LoginBack to School Activities 1
Submitted by Michelle (07-11-2012)
Back to School Activities 1
by Michelle
(Rosanna)
Use the heading - "We All Fit In"
This is a cooperative game for one of the first days of school. It is called "We All Fit In".
This is one of my favorite back to school activities ...making a class puzzle.
Prior to the first day, I take a large sheet of white drawing paper and cut it into puzzle pieces so that each child will have their own. During the first day, I distribute a piece to each student and have them decorate it with their name and designs/decorations of their choice.
When several of the students have completed theirs I have them begin to reconstruct the puzzle on the carpet.
The students, some of who may not know each other, begin to work together, discussing where the various pieces go. As other students finish their piece, they are welcomed to the group as more puzzle pieces are added.
The students are working together cooperatively the entire time. I can begin to see who tends to take charge, hang back, etc.
When the puzzle has been completed, I include a heading which says, "We all fit in!" I staple the puzzle together when I have a chance and make a bulletin board out of it.
The puzzle stays up for the entire year, and we take it apart on the last day of school. If a student moves away, we take their piece out, leaving a hole. If a new student moves in, the hole can be filled with a new piece they design. I have also sometimes purposely left a blank piece or two the first day of school, just to let the students know we will always have room in our class for others.
This has always been a great group building activity . . .
ONE TIP...Make sure that you draw an arrow in pencil to indicate on each puzzle piece which way is up. This way, the students will not draw on an upside down puzzle piece!!
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What others are saying...
Hi,
Thank you very much for this great idea. I work in an American School in São Paulo, Brazil and the activity was perfect to integrate my PLL (Portuguese Language Learners) students in our classroom. Now I need to find a way to translate "We all fit together" in Portuguese... :-)
Cheers
Just wanted to know how big it is finished...Is it too big for a sheet of cardboard? Love the idea...
Here are some example pictures of finished puzzles .....
http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/teaching-resources-photo-gallery.html
Cheers
Donna
Was wondering how big the finished puzzle is?
Last year I used the jigsaw pieces and copied and pasted children's photos onto each piece. I then printed, cut and laminated the pieces. It was a lovely way for children to begin to learn one another's names... and I nice way to build relationships within the room. It was a little 'fiddley', but I think I will do it again this year.
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea!
Last year I used the puzzle pieces with my Year 1/2 as a first day of the year activity. I gave each student a puzzle piece with their name on it which they could decorate in any way they wished. We had a lot of interactive fun trying to fit it all together before it was finally ready under the banner "We all fit together to make Room _ great!"
It was on constant display throughout the year, with pieces being added as new students arrived. The poster became a focal point of class discussions about belonging/friendship/cooperation as well as a reference for visitors to our room.
At the end of the year each piece was returned to its owner as a keepsake from the year we had shared together.
The same idea is already in the pipeline for the coming year!
I am the technology teacher so I went looking for a puzzle that I could put into digital form for each student. With it being digital, I have to test each one and make sure it stays the same size relative to each piece. I think I have figured it out. I copied each puzzle piece and pasted it into Pixie, a graphic program. It has to be 'glued' in order for the students to be able to draw on it. Each student will decorate their own piece using the stamps, text, and drawing tools. I don't have to worry about the pieces being flipped over or upside down as I would if it were paper. I think that in the end we will have a digital version of "We All Fit Together".
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