When going back to school, it is so important to do “all about me” activities with your students. Not only does it help you begin to build relationships with your students, but they are also a great way to ease them back into their daily school routine. You can get to know your students, and they will love getting to share their interests with you!
Because “getting to know you” activities are so important, there are some activities I try to do with my students at the beginning of every year so that I can get to know them better and let them know they are important to me.
#1 Self-Portrait
At the beginning of the year, I love having my students create a self-portrait of themselves. This is simple enough for kindergarteners to do without much direction, and they love being able to draw a picture of what they think they look like.
It also makes a great keepsake for parents, and can serve as a great reminder of how much students grow throughout the year in kindergarten when they look back at the end of the year, and see how much progress students have made even in their artistic ability.
#2 Favorites
I also love doing activities that give students a chance to share some of their favorites with me. In later grades, students can write about some of their favorites, but in kindergarten, I let them share with drawings. Students can draw about their favorite activities, their favorite color, or even their favorite foods. In my All About Me Unit, I even include pages for students to draw about their favorite recess activities and their favorite animals.
When students draw about their favorites, I get to know a little more about them. They get to know that the things that are important to them are important to me.
#3 Family Drawing
Another “All About Me” activity I love having my students complete is a family drawing. It gives me an idea of what their life is like at home and helps me to get an even better understanding of them. Are they an older sibling that is used to taking care of others or the baby of the family? Are they used to being the center of attention as an only child? Do they currently live with both parents or perhaps they are being raised by a grandparent? Having students draw a picture of their families can give a little insight into all of these questions.
Family drawings also give students a chance to share about the people who are most important to them, and again, gives you a chance to show students that what is important to them matters to you.
For this reason, I also give my students a chance to share about another important member of their family–their pets! Some students may have many different kinds of pets, unusual pets, or just a single cat or dog. It is fun for students to share what pets they have and compare with their classmates.
As the school year begins, it is so important to begin building relationships with students, and these “all about me” activities are a great way to do that. More importantly, they make students feel special and can give you some important insight into their lives and interests.
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