Easy Beginning of the School Year Activity

DiceHere is a great and easy activity to do the first session with your students, especially if you are just getting to know them.  The only thing you’ll need is a die and something to write on (e.g., dry erase board, piece of paper) that the students can all see.  Write the numbers one through six vertically.  Next to each number, write a topic such as:  family, sports, school, holiday, hobby/activity, song/musical group, movie/actor, vacation.  The students take turns rolling the die and telling something about the topic for the number they rolled.  For most of the topics, have them tell about their favorite thing in that category.

This is a great way to get to know things about the students that their files won’t tell you.  It also gives you a chance to hear them speak conversationally.  If you can, take notes on a card or page for each student that you can refer to later.

Here’s to a great school year!

Becky Wanca

Tags:

16 Responses to “Easy Beginning of the School Year Activity”

  1. Lynn August 3, 2010 at 6:11 am #

    I like this! I will post the information on a paperdoll cutout of each student as well to show ‘the whole child’…

  2. Linda Branamaqn August 3, 2010 at 10:59 am #

    Was this sent, or posted? I think I missed it if it was?

  3. megan August 3, 2010 at 11:00 am #

    i love this idea.I feel its important to talk to ur kids and this makes it fun for everybody,with out drilling them.thank u

  4. Judy Amadee August 3, 2010 at 12:39 pm #

    Thanks for the activity. This came just in time for the start of the new school year. Our students start on Aug. 9th. New ideas are always welcomed, especially after working in the schools for many years!

  5. Angel Reaux August 3, 2010 at 10:16 pm #

    Great idea! Can’t wait to try it.

  6. Mary Miller Pembleton August 4, 2010 at 10:51 am #

    Great idea. It is amazing how a small idea like rolling a dice keeps students much more focused and motivated.I love the first few weeks of school and discovering the strengths and challenges of the students.I enjoy your ideas, Thank you, Mary

  7. BeckyWanca August 4, 2010 at 1:05 pm #

    This was a post. If you sign up on my email list, you will be emailed when new posts are up. (In a way, it was both sent and posted). Hope that’s not too confusing. You can sign up to be on the list at http://speechtherapyideas.com/free/

    Becky

  8. Cheryl August 10, 2010 at 10:22 am #

    This is a great idea…often times we are so overwhelmed with other beginning of the year tasks…that some of us have no clue what we are going to do with the kids for that 1st session.

  9. Anan August 16, 2010 at 2:56 am #

    Great idea i think this will be so funny ..can’t wait to try it too

  10. Judy September 12, 2010 at 5:35 pm #

    Thank you, Becky. I like the idea too. I may use it with my new intermediate students this year. Perhaps I will use magazine pictures as a visual for each topic to be selected.

  11. Kimberly September 12, 2010 at 8:01 pm #

    Great idea but what do you do when they keep rolling the same numbers?

  12. BeckyWanca September 12, 2010 at 9:06 pm #

    I usually encourage them to tell us more the second time they roll the number, but after that you can just have them keep rolling until they get a different one. There are no hard and fast rules for this game, just a great get-to-know-you activity.

  13. Jen September 13, 2010 at 5:49 pm #

    I really like this idea!! I used this activity with several students today, ranging from k-3, and they all loved it! I’m thinking about using this idea throughout the year with other topics. Thanks for sharing!!!

  14. BeckyWanca September 13, 2010 at 7:37 pm #

    You’re welcome. I’m glad they enjoyed it!

  15. Aimee Geringer September 15, 2010 at 9:03 am #

    I love this idea! I use it in conjunction with some other “Getting to know you” ideas! Thanks for all the great ideas!

  16. Mercedes September 15, 2010 at 3:36 pm #

    I Love this idea! I will be seen my students for the first time on friday and I will definetly used this as an activity for our first session. Thank you for sharing

Leave a Reply