Back to School ~ A Few First-Day Ideas to Surprise and Delight (K-5th)

“Teaching is about surprise and delight … students want energy, something different, something they are not expecting,” –Rick Ross, Mason County superintendent, Maysville, KY Source: Mason County Adopts New Teaching Tools

While reflecting on GOALS for THE FIRST DAYS of each GT class, I ran across the quote above and thought, “Exactly!” Many GT classes do not meet the first week, so by the time we meet with students, they may have already done several “getting-to-know-you” projects in their homeroom classes. Mine were always anxious to see how the GT class would be different.

This year is an unusual one (understatement of the century!), but I can offer a few ideas that might work for either in-person or virtual classroom experiences. Some I have described in previous posts, but perhaps one or two of these activities will work for you! Novelty is key, and a little laughter enhances relationship-building and class bonding! It may be even more important this year!

On the first day of class, after a quick introduction, I usually jumped right into our studies with a little math, literature, hands-on science, etc. I’ve found that by working together through some learning activities, students get to know one another and me, and new students feel welcomed into a “safe-to-try” environment.

Kinder – 2nd Grade GT

Icebreaker/ Literature: Your K-3 students might enjoy your revised version of this personal FIRST-DAY POEM presentation. It’s a fun way to introduce yourself, explain a new way of thinking, and even introduce one of the elements of Depth and Complexity– RULES!

A, My Name is Alice ~ The activity is described HERE and you can find a read-aloud of the book HERE. This could be done virtually in a ZOOM meeting, adapted for your students’ levels (the memory game might be too much of a challenge virtually). Joelle Trayers has also shared some read-aloud ideas for the beginning-of-the-year that incorporate depth and you can find many others on her blog.

Math: At some point during our first class together, I usually introduced students to a Marcy Cook Math activity, such as Find the X-Tile or Crayon Logic. I created a similar activity called Color-Number Logic that could be done at desks or virtually. The only materials needed are 5 crayons (or colored blocks or paper) and 5 number cards, such as playing cards or sticky notes numbered 1-5.

The “1 + 1 = 5” activity would also be a great first-week activity with younger students, or you could introduce Sudoku or use one of these lessons: You’ve Got Game ~Figure Out the Rules (“Dotty Six”) or Beyond Sudoku: Kakuro and Futoshiki. In the latter, Futoshiki would be the one appropriate for younger students.

Thinking Skills: The first week, I usually introduce or review the PETS™  characters (see Primary Education Thinking Skills) and their different types of thinking through station activities. However, this year, rather than working with hands-on puzzles for visual-spatial thinking (“Max the Magician”), you could use an online tangram activity. For inventive thinking (“Isabel the Inventor”) you could introduce S.C.A.M.P.E.R. to the younger students (who would not have seen this slide show yet) and do some S.C.A.M.P.E.R. activities with 1st and 2nd (free sample activities can be found here).

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3rd-5th Grade GT

Icebreaker: I would definitely still try to incorporate an Impossible Challenge. The “Walk Through a Postcard” and the “Paper Bridge” activities would both work virtually. My friend Stefanie Schropp describes in this post how she integrated the book Beautiful Oops and had students use scraps from the postcard challenge to create selfie sculptures!

For a little lighthearted humor and surprise, I have used this surprise story activity with 4th through 8th-grade students (TPT $2.00), and it’s continued to be a hit with students. It’s a good one to reinforce the idea that “knowledge has its origin in perception.”

If you have a copy of the Gifted Guild’s Guide to Depth and Complexity (affiliate link), Lisa Van Gemert (@GiftedGuru) shares how she uses Depth and Complexity frames with her students at the beginning of the year as a “getting-to-know-one-another” activity (pp. 24 and 25). It’s also a great way to introduce or review the tools. She shares a digital frame for the activity HERE.

Finally, having students complete and share their photos from this GOOSE CHASE would be a fun virtual icebreaker as well (if you did not use it in the spring).

Math/ Logic: I’ve always used Mathemagic and Arithmetricks on the first day with 3rd, and I think it would be fun to do virtually for 4th and 5th, too. Learn a Card Trick ~ Explain the Math or one of these activities would also be great to use the first week. Another idea is to download sample pages of PERPLEXORS or MATH PERPLEXORS to work through with students. Find the free sample page in the product details for each workbook. In 5th, I’ve always presented the first puzzle problem in this book on the first day. As they work in pairs, I give loads of encouragement with reminders of the importance of a “growth mindset” (see “First Day Talks” in this post).

Multidisciplinary / Literature /Thematic Units ~ Introduction: A big part of the first day in my classroom is introducing the theme for the year. I’ve explained in a previous post why I always show the POWERS OF TEN video. It ties to every theme and starts the year off with awe. This would be easy to do virtually as well.

If you’re doing a novel study, you could introduce the book and maybe read a portion aloud. I usually also introduced or reviewed Greek/Latin root studies with this slide show ($1.00- TPT) or the extra activities described here. Another option would be to include some lessons that involve wordplay (see “More Pun and Games: A Little Language Levity” or “Pun and Games“). In 4th, I’d introduce the poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” which is rich with vocabulary and can lead into fantastic dialogues about multiple perspectives and DaVinci’s quote “All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.” I’ve also put together a slide show presentation of the “Mystery of Me” mini-project my 4th graders do.

The hands-on and group activities I normally used to introduce the themes of our units definitely would have to be adapted. With 3rd, the electric circuit activity described here for introducing the SYSTEMS theme would probably be possible if you’re in-person or you could demonstrate it virtually, eliciting ideas from students. In 4th, I always presented One-Minute Mysteries (affiliate link) as a fun first-day activity, even though the MYSTERIES theme goes into way more depth. I usually set out scenarios at stations, and students moved in groups from table to table, writing as many possibilities for the story as they could in the time given. Obviously, the stories can’t be presented this way, but it could be fun to put students in virtual breakout rooms to discuss their ideas before revealing hints and solutions. I often used Google Classroom “groups” even in the classroom when I wanted students to silently communicate! In 5th grade, I think I would still do the lesson described here to introduce the IMPACT theme or this Invention Impact activity. (NOTE: Read more about the thematic studies here).

I hope this helps some of you who are looking for specific things to surprise and delight your students in the first week! Your comments below are welcome! I also invite you to watch this video tour of the site if you have stumbled upon it for the first time. 😊

Related post: Novelty, Surprise, and Twists: How to Sneak These Into Your Lessons