Back to School - Get to Know You Activities - 3rd Grade

These 5 engaging get-to-know-you activities will help your students interact with each other and help alleviate some of those jitters on the first day/week of school.

This resource is designed for students to rotate around the room to 5 different get-to-know-you stations. Students will have fun answering simple questions about themselves and at the same time learn some things about their new classmates.

The students do not have to complete the 5 rounds (stations) all at one time. You may wish to have the students do 3 rounds in the morning and 2 rounds in the afternoon, or 3 rounds one day and 2 rounds another day, etc.

STATION CARDS

Included are 20 individual station cards for students to follow as they move to the next station. The individual station cards are designed for 20 students or less in a classroom. The station cards will place students with a different group of classmates at each station. Students do not stay with the same group as they move on to a new round. Using the station cards will give students the opportunity to get to know more than just a few kids in the class.

If you have more than 20 students, you will just need to copy additional station cards. Two students will be together throughout the 5 rounds, but they will still meet different classmates at each station.

There is little preparation needed to set up the stations. All materials come in color and black/white.

5 Get-to-know-you activities/stations

1) Would you rather…?

• Students roll a die to find a location on the game board grid.
• There are two scenarios on each space on the game board.
• Students pick the scenario that suits them the best.
• Examples: Would you rather have been born 100 years ago or be born 100 years in the future? Would you rather spend a night alone in a cemetery or spend a night with 10 friends in a haunted house?

2) A Mixed Bag

• Students take turns picking a question from a bag.
• Examples: If you could do anything on your birthday, what would it be? If you could change one thing about school, what would you change?

3) What is your favorite…?

• Students move around the game board, answering questions about some of their favorite things.
• Examples: What is your favorite sandwich? What is your favorite indoor activity?

4) Yes or No

• At this station, students practice addition facts.
• A student rolls 2 dice, adds the 2 numbers, and finds the sum on the game sheet.
• The student selects ONE question next to the sum and answers either yes or no.
• Examples: Have you ever entered a contest? Do you have a favorite holiday?

5) Likes and Dislikes

• A student picks a game card from a bag and places it on one of three columns on their game sheet (I like, I kind of like, I don’t like).
• Examples: eating nachos with hot peppers; running

Also Included: 

• Title pages for each station – Each title page includes the materials needed, directions, and an example of the activity.
• Suggestions on how to use the stations and station cards
• 20 individual station cards
• *You will only need a few additional supplies for all the stations; 4 dice (6-sided), 4 to 5 game pieces/pawns, and 2 paper bags

VARIATION:

Instead of setting up stations, you can use the get-to-know-you activities as partner activities. Set up one or two activities per day during the first week of school, and have students move to a different partner after a given amount of time.

* You will need to copy additional materials and have extra dice, game pieces, and paper bags available.

TERMS OF USE: By purchasing this product, you have permission to copy for single classroom use only. You may copy this resource for your classroom and your students, but you MAY NOT copy and distribute it to others.

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