6 Digital and Easy Back to School Activities

All back to school activities include the following:
– a brief explanation
– a lesson plan or overview of how to complete the activity
– ideas for using the activity in a digital classroom

Questions running through my head as I plan back to school activities for upper elementary students returning to school in August:

1- gotta have grit

I love teaching with TedTalks! A couple of years ago I had a principal use a video and activity to remind us why we were in the calling of education. Will it be hard? Yes. Will we want to give up? Probably. Can we make a difference? Absolutely, but only if we have grit! After we watched the video, she had us cut our initial out of sandpaper. I loved the activity so much that my sandpaper “C” hangs in my classroom today!

Lesson Plan:

Introduction:
Ask: What is “grit”? What do you think it means?
Activity:
– Watch the YouTube video “The Mindset of a Champion”
– Ask: What do you think “grit” means? Why is grit important in this classroom? How can you be grittier?
– Pass out sandpaper. Use a fine to medium grit. 
– Have each student cut out their initial (first or last) or color their initial or name over the sandpaper (fine grit works best for color).
Conclusion:
Share out: have students share their definition of grit or ideas for developing grit.

Note: if you cannot play YouTube videos in your district, try using Ted.com. Simply search with the video titles below.

Digital Plan

In a digital classroom, use the platform you’re most familiar with to host this activity. For me, I would create a Zoom meeting or pre-record an overview video to share with my students. Then, I would post all material in our Google Classroom and have students complete the assignment by a specific date. Finally, we would schedule a “share out” meeting either through Zoom, a response post on FlipGrid, or as a discussion thread in Google Classroom.

Background for teachers:

Video to share with students:

Boost the Grit Discussion

In addition to the TedTalk videos, my students also love hearing the story of Wilma Rudolph, the fastest woman in the world. Wilma overcame great diversity and struggle to achieve a dream many thought impossible.

Wilma Unlimited, by Kathleen Krull, is truly inspiring! The book is beautifully written and illustrated.

2- drama llama chant

If you’ve been in an upper elementary, middle or high school classroom for longer than 5 minutes, then you know students struggle to communicate with their peers. Often in my own classroom, a simple misunderstanding escalated into “I’m not talking to her” or “I’m not sitting with him”. One fun and effective way to handle this miscommunication was with my No Drama Llama poster.

No Drama Llama Focuses on 5 Steps to Handle Conflict:

As a back to school activity, use the poster (linked above) to encourage students to create a chant or cheer that goes along with the 5 steps listed above. I love doing a simple stomp-stomp-clap for cheers and chants! Learn more about No Drama Llama.

Digital Plan

One platform I think would be perfect for this back to school activity is FlipGrid. If you haven’t used FlipGrid before, here is a quick tutorial. The site in very user friendly and a fun way to engage students throughout the year. Once you share the No Drama Llama poster and view each step for handling conflict, post an assignment on FlipGrid. As students to share their cheer or chant as a video response.

3- student hype box

This an idea sparked from Marie Forleo’s book Everything is Figureoutable. If you haven’t read this book, I highly suggest it! In the book she mentions keeping track of all the positive things you’ve accomplished, reviews you received and kind words people have shared with you. Put everything into a box, physical or digital, and look through it when you need to be hyped up.

For my students, this is perfect for focusing on growth mindset, goal setting and remembering all the amazing gifts and talents they possess that can’t be measured through a test. Give students time to create their own box (or bag) in a Maker Space or at home if you’re online teaching.

PS– this is not just for students! Teachers, make a hype box for yourself. How many sweet and thoughtful notes have you received from students or parents? How many adorable drawings that say “I love you” are tucked in a drawer? Take some time and create your own box for those days when you’re wondering why you became a teacher.

Digital Plan

One easy way to make this activity digital is by assigning this as a Google slide, PowerPoint or Prezi assignment. Students can add positive photos, text, and videos to their digital hype document.

4- cartoon me

This creative activity allows students to turn themselves into a cartoon. With so many illustration styles, each portrait will be as unique as each student. Provide some examples of drawing styles like caricature, realistic, Manga, and more. Check out this list of 25 Types of Cartoon Drawing Styles for inspiration!

Provide each student with the same size of plan paper. Have them write their name on the back. Once all the cartoon portrait are finished, display them throughout your classroom or hallway. Add a number to each picture with sticky note. Then, take a gallery walk and have students try to guess who each cartoon represents.

Digital Plan

Do you Bitmoji? I love them! With parent’s permission, students can create their own Bitmoji cartoon through the app. Then, students can replace the background with something more personal. Of course, they can still complete this activity with hand drawn cartoons. Once they’ve finished their portrait, allow students to make the cartoon their profile picture in Google or on other platforms you use in your digital classroom.

5- let’s make a goal

Help students understand and create SMART goals in a simple and engaging way using a SMART goals template.

Students can choose to create goals in a variety of areas including:

• academic– ex- content specific, subject specific, study habits
• health– ex- moving more, eating fruits and vegetables, less TV/computer time
• hobby– ex- practice, try something new, achievement
• family– ex- quality time, communication, activities together
• personal– ex- mindset, self-talk, self-care
• social– ex- friendships, community involvement, leadership

Here are the “rules”:

1. Each student creates at least 2 goals that follow the SMART method (specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and timely).
2. Students can choose the goal type from a large choice board. For example, “reading” and “baseball” or “math” and “health”.
3. Once the student has their 2 areas, they can decide where to start with their goal by using these Google Slides. Or, you can have students work through the SMART goals worksheet below.

Digital Plan

Goal setting and planing is one of the back to school activities that you can do throughout the year. One way to incorporate this activity in the digital classroom is through a Zoom meeting or pre-recorded video explaining the importance of goal setting and how to make a SMART goal. Then, share the worksheet below to help students write their goals.

Or, you can use my SMART Goal Workbook with each student through Google Classroom. In the workbook, I provide goal examples and internal links for easy navigation.

6- monkey vs. me

Raise your hand if you’ve felt personally victimized by procrastination? (Also raise your hand if you get the movie reference here). I came across this hilarious TedTalk, ironically, while procrastinating a paper for my master’s program. Out of all the back to school activities listed, this is probably my favorite.

This video is not only funny and engaging, but also provides a quick way to remind your students to stay focused… ask them “who’s controlling your wheel”? After my students watched this, I drew little wheels on each desk with dry erase marker as a visual reminder to take control.

Lesson Plan

Introduction:
Ask: What is “procrastination”? What do you think it means? Why would it be a problem to put things off until the last minute?
Activity:
– Watch the YouTube video “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator”
– Ask: How does your little monkey steal your focus? How can you control your panic monster? Why would mastering procrastination be important in this classroom?
– Pass out a dry erase marker or sticky note if they can’t write on the desk/table.
– Have each student draw an icon to remind them of the video. It could be a wheel, a little monkey, the panic monster or something else.
Conclusion:
Share out: have students share their ideas for staying on track or how they will defeat the monkey and panic monster.

Digital Plan

This plan is very similar to the Grit Lesson Plan. I would create a Zoom meeting or pre-record an overview video to share with my students. Then, I would post all material in our Google Classroom and have students complete the assignment by a specific date. Finally, we would schedule a “share out” meeting either through Zoom, a response post on FlipGrid, or as a discussion thread in Google Classroom.

Which Back to School Activities are You Trying This Year?

Want Even More Ideas?
Try these Icebreakers for the First Day of School!

These 5 icebreaker activities from Christine at Write Moments are super fun, engaging and perfect for establishing a positive start to a challenging school year. My personal favorite is This or That!

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