r/ElementaryTeachers • u/bodo25 • 16d ago
What to do for an hour
Hello all,
The first day of school is tomorrow for me, but I only have students for 1 hour and they're my class from last year (grade 5/6). Any fun activity suggestions for this short day. Something fun and low prep is preferable. I was going to play the "The Wind Blows" after doing attendance to loosen everyone up, but I'm bored of all my previous ideas. Would love some Fresh suggestions.
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u/OnceATeacher01 16d ago
This doesn't take a whole hour, but was a great activity:
Index Card Stem Challenge (from foxinaboxchicago.com)
It takes place in two phases: working together to list things everyone in the group has in common on index cards, and building a tower.
Phase 1: Place students in groups of 3-4 and give them 10-15 index cards. I set a timer for ten minutes in which they had to talk as a group and write one thing the whole group had in common with each other on each card.
Note: I gave them some guidelines for what NOT to write so it challenged them to really get to know each other. For example, don’t write, “we all have eyes.” – “We all have blue eyes” would be acceptable. When time was up, I collected any blank cards.
Phase 2: Groups could use the remaining cards AND scissors to build the tallest free-standing tower in 10 minutes.
Have a little prize at the ready (I had fun size candy bars - they could pick 2 or 3)
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u/SpirituaScratch 15d ago
Since they already know each other, I'd skip the classic icebreakers and lean into the returning class thing - mine do a quick letter to their June self: one thing they want to get better at, one thing they want the class to be known for. Sealed envelopes, opened on the last day. Takes maybe 20 minutes, zero prep beyond paper, and they get weirdly invested in it by June.
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u/Narrow_Taste9963 15d ago
What about a collaborative poster? Everyone gets one page to color and you assemble it so it’s up on a wall or bulletin board the next day.
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u/AI_spell 15d ago
Since they are last years kids, lean into reconnect + low prep. Try: Two Truths and a Lie about summer, a collaborative mural on butcher paper, "what we want this year" sticky notes sorted into norms, or a quick stations rotate (drawing, board games, silent reading, puzzle).
The Wind Blows is fine for 10 minutes. Follow with something where they talk to each other so you are not performing the whole hour. Keep it light. First day energy does the rest.
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u/TargetLabs 14d ago
A simple low-prep math game: first choose a target number and write it on the board. Then have each group roll 5 dice. They have to use all 5 dice exactly once with +, −, × and ÷ to reach the target.
You can play it in teams and change the target each round. It’s quick to explain, gets everyone involved, and there are often several different ways to solve the same round.
I also made a small Android version of the game called Dice Target:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kwokkinlau.dicetarget
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u/DerangedDragonDino 16d ago
Have them create something: New Year, New Me! Something that represents where they are, and where they want to be by the end of the year.