Creator: Michael Taylor | visit site
Grade Range: 4 - 8
Though this blog has current articles, this particular 2015 article offers suggestions for the first of five activities for creating community in the middle school classroom at the start of ANY school year. Each activity offers students the opportunity to participate in a risk-free situation while getting to know each other and the teacher. Find the remaining four activities in the site archive on the left menu, In Case You Missed It, under July 2015.
In the Classroom
Be sure to check out the entire Did I Miss Anything Yesterday? blog for additional activities and ideas for teaching middle school students. Take advantage of the exercises in this article to use at the beginning of the school year or new semesters. After finishing an activity, have students or groups share information learned from fellow students using Padlet, <a href="/single.cfm?id=10007">reviewed here</a>. The Padlet application creates free online bulletin boards.
At Home
Take advantage of the community-building ideas found in this blog when working with groups of students such as scout troops or after school clubs. Share with your school’s parent/teacher organization to use as the school year begins for "get to know you" activities.
Tags
back to school, classroom management,
Subjects
English, ESL/ELL, Language Arts, Math, Professional, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Special Education, Writing,