then I pass out a pebble friend to them to hold onto when they feel that way. This is a gift that is super special to kids EVERY time. We bust out the STEM supplies next, such as cardboard tubes, egg cartons, small boxes, etc. and I let the kids build a bed for their pebble. When they're done, we all go around and introduce ourselves and share our bed creations, then I let kids go back and make adjustments if they got new ideas from other classmates. I encourage them to collaborate with each other on their modifications as we also build classroom community. This is always an amazing first day activity that leaves kids feeling excited about coming back to school.
3. Scribble Stones by Diane Alber:
Scribble Stones
Scribble Stones is a great follow up to Lubna and Pebble (I typically do it several days later or the following week). Scribble Stones is a book about this stone that has waited his whole life to be chosen for a special job only to become someone's paper weight. It's disappointing until one day these scribbles use all the paper in the office. The stone has a great idea, and the scribbles use him to create their art! In the back of the book, the scribble stone project is explained: You find a stone, add some art, and then pass it on to someone else to spread kindness in the world. They add more art to the stone and pass it on too. It's a great way to start a chain of kindness. At the beginning of the year when we go over classroom rules or the school PBiS letters, kindness is always incorporated.
I usually get 3 - 4 inch stones for every student in my classroom from a local landscaping company since they are so heavy, but I put a link to some stones here that should work too. I have the kids use colored sharpie markers to decorate their stones. I used paint one year, and it was pretty messy and didn't stay on the stones, so sharpies work better for me! After the kids finish decorating their stones, we decide who to give them to in order to spread kindness. This can be tricky because beginning of the year 2nd graders are really still first graders, and they want to keep their stone. We really have to emphasize kindness and decide as a class how to pass them on. It helps that they got their own stone to keep with the Lubna and Pebble activity, but this is a big and cool stone! Two years ago we decided to share our stones with parents by putting them out by the front door of the school. Parents could not enter the building due to COVID, so we thought they would appreciate our beautiful stones in front of the school when they picked up their kids. Last year we decided to give our stones to kindergartners. My class thought they were probably afraid to start school for the first time and having a scribble stone would make them feel good about school. I can't wait to see who my students decide to share them with this year!
I have done these beginning of the year activities with my students for a few years, and they are always a huge hit! They are great ways to build classroom community and start off with some fun!
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