First Day of School Writing Activities

It’s back to school time, and when the school year begins, teachers have a limited amount of time to get to know their students and to assess their current academic standing. Writing is an essential part of any curriculum, regardless of the age of the students or the grade level that they are in.

From kindergarten teachers who are just introducing the concept of writing to middle school and high school teachers who are helping their students expand their writing portfolios, everyone is working on evaluating their students’ current levels and creating a plan to help move their students forward.

New year writing activities allow teachers to get to know a little bit more about their students while also developing an understanding of where their current writing skills are at.

New School Year Writing Activities

1. Ask your students to write a letter of introduction. This allows them to share personal information with you that can help you personalize your curriculum, and also gives you an opportunity to evaluate their current writing skills.
2. Have your students draw a picture of their favorite memory from summer vacation. Then, ask them to write a descriptive paragraph about their image.
3. Tell your students to list three resolutions they have for the new school year. This gives students an opportunity to reflect on the upcoming year and to set goals for themselves.
4. Encourage your students to create a rule for the classroom. After they have decided on the rule, ask them to explain in writing why they think that rule should be implemented.
5. Ask your students to write an opinion piece related to current events. This is best for middle school and high school students, but it helps them to connect the real world with life inside their new classroom.
6. Have your students create a set of interview questions that they would like to ask you. Then, read their questions and respond to each student. This will help them feel more comfortable and at ease with you in your classroom.
7. Tell your students to write an essay about what their perfect day at school would look like. Make sure that they include plenty of adjectives as they describe the entire day.
8. To teach your students about different styles of writing and the different purposes for writing, have them write copy for an advertisement. Their advertisement should be designed to recruit a new friend who has all of the qualities needed to make a great buddy. This is a great way to get students thinking about how they can treat others as they meet other students in their new class.
9. Set up a blog for your classroom, and ask each student to come up with a post that can be added to the blog throughout the year. 
10. Match each student in the class with another student that they do not know. Ask them to interview each other, and then write a news-style article to introduce that classmate to the rest of the class. 
11. Tell each student to create one personal and attainable goal for their school year. Then, ask them to write the steps they will need to take to achieve that goal.
12. Have students draw their name vertically in an artistic way. Then, ask them to write a poem using the letters of their name.
13. Ask students to write a book review about one book that they read over summer vacation. Have them present their review to the class in order to get other students exciting about reading new books.
14. Ask your students to write a journal entry about their favorite thing that they did during the summer. Make sure that they explain why it was their favorite memory and have them talk about anything they learned from the experience.
15. Encourage your students to write a personal reflection about one way they hope to improve themselves in the school year. They can talk about old habits that they may need to change or ways that they plan to hold themselves accountable this year.
16. https://www.journalbuddies.com/writing-2/first-day-of-school-writing-activities/?fbclid=IwAR3FfSBzb3HFCqqhtyGFn8ao9YHslL31TNYNEVXIHU1Ko4PGUEM3hageofk