So, it's the first week of school - you're anxious to meet your students and begin the school year, but you're looking for great lesson plans and ideas to get everyone off to a good start. This is the web page for you!

These internet sites have links to great links to help you and your students begin the school year in style:

First Day of School Activities - from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia come these super links to first day ideas

The First Days - Opening Activity Ideas - a collection of tips and ideas not geared for any specific grade level. Teachers can pick and choose what works for them.

Autograph Game - Here is an icebreaker activity for the first days of school that gets everyone involved - including the teacher!

First Day Ideas - 20 quick links to ideas from practising teachers to help get your school year off to a good start.

Back to School Printables - Designed mainly for primary teachers, here are helpful documents for teachers to use in the first week of school

Back to School - from A to Z Teacher Stuff comes two dozen links to back to school ideas and games, sortable by grade level.

Beginning of School Packet - Wow! - here is a poem, activities and other inspiring ideas for the first weeks of school

Back to School Bulletin Board Ideas - Instead of recycling your own ideas year after year, why not pull some new ideas from this list provided by teachers in the field? The titles each include a brief description of the graphics to go with the bulletin board.

Break the Ice! - Icebreakers are techniques used at the first day to reduce tension and anxiety, and also to immediately involve the class. Here are several examples of icebreakers.

The First Days of Middle School - a great set of links for teachers of middle years students. Scroll down to the links under The First Days of Middle School.

Start of the Year Teaching Ideas - from Teach-nology come these great ideas written and submitted by experienced teachers in the field.

Welcome Back to School - Check out this page of compiled ideas for classroom management, first days of school and bulletin board ideas. Many of the ideas come from first grade teachers around the world, however most of them are easily modified for any elementary grade.

It's Time For Back to School - Contains "Back to School" and "graduation" clipart, calendar templates, fonts, and a getting to know you activity

Back to School for Primary Teachers - you will find a first day checklist, activities and book suggestions to help the first few weeks of school go smoothly.

from Education World, here are four great links:

• Planning for Your First Day at School - On the first day of school, the secret to success is in the planning, not the pedagogy. Here are resources for a variety of back-to-school planning needs, including welcome letters, bulletin board ideas, and back-to-school activities.
• Fresh Ideas for Opening Day (Toss Out Those Stale Ideas!) - five lessons including: students discover their learning strengths, create magnificent works of art, have fun following directions, more!
• First-Day-of-School Icebreakers - creative icebreaker activities submitted by teachers may be found here. Included are links to at least 10 more Ed World icebreaker activity pages providing more than 50 great getting-to-know-you activities!
• School "Rules"! - Ten Activities for Establishing Classroom Rules - Starting the school year on the right foot includes establishing classroom rules that will last the whole year through. Many teachers involve students in establishing their classroom rules. Included are ten activities for involving students in creating classroom rules.

Back to School - from Scholastic, here is a list of great ideas to help you, your class, and your students' parents experience a successful transition from summer vacation to the new school year

Pre-School Back to School - Early childhood education activities and lesson plan ideas that enhance preschool curriculum during the beginning of the school year and help young children become familiar with their classmates and classroom environment. Lots of songs and teacher tips that are especially suitable for beginning the school year and when "new" children enter your class.

Ice-Breakers and Energizers - Activities that are just plain fun and can be used for beginning of the year activities, energizers for breaks during standardized tests, team building activities, etc. They work for almost any age group--try some at the next faculty meeting. Some of them will guarantee a good laugh!

Back to School for Administrators! - Education World has gathered great resources from our archive that offer advice, tips, and resources all principals should have at their fingertips. Included: Fund-raising ideas, recess success resources, parent involvement strategies, and much more!

School Opening Week - Here are ideas for administrators of how to celebrate school opening week by having school wide activities every day for students. This is a PDF file

There Is Only One First Day of School - This is a reprint of an article by Harry and Rosemary Wong. Contains valuable information about the seven things students want to know when they first meet their teacher.

Back to School - A list of lots of other "Back to School", "Open House", and "Kissing Hand" links!

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