5 Fun Activities for First Week of School

Name games, ice breakers, and movement activities for first week of school are a great way to build community, get to know your students, and start the year off with a smile. We all know that most students end up sitting and listening to the rules of the school, classroom, hallways, etc… in the first week of school. Adding in movement is a great way to give students a break, get their energy up, and help release any “first day of school jitters” that many students and teachers have.

Name Games

My favorite activities for the first week of school are name games! It helps me learn my students’ names and helps build community in my classroom. A favorite singing game of mine is “Up the Ladder”. This chant uses simple body percussion, allows students to introduce themselves, and practice saying one another’s names. One thing to be aware of is the use of pronouns. We are not a binary society. People use other pronouns than he and her. Try to use “your” or “their” rather than his/her to keep your name games non-gender specific.

I’ve come up with my own name game this year which will add lyrics where students will give their pronouns. I plan to use this with grades 3 and higher, though you certainly could use it in younger grades. If you’d like a FREE COPY of my NEW Name Game just email me with Free Name Game in the subject heading and I'll be happy to send it to you!

Classroom Procedures

The first days of school are also an important time to establish your classroom procedures for elementary school. I try and incorporate movement into this so students not only learn the procedures but also have a chance to practice them and it gets them up and moving around. If you don’t have a set of procedures for things like lining up, distributing materials, contributing to class discussions, choosing instruments, etc… you need to make and teach them. Students need to know what you expect and it’s a lot easier to do this ahead of time than try and establish it later.

My students’ favorite way to learn classroom procedures for elementary music is through a video that either I made or found which shows the students what to do and what not to do (the do’s and don’ts). Having happy music during the do section and scary music during the don’ts keep the students engaged in watching. After we watch the video, I ask if there is a student that can demonstrate the procedure correctly. Once a couple of students demonstrate and we “oooo and ahhh” at them, the entire class demonstrates. I also offer classes the opportunity to create a classroom procedure video. It’s a great way for kids to practice the skill, take ownership, and it keeps it current for the student body to see current students in the videos.

Pillars of Power

The first procedure I teach is the “Pillars of Power.” My “Pillars of Power” are Leadership, Self-Discipline, and Community. For Kindergarten, I have a movement for each pillar and we chant “Leadership, leadership, do the right thing, do the right thing”, “Self-discipline, self-discipline, use my energy for good, use my energy for good, and “Community, community, support my learning and others, support my learning and others.” For the other grades, we read them as a class and one student gets to point to each pillar as we read. I have these on Google Slides and change out the sentences or “definitions” when I need to emphasize or teach new habits. This gets students going immediately as they come into my class and gets them focused as we begin our lesson. You can get a FREE copy here and edit them or make your own in addition to mine!

Folk Dancing

Folk dancing has always been a favorite of mine to use in music class. I love starting the year off learning a folk dance. Usually, this is in a circle, but it might be a longways set. My favorite folk dances to use are: Sashay the Donut, Fjäskern, and Heel and Toe Polka. Some students are shy about holding hands. Sometimes I do an elaborate “cootie remover” move that helps. I don’t push students to participate, but I do offer options. Sometimes I allow students not to hold hands, but often they quickly discover it makes the dance more difficult or you miss some of the fun (fast-moving circles gather momentum) if you don’t hold hands. If you are unfamiliar with these dances, send me an email and I’d be happy to share them with you. I usually teach part of the dance on day 1 and add more to each successive class.

Drum Circles

Drum circles are excellent activities for first week of school. Students get to play instruments right away and are excited to learn! It gives you the chance to teach a few classroom procedures too. Having an instrument for each student is imperative. You can shift which instrument during class if you desire, but I usually have them stay in the order they come in and sit down in that order at the instruments. I have hand drums, tubanos, talking drums, gankogui (double bell), and shakerays out, but use whatever you have.

Students Self-Discipline at the Drums

Teach students to wait until the “signal is given” to play. Teach them to respond to a call (a rhythm pattern the leader plays which tells students to start (and stop). Usually, I play a gankogui because it can be heard above everything. Also, I can keep a steady beat if needed. I teach the drum and gankogui players the difference between bass and tone on the drum and proper technique. In addition, I teach students to “self-discipline” if they play when they aren’t supposed to…i.e. when someone is talking. Everyone learns to stand up behind their chair and count to 60 if they break a rule (i.e. leaning on the drum). It’s not a major thing but allows students a moment to think about the rules they need to follow. Usually, during drum circle, I find a few natural-born student leaders and lead drummers. I turn over control of the circle to one of these leaders on the first or second day for a few minutes or more. We learn patterns and play some great community games such as “Let’s All Play Our Drum“, “What’s for dinner”, or “Orbit“.

Body Percussion

Most elementary music teachers do body percussion to accompany songs as well as stand-alone pieces. One of my favorite Body Percussion activities for first week of school is “by the numbers.” Each place on the body is a number.

1 Clap hands in front of chest
2 Pat chest with L hand
3 Pat chest with R hand
4 Pat L thigh with L hand
5 Pat R thigh with R hand
6 Stomp L foot
7 Stomp R foot

I teach this first. Then I give them a set of numbers i.e. 3514. So we do 1, 2, 3 and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then 1 and then 1, 2, 3, 4 to complete the number set. I might give a couple more set of numbers and then will ask a student to give a set. Then a few other students. This works great as a starting activity when kids come right in class if you want to get them going right away. It also works well if you need to step away to speak with a student privately for a moment. This allows your class to continue on without you leading, but you can still supervise as you talk with a student.

What do you do the first week of school?

I’d love to know! Send me an email and I’ll share my new Name Game with you!

I hope you have a great beginning to the school year!

~Rhonda

Check out these fabulous Elementary Music posts from fellow Music Educators!

Would you like a free set of editable seating charts and other freebies throughout the year? Be sure to subscribe and I’ll send you my google slides seating charts. (also includes a PowerPoint version)

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