Back to School Activities and Assignments - First Days For Upper Elementary
Start the school year on a positive note with this collection of back to school activities designed specifically for upper elementary classrooms. This bundle includes hands-on, creative assignments that help students feel comfortable, connected, and excited during the first days of school. Each activity encourages students to share about themselves, set goals for the year, and interact with their classmates in meaningful but low-pressure ways. These back to school activities are easy to implement, highly engaging for students, and result in finished projects that make great bulletin board or hallway displays, helping you build classroom community right from the start.
Included In The Back To School Activities And Assignments Bundle:
➡️ Get To Know Me Fortune Teller: This engaging first-week activity helps students learn about each other in a fun, hands-on way. Students complete a classic fortune teller craft by writing their responses to get-to-know-you questions under each flap. After folding, students use the fortune teller with classmates to ask and answer questions, sparking natural conversation and interaction. This activity is especially effective for the first day or two of school because it allows students to share about themselves in a low-pressure, playful format while still building classroom connections.
➡️ Back To School Bucket List: This interactive, notebook-style assignment has students create a personal bucket list of five things they want to accomplish during the school year. Students cut around the bucket flaps, fold them up, and write their goals underneath each flap. This activity encourages reflection and goal setting early in the year and also makes a meaningful keepsake that students can revisit at the end of the year to see how they’ve grown and what they’ve achieved.
➡️ All About Me Pencil Pinwheels: This creative writing and craft activity works well as a first-day or first-week assignment for upper elementary classrooms. Students complete a writing assignment on the provided template to share information about themselves, then assemble the pinwheel using the included step-by-step instructions. Once assembled, the pencil pinwheels can be displayed in the classroom or hallway and also serve as a keepsake students can look back on later in the year. This activity is a fun, visual way for students to express their personalities while helping you learn more about your class.
What Teachers Are Saying About This Back To School Activities Bundle:
⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I used several of these activities on the first week of school and my students loved them. They especially loved the fortune teller activity, most of my students had no idea how to use a fortune teller so they had fun learning how to use it.
⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This will be so much fun! I loved the end of the year activities too! Thank you!
⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s hard to find fun back-to-school activities that students haven’t already done a million times! This is so fun and different! Love it!
Try our Best-Selling Elementary Bell Ringers:
→ Elementary ELA Bell Ringers
© Presto Plans
➡️ Want 10 free ELA resources sent to your inbox? Click here!
