Back to School, Blog, Freebies

First Day of School in Second Grade

August 20, 2017

It is hard to believe summer is over and school is back in session.  I want to share with you some activities that I like to do with my students. My favorite activity to do on the first day of school is Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt.

 
I like my students to feel comfortable and to meet the other students in our classroom.  Find A Friend Scavenger Hunt activity is a great ice breaker on the first day of school.  It gets them up and moving and is a great way to get to know their new classmates.
 
You can get a FREE copy of Find a Friend by clicking on the picture.
 
Find a Friend scavenger Hunt
Free Find a FriendScavenger Hunt
 
Next, I like to read Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. My students love singing along with the music.  You can purchase the book by clicking the picture.  It will take you to my affiliate link for Amazon.

                                                 
 
After I read the book, we go on a tour of the school and follow the clues that Pete the Cat has left us.  The students love finding the clues.  You can get a copy of the tour from Inspired by Kindergarten.   When we return to class, we have a snack of Goldfish crackers.  You can get the FREE tags by clicking the picture below. 

 

 

 
One of my favorite books to read the first day of school is Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.  You can purchase the book by clicking on my affiliate link:   Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids (Bucketfilling Books)

I also like the book called How Full is Your Bucket?  Here is my affiliate link: 
How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer (2009) Paperback


You can get this great FREEBIE below from Alisha, The Bubbly Blonde Teacher.  It has some great activities to go with the book.


This is my favorite book to read to my students at the beginning of the year.  I highly recommend reading is What Should Danny Do?   to your class.   This is an interactive book with 9 different endings.  It teaches children that our choices shape our lives.  My students want me to read this story over and over again.   Click on the book for my affiliate link:  

Another great book to read to your class is called We’re All Wonders by R.A. Palacio.  It is about a boy that is different from other children.  He hopes people will change the way they see things and see wonder in everyone!  Click on the picture for another Amazon affiliate link.
 
I like to see what skills my students remember from first grade.  This gives me a quick informal assessment of where each one of my students is at academically.   We will do a few pages together and then each morning as I take attendance, they complete a page on their own.  You can get it in my TPT store.
 
Review for second grade
Back to School Review Booklet
 
 
Review for second grade
First Day of School Spiral Review Booklet
 
 
 
Click here and here for more back to school ideas.
 
I hope you have a wonderful school year!
sjsitz

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  • Jackie August 23, 2017 at 2:03 am

    Thanks for sharing your freebie & back to school ideas! We start tomorrow (8-23) & I purchased the book What Would Danny Do also. I am excited to read this to the kids! I need to check out the We're All Wonders book. We did the O'Fish-ally a 2nd grader too at Open House tonight. I still haven't gotten into Breakout Boxes. Have a great year! Thanks, Jackie

  • Unknown September 6, 2017 at 11:10 am

    I really like your find a friend activity. Many of my students would need the pictures to help them with this activity so it is perfect. Unfortunately I can't download it even when I save it to pinterest. Can you give me a hit as to how I can get this great activity.

  • Unknown January 5, 2018 at 12:15 am

    I love your first day of school ideas! Definitely saving some of these for next year. Thank you so much for sharing!

  • Unknown August 14, 2019 at 9:12 am

    Thanks for sharing your back to school freebies!

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