First Day - Getting to Know You

Five days until my first day with students!

Last year, as a little "getting to know you" activity, we designed hot air balloons. I made the tracer and an example, and the students then traced and designed their own balloons. I asked them to draw pictures/designs that showed something about themselves, and they had to write a goal for the year on the basket part of the balloon. These looked so nice last year..... I laminated them and hung them along the top of the walls in the hallway. Most students took them home at the end of the year but a couple of students moved away, without their balloons, so I still have them for examples this year. I wish I had taken a picture of all of them when they were hanging up! This year I will:)

A few great things about this activity: it was a little bit time-consuming, so whenever we had down time in the first couple of days, they had something to work on; setting the goal for the year made them think about what they could focus on for the year; and designing the balloon helped us all to learn about each individual.

What are your favorite "getting to know you" activities?

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