Going to Grandma's House

• Many first day of school activities seek to introduce students. While many students in a given class have been together for several years or classes, there are almost always a few new students who benefit from an introduction as does the teacher, For this activity, students give their names, then tell what they'll take with them as they travel to Grandma's house; however, the item they take must have the same initials as their names. The first name initial will be used for an adjective while the last name initial will give the object. For example, a student named Carol Wright might take along a cool watch. Each student must repeat the items taken by everyone coming before him before listing what he is going to take. The teacher goes last, listing what everyone else is taking before presenting what she plans to take. By the time everyone has heard the names several times, they tend to know their fellow class members.
  
  

You Ought To Be in Pictures

• A good introductory project for an art class is to have students imagine their lives as a movie. After looking at several movie posters and discussing the elements that make them effective, students are assigned to make movie posters for their autobiographical movies. They should include likes, dislikes, favorite activities, future plans and so on. This will probably take several class periods, but will give the teacher an idea of art ability as well as providing a fun way to learn about each student.
  
  

Scavenger Hunts

• A good way for students to learn classroom rules and the locations of class materials is through a scavenger hunt. For this, list frequently used classroom materials on a sheet of paper. Students will work in pairs to find the location of each item in the list and write its location. If you go over class rules first, ask students to find another student who can repeat a given rule or piece of information. This list, for example, might include the procedure for checking out a computer, location of a tissue box, when the bell rings, etc. Students can easily find where the tissue box is, but they would have to find someone else to tell them the procedure for checking out a computer and have the person sign the sheet of paper given out for this activity.
  
  

Sherlock Holmes Revisited

• Ask students to complete a questionnaire about themselves but to not include their names. These questionnaires should ask such questions as "What was the best movie you saw this summer?" or "What is your favorite television show?" and so on. When all sheets are completed, collect their papers, then redistribute them, asking students to determine the identity of their subject. To do this, they may move around the classroom questioning others about their answers.