ADVENTUROUS TEACHING STARTS HERE.
First Day of School Lesson Plan for High School English: Setting the Tone
Here’s what we need to remember: the first day of class is the first chance to make an impression, to set a tone, and to signal to students the kind of atmosphere they can expect walking through your doors every day for third period. Once you know what you want your room to feel like and you can describe the kind of experience it will be for the learners in your room, it doesn’t matter WHAT you choose to do on the first day of school as long as it hits everything on your list.
Twelve bags of marshmallows and two boxes of toothpicks.
Every year around August 15th, that’s what I’m walking out of the grocery store with in my bags. I remember one time I decided I didn’t need a cart -- I’ve got long arms, but let’s just say whoever saw me at Meijer on 11pm the night before school started that year probably had a pretty hilarious story to tell later.
One year, I had a teacher tell me that she took the LAST bags of marshmallows off the shelves of her local grocery store and heard a little voice behind her say, “Mommy, there’s no more marshmallows for our campfire!”. Oops.
Here’s what we need to remember: the first day of class is the first chance to make an impression, to set a tone, and to signal to students the kind of atmosphere they can expect walking through your doors every day for third period. Once you know what you want your room to feel like and you can describe the kind of experience it will be for the learners in your room, it doesn’t matter WHAT you choose to do on the first day of school as long as it hits everything on your list. Here are my two biggest goals for my classroom environment:
Voice matters — not just mine, but everyone’s. That includes using words that uplift one another and support the vulnerability it takes to grow as a learner, using our silence so that the voices of others can be heard, and using our words to grow into stronger communicators every day by practicing academic language and new vocabulary.
Decenter the teacher, decenter the text — A collective, vested community of genuinely curious and excited learners comes first. When I center questions and critical thinking, everything else follows right behind.
From here, we build. I go into a much more cohesive list and a reflection exercise for teachers over in my course: The First 10 Days. Here, we work side by side to develop your own goals for the year, classroom environment expectations, and so much more. This is your chance to learn from my many failures and take home exactly what I know will work so that you don’t have to waste your time wondering what will actually make you successful.
MARSHMALLOW TEAM BUILDING
On the first day of school, I have tried so many different activities, but I finally settled on my unicorn: Marshmallow Team Building. This is the activity I’ve been doing for countless years. There are many different variations on the activity, so whichever version you choose, you should be looking to get these things out of it:
Establish a classroom atmosphere of TEAMWORK: for the entire period, I only speak two or three times. When they ask questions, I simply point back at their group. From day one, my students know that here in this classroom, they’ll be solving problems together, not just asking me for answers.
It forces me to LISTEN. Since I’m not talking, I’m watching and listening intently. I’m getting a read on the room - who is stepping up to lead? Who is presenting creative ideas? Who is cooperating? Who is...not cooperating?
It makes kids smile. This is just plain FUN. No one expects to walk into their English class on the first day and be handed marshmallows and toothpicks!
THE LESSON PLAN
Let’s get you ready to tackle the first day of school with this layered and powerful activity. I have the whole thing laid out for you here to print-and-go, but if you’re looking for a bit more information, here is how the lesson usually goes:
PREPARE:
Presort your students into groups. My room is set up in tables, so I just create a seating chart ahead of time so students know where to sit.
Prevent messes: I usually put down some butcher paper or wax paper where the students will do their building.
Number the chairs in the room. It makes assigning seats so quick and easy!
TEACH:
Greet your students at the door with a big smile and a handshake or hi-five. It may sound silly, but this is a critical moment to make a first (and lasting) impression on your students. I ask them for their name, find it on my seating chart, and send them to their numbered seat.
When students walk in, they find their numbered seat and can see a single Google Slide at the front of the room. The slide usually says welcome, take a seat, and has a teamwork-related quote.
When class starts, greet them again. Do attendance again. Make an effort to learn names right away. As soon as that’s done, give them their directions
The directions are as follows:
You will have 10 minutes to complete the challenge that you are handed.
You should work together as a team with each member contributing his or her ideas.
When you think you’ve completed the challenge, raise your hands and I will come over to judge your work.
You must use ALL of the materials provided - no items can be left out!
I cannot help you at all during the time limit.
Your goal is to complete the challenge before the time is up!
Set the timer and let them get started!
FOLLOW UP:
From an informal debrief to a more formal written reflection, bring everyone back together again. It’s important to let the students share what they learned about themselves, wonder aloud about why on earth this was the activity their teacher chose for the first day of school, and to discuss how their teams worked together.
Like I stated earlier, there are SO MANY different ways to set up this lesson. My first day of school class period is usually only 18 minutes long, so we get in, get messy, and then they leave. And when they leave, I know that I’ve created a memory for them. I’ve created a memory that gives them an idea of what to expect for every day moving forward in my room:
Expect the unexpected
Take chances
You are valued; you are CENTER
Learning is messy
Things will be hard, but we’ll work together and have fun, too
For an entire in-depth walk through of my first ten days of school , I hope you’ll join me over in my course where you’ll have lifetime access to updates and materials. I hope you have the BEST school year yet and let me know how this activity goes for your students!
My co-host Marie Morris and I discuss this season of teaching at length on our podcast Brave New Teaching. This episode is a great place to start if you’re ready to dig deeper into the philosophical things you are thinking about as you’re starting a brand new school year. Join us!
A Valentine's Day Activity for Middle and High School: Boost Classroom Community with Warm Fuzzies
Fighting the Winter Blues
The winter months can be a bit of a drag for classroom teachers, and morale can really start to drop this time of year (for teachers and students). This is the perfect time of year to amp up your SEL practices and foster those student-teacher and staff relationships. Who doesn’t love a little fun in the midst of winter gloom? Building community in our classrooms is so important when we think about student buy-in, but that community also extends to the faculty and staff of the school as a whole. If you’ve been looking for an idea to brighten up your classroom and build a positive school culture, these SEL Warm Fuzzies have just what you need!
Step One: Get Your Materials Ready
This activity is SO simple and requires very little to set up, and you can easily adapt the set up to meet your needs. That being said, the first thing you need is a bag for each participant. Brown paper bags work great, but if you have something similar go ahead and use those! Students will be able to decorate their bags and add a personal touch.
Once you have the bags, decide on a place for these to “live”. A bulletin board works great! You’ll staple the bags there for all to see and leave them up as long as you like.
The next step is to ready your Warm Fuzzy slips. We have some templates ready to go! Just click here and print!
Step Two: Prep Your Participants
Give students time to decorate their bags. We all know that some of our students will write their names on the bags and be done, but some may want to spend some time making their bags unique. You can set some time aside for this, let them decorate once they finish ongoing assignments, or let them take the bags home to decorate!
Next, give students the Warm Fuzzy slips, and let them begin to write their notes. Encourage students to write several notes to different classmates, and remind students that the purpose of this activity is to build community and spread some joy around. You could require each student to write a minimum amount of notes, or you could have students write a note for each of their classmates. This depends on you and the amount of time you want to spend on this activity.
It might be helpful to have some sentence starters for kids who feel stuck on what to write. And remember, the more specific the message the more meaningful the impact! Tell students to think about what stands out to them about their classmates. Maybe it’s the thoughtful discussion points someone always has, or it could be the kind gesture of always having a pencil for someone to borrow. The possibilities are endless!
Step Three: Spread the Warm Fuzzies Around!
Now it’s time to deliver the notes! You can do this all at once or over time. Either way, at the end of the process each student should walk away with an assortment of notes making them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
A Bonus IDEA
This activity is so versatile and is something you can do multiple times throughout the year (just be sure to keep the bags 😉). You could also do this with your teacher team, your department, or your whole faculty! Hearing from our peers about the positive things they see in us is always uplifting, and don’t forget to make yourself a bag even if doing this with your students! You’d be surprised at how much those sweet words can make a difference.
If you’re looking for something to help with teacher morale, whether at the team, department, or even whole school level, this is a great activity for faculty and staff. Community is so important for our classrooms, but it’s also beneficial to build community with other teachers and staff.
IS SEL AN IMPORTANT FOCUS IN YOUR DEPARTMENT?
Then your next step it to check out my Essential Question Adventure Packs. Each pack is designed to support any classroom text that fits under the umbrella of each question — and it’s supported through an SEL focus. Here’s a peek at one of the latest packs: Why do relationships matter?
LOOKING FOR MORE LIKE THIS? HERE’S WHERE TO GO NEXT!
Add some new resources to your toolbox
