Get to Know You Activities Vol. 1 : Letter to Your Teacher, Partner Interviews

Back to school in ELA can be incredibly stressful, but also so much fun! Take some of the planning pressure off by using this great bundle of six lesson plans/activities for the first week of school. This bundle includes my SIX FAVORITES.

Did you know that this product now has a Volume 2 version? Check it out!

What does this product include?

-Six ready to print OR edit and individualize lessons

-Compatibility with Google Drive and Google Classroom

-Over 35 pages of lessons, examples, rubrics, and sample writings

What are the lessons about?

#1: Instagram Introductions

Using the restriction of a 150 character limit, students work on word choice to craft an introduction. Use these for students to share in small groups, to post on Google classroom, and more!

#2: Letter to Your Teacher

Of all four activities, this is my absolute favorite. I assign this letter on the first day of school, and I'm always astounded at how much the kids choose to reveal to me about their lives! This is a great way to initially (and informally) assess student writing.

#3: Partner Interviews

This activity helps students get to know one another through an interview process. Once the interviews are over, the students are charged to write their first poem - a poem about their partner! Their poems must include details that they learned during interviews.

#4: Find Someone Who...

This should HOPEFULLY be one of the most unique "people search" activities out there. This is a massive bingo board with all kinds of crazy things to search for. Some examples include:

-...grew up with someone other than biological parents at home

-...has witnessed/ experienced harassment or bullying

-...orders pizza with toppings that you approve of

This activity is great for teaching classroom routines as well as getting to know the true character makeup of your students.

#5: My Summer Vacation

There’s probably one boring essay you’ve assigned every year ever since first grade - “What did you do on your summer vacation?”

Guess what? This is that same assignment with a TWIST. In this summer vacation essay, students blend it with the game “two truths and a lie”. The essay should be part truth, part creative deception. This essay should be a depiction of the most hyperbolic summer vacation OF ALL TIME. Whether it was EPIC or LAME, the essay should carry a tone that mirrors the events of their summertime excursions. *Rubric and sample writing included!*

#6: Sticky Heads

In this game, the teacher hands out pre-made sticky notes for each student to put on his/her head or back. The objective of the game is for students to figure out what/who is on their head/back by asking yes or no questions of the other students in the class. This game is great for a get to know you game (make sure that before students can ask about what’s on their head, they have to do a handshake and “my name is…” first!) or even to review important course content. Everyone in this game is “on” - if you’re asking questions about what’s on your head, you are using reasoning to deduce what the answer could be. If you’re being asked questions, you’re being assessed on whether or not you know the term/person on that student’s head!

**BONUS** This pack includes three game sets of 30 to get you going:

Set 1 - Literary Devices

Set 2 - Famous Protagonists from Literature

Set 3 - Summer Mashup

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Get back to school with these great activities! Have a fun and wonderful school year!