Easy First Week of School Activities for Middle School

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time for team-building activities that also teach and reinforce classroom expectations. 

The best thing about all of these first week of school activities is that you can use them to teach routines, build relationships, and develop class pride.

Make sure to grab the activities mentioned below here!

1. How to work in groups with an Interview Activity

This realization came to me once a couple of years ago when I found out that in November some of my students still didn’t know the names of their table mates! Say what!? In order for students to be successful in class, they have to have the full support of their teammates. It is harder to ask for help from someone who is nameless.

The Expectation: Students in my classroom must ask for help from every person at their table before asking me. I explain to my students that they can learn by teaching each other!

The Activity: Table interviews are a perfect way for students to break the ice. You give students a list of questions and they take turns asking the questions to their table mates. This allows them to learn more about their table neighbors, is non threatening for students who struggle with math/reading/science, and is an activity where you can float around and answer interview questions from students, but only after they have asked everyone at their table. 

2. How to Move Around the Classroom Safely with a Matching Activity

The most stressed I felt as a teacher is when students were out of their seats without permission. This does not mean that students must always remain seated in class, it just means that I had very specific procedures around moving safely around the room. 

The Expectation: Students must stand, push in chairs, and wait for permission to move around the classroom for various activities. They must move at an appropriate speed and talk at an appropriate volume. It may seem like overkill, but being proactive never led me in the wrong direction!

The Activity: To build culture and practice this routine, students participated in “Salt and Pepper.” Essentially, students will all have words taped on their backs (one student might have the word ‘salt,’ and they will have to walk around until they find their match (‘pepper’) using only descriptive clues. A spin on this activity is to make students get in birthday order without talking. They get to release their wiggles, practice how we move around the room, and use their brains.

3. How to Work Together as Partners

In an effort to add more ideas to this blog post, I searched our Facebook group for ideas from teachers. This idea was a standout and I thought it would be something students would ask to do again and again.

The Expectation: In a group activity, students must work as a team to solve problems.

The Activity: Can you save Fred? Katie from Gift of Curiosity designed the most engaging activity. Working in pairs, students must save a gummy worm that has capsized and lost its floatie. Students must use paperclips to place the gummy worm back in the gummy ring and return the gummy worm to his boat. 

4. Tangible Way to Build Relationships

I found this idea as I searched the beautiful, online math community, and I was struck with the simplicity and the impact. I also felt silly that I hadn’t thought of this myself! All of the credit for this idea (and I believe you can download the freebie) goes to Sara Van Der Werf. 

The Expectation: Both students and the teacher are part of a classroom community. This also creates a culture that students feel heard and cared for.

The Activity: Students create name tents to use for the duration of the first week of school. On the inside of the name tent, there are boxes each day for the student to write a note/comment/concern/ask a question and a box for the teacher to reply. Each day, students write their note in their name tent and turn it into the teacher. The teacher replies in written form in the corresponding day’s box and returns the name tent to the student to read. I highly recommend going and checking out Sara’s blog to see some examples. 

5. Other Ideas

Although these first week of school activities don’t align to a procedure, they can still help build culture and break the ice with students.  

• Two Truths and a Lie – Quick ice breaker that requires no prep work.
• This or That – Builds camaraderie among classmates.You could have students defend their answers and practice answering in complete sentences. (Stand if you prefer waffles to pancakes. Call on students and ask them to explain why.)
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Posse – This teaches students to cheer their teammates on even when they lose.
• Telephone or Pictionary Telephone – If you have 2-3 minutes to kill and you need students to be quiet. 
• 4 Corners – I saved this one for last because this is my absolute favorite. The way to survive in this game is to remain as quiet as possible. This game practically ran itself in my classroom and could keep quiet the most spirited students.

Even if you don’t have extra days allotted for culture building in your scope and sequence, having some of these activities on hand will make sure you stay prepared. Lessons sometimes run short, or if you are in Texas, you could be required to stay inside for recess due to the extreme heat. It is always better to have this stuff on hand, ready to go! 

If you are interested in more activities to build culture in the first week of school (or really anytime), check out this bundle here.  The activity includes the Interview Questions Worksheet, the Salt and Pepper Matching Activity, a paper version of This or That, and 8 more activities.  If you want to be extra prepared for this school year, be sure to grab our Back to School Starter Pack which includes these ice breakers, classroom posters, homeroom activities, and a substitute binder.

What are your go-to first week of school activities?