Back to School Activities for High School

As I planned back-to-school activities for high school students this year, I thought long and hard about what experiences and values I wanted to center, using that to drive what we did. The results are so great.

First, I wanted everyone to connect with me in some way. Of lesser importance was them connecting to one another, mostly because I cannot guarantee who in the room is safe for whom on day one. Still, I built opportunities for naturally connecting with others.

Then, I wanted to bring a sense of co-creation to the class, with the understanding that the experience in our room will be what we make of it. That we co-own our results. This fosters ownership, responsibility, and collaboration.

Finally, I wanted observational space for me, but them too. I am a hypervigilant person, and so starting with observations helps me (and can help students) feel safe. I know from the beginning there is a lot of information I don’t have about students, and I wanted a way to gather it that didn’t involve surveys that I will never look at again. I want students to develop an observational stance too, as it is key for readers, writers, listeners, and thinkers (not to mention scientists, citizens, etc.).

How to Select the Best Back-to-School Ideas for You and Your Students gives more details on how to simplify the back-to-school activities process.

With these three goals in mind, I set out to plan activities that would fulfill one or more of them.

1. Write letters to each other.

I like this activity because it is authentic, offers the opportunity for selective vulnerability, and is a private way to ease into the school year. Here’s my letter that I plan on sharing with students.

2. Make a needs guide.

I like to signal to students that their needs can be met here and also that they can meet them independently. The guide is great for new students who join throughout the year, as well as for reminding students of the positive choices they can make. I can also teach how to distinguish their wants from their needs. My definition: your wants are needs that can wait 50 minutes.

3. Build a class playlist.

I use Spotify for this, but you can use whatever way you like to organize music. 

You can ask students for their favorite songs, of course, but you can also ask them for songs that help them study, hype-up songs, etc. to teach about how to support your own success with the music you choose. You can also ask for songs that fit a certain theme. We are starting the year studying inspiration, so asking for inspiring songs is the perfect way for me to do this. If we have extra time on any given day, I can put on someone’s song and ask them to explain it as a community builder. Here is an example from Maniacs in the Middle that I like.

4. Decorate notebooks (or binders or their desks or the room).

I love turning on the class playlist and letting students personalize their notebooks while I observe them. I can see how they work, who talks with whom, or just mingle and ask questions. I will know pretty quickly how the class will respond to unstructured or creative activities and be able to plan for the future.

5. Advertise for classroom jobs.

It really takes a village to run a classroom, and I like to hire students to foster that spirit. I “pay” students with letters of recommendation, time to listen to their own music (offers a proactive way for students to get what they want), and fun activities with me (e.g. I’ll teach you a dance combo or you can teach me about your favorite topic). This is such an awesome opportunity to teach students leadership skills.

6. Set personal goals.

We’ll be using a more or less chart, an idea I’m revising from Dr. Sarah Zerwin’s book Point-less. In my version, students review certain readings and graphs that inspire them to think about what behaviors they want to do more and less during the year. I can ask them to revisit these lists all year long to check on their own progress and guide necessary conversations. Here are the texts I am using:

• My school’s PBIS signage and handbook policies
• Amy Berry’s continuum of engagement (from Reimagining Student Engagement: From Disruption to Driving)
• Zaretta Hammond’s components of an academic mindset (from Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain)

7. Teach the rules…but in a fun way.

I teach sophomores, who are experts in all things. Allowing them to make fun of the rules while reinforcing them is great. It provides me with a backstock of rule reminders that can be hung in our classroom for easy reference (and that I can have hung all over the school).

8. Be ready with a back-up activity.

My timing is always off as I get back into the swing of things. That’s why I like to have a fire pit activity ready to go. This idea, from Liz Prather’s Project-Based Writing, has students sit in a circle. You can even have a little fake fire on the floor. You introduce a topic, and students take turns telling stories from their lives about the topic. They can be inspired by the topic or by what the person before them shared, kind of like how when you sit around a fire pit the storytelling just flows from one to the next. If the students run out of ideas, you can pull another topic. You can also have them record their story ideas in their notebooks afterwards so they have something to write about (when they inevitably say they have nothing to write about).

Bonus #1: Games

I love back-to-school games that help students get to know each other. Here are some ideas.

1. Name game. Students take turns introducing themselves and saying something they like. You can choose some other detail if you prefer. To play the game, start with a volunteer to name as many students and their details as they can. Then, they can call on someone else to see if they can beat them. This can be played any time throughout the first weeks to help the students learn each other’s names.
2. Guess who game. Students take 10 minutes to write a story about themselves. It can be from one of the fire pit topics or related to an early topic in class. It should be something fairly short. Collect the stories. Read one aloud without telling whose it is. Students guess. You can give hints (e.g. “It’s someone sitting in the first row.”).
3. Partner interview. Assemble 3-5 questions for students to ask one another and then have students introduce each other to the class.
4. Bingo. I like to have students help make the bingo boards full of their likes and favorites. Then, they find people in class who can initial their board.

Bonus #2: Writing Pre-Assessments

If you have time, writing pre-assessments are a great activity early in the year.

• They help you create a writing instructional plan that honors the strengths of the group.
• They are fun to revisit at the end of the year to celebrate students growth.
• They give you heaps of soft-info about how students “do” writing.

What if back-to-school was the most relaxing time of the year?

If you’d like a done-for-you version of these activities, here it is! It includes

• An editable three-day lesson plan for my exact sequence 
• An editable teacher-letter template to build those first-day connections
• An editable needs guide to help students know where to find things in your room and school
• Song request cards for making a class playlist
• Observation sheets for collecting data
• Affirmations for decorating desks, notebooks, and binders
• An editable classroom jobs ad, application, and training materials for creating classroom responsibility
• Directions and materials for the goal-setting activity 
• Directions and materials for the meme activity to have fun with rules and procedures
• Fire pit topic ideas to tell stories and fill downtime
• 4 stations for Meet the Teacher Night–have the easiest night yet!
• Multi-language birthday cards to give to your students throughout the year–my students love getting a personal note from me on their birthdays.
• 2025 Bonuses:
  • Writing pre-assessments and a checklist to identify your students’ strengths as writers and make an instructional plan
  • Bingo card for getting to know each other

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