The Ultimate Back to School Guide

The Ultimate Back to School Guide

By Ditch That Textbook

Games

Ice Breakers

Contents

First Week Activities

More First Week Activities

Click on any page title to go to that page. Images and text boxes are interactive so be sure to click around!

BuildingCommunity

Tech Tool Refreshers

Back to School Read Alouds

Back to School Templates

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ICEBREAKERS

Games

First WEek

Activities

First WEek

Activities

All About Me

Welcome!

TECH TOOL REFRESHERS

Chromebook Care Presentation

Google Docs Scavenger Hunt

Get to Know Kami for Students

building COMMUNITY

READ ALOUDS

templates

Back to School Slide Planning Templates

Canva Google Classroom Header Templates

More

More

Canva Back to School Presentation Templates

More

Canva Back to School Worksheet Templates

More

thank you!

Find more resources at ditchthattextbook.com/back-to-school

10 Team Building Activities for Back to School

Looking for team building activities to help your students get to know each other and work together? These 10 fun and engaging activities are perfect for elementary, middle or high school.

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Six Games to Play for Back to School

This Playworks article shares six easy-to-learn, inclusive games perfect for building community during the first weeks of school. These activities help students learn names, practice teamwork, and feel more comfortable in their classroom environment. With minimal equipment and simple instructions, the games are ideal for indoor or outdoor use and focus on fun, connection, and cooperation.

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Introduce Google Drawings with Shapegrams

Learn and practice Google Drawings skills with interactive tutorials from Tony Vincent. The first 4 shapegrams are FREE to download and use with your students. Thirty-five dollars gets you 365 days of membership privileges, which includes access to all Shapegrams and a license to distribute them to students. Two new Shapegrams are added per month (August through May).

Get Shapegrams

Google Classroom Training

In this course, you will use Google Classroom to engage your students. As you complete the course you will create a new class in Google Classroom, invite students to your class and assign various types of classwork. Google Classroom makes it easy for teachers and students to keep track of grades and assignments. After completing this course, you will have the tools to effectively incorporate Google Classroom into your curriculum.

Go to the Course

Student Interest Survey

Student interest surveys help us know what makes our students tick, which helps us build relationships and learning that matters. Use this template to fit your class.

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All Are Welcome HyperDoc

All Are Welcome, a book by Alexandra Penfold, follows a group of children through a day in their school. In this school everyone is welcomed and accepted with open arms. Use this All Are Welcome HyperDoc by Lisa Guardino and Carla Dunavan to create an opportunity for your students to read (or listen), respond, and reflect to the story within your online learning community. Remember to choose "file" then "make a copy" to edit and replace the links for your own class.

Hear the Story

Get the HyperDoc

Welcome to Our Class Flipbook Template

At the beginning of the school year we want have all of our welcome to class resources handy and ready to give to our students and their families. We made it easy for you with our Welcome to Our Class Flipbook Template. Just fill in all of the pages with your information and have it ready to share with new students.

Color Template

B/W Template

Would You Rather... Ice Breakers

This Canva template provides an interactive "Would You Rather..." ice-breaker activity perfect for those first few weeks of school. It offers a series of engaging prompts where students choose between two fun and often quirky options, such as what animal they’d choose as a pet or how they’d spend a million dollars.

Get the Activty

Classmate Bingo/Find Someone Who

This “Classmate Bingo” activity is a fun and interactive way for students to get to know one another. Students walk around the room and find classmates who match the descriptions in each square—like someone who can sing, has a dog, or loves math—and write their names in the boxes. It’s perfect for building classroom community during the first week of school!

Get the Activty

Modern About Me Poster

This visually engaging "About Me" page offers a creative, scrapbook-style format for older students (middle school and up) to introduce themselves. Its semi-structured design encourages both written reflections and the inclusion of personal photos or visual representations, making it ideal for a more personalized and artistic introduction activity at the beginning of the school year or for a "getting to know you" unit.

Get the Template

Back to School Procedures Checklist

This handy checklist helps teachers systematically introduce and track essential classroom procedures, ensuring a smooth start to the school year.

Slides Template

Canva Template

Back to School with Applied Digital Skills

Kick off the school year with lessons that help students express themselves, build relationships, and stay organized while learning new technology skills.

Go to Lessons

All About Me School Theme

This vibrant, school-themed "ALL ABOUT ME!" worksheet is well-suited for elementary school classrooms. It includes prompts for basic personal information, favorite activities, and subjects, but uniquely adds sections for "The best parts of being at school" and "My goals for this year," making it a valuable tool not only for introductions but also for encouraging reflection and setting intentions for the academic year.

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Who Am I?

In this "Who am I?" activity, students will explore their identities by reflecting on their personal traits, interests, and experiences. Each student will create a presentation slide that includes images, words, and phrases that represent who they are.

Get the Template

Welcome to Our Class Book Creator Template

Start the year by making every student feel seen and welcome—customize the Welcome to Our Class book with your classroom routines, photos, and videos!

Get the Template

Create your own customized class word scramble

With Flippity's "skip the spreadsheet" option you can input your class roster into their site and create a word scramble. Here's how: 1. Go to Flippity.net 2. Click on the tab that says "skip the spreadsheet" 3. Delete the list of countries 4. Paste your class roster (separate each name with a comma or line breaks) 5. Click on the activity you want to generate

Get the Template

D-ICE Breaker Activities

By simply rolling a die, students are prompted to share unique insights about themselves, from recounting vacation adventures and revealing interesting personal facts to imagining superpowers and discussing hidden talents. It's a fantastic, low-stakes way to initiate conversations, help students discover commonalities, and build a more connected and engaging learning environment.

Get the Template

Lego Theme All About Me

Perfect for younger elementary students or those who enjoy building and creative play, this "ALL ABOUT ME" worksheet features a fun Lego theme. Its simple structure with lines for name, age, and hobbies makes it accessible for early writers, and the playful graphics can help engage children and make the self-introduction process enjoyable.

Get the Template

Community building lesson collection

Marilyn McAlister has compiled a Classroom Community collection of ideas from amazing educators Mari Venturino, Sean Gaillard, Meredith Akers, Isabel Adame, Stephanie Rothstein and Emma Pass.

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20 ways to build classroom community and relationships

Having solid relationships with your students will open doors. They'll cause your students to listen to you differently. They'll give you a level of influence that you wouldn't have otherwise. This post is filled with ideas to do just that.

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Welcome to Our Class Book Creator Template

Introduce yourself to your students in style with this Meet the Teacher template from Kami. These templates from the Kami template library are ready to be customized by you. Why not leave a little about yourself, like your hobbies, favorite color, or even pronouns. Plus, add a picture or some contact details for parents.

Get the Template

EfficienTEACH Icebreakers

Icebreakers CAN be fun! Really, they can. There are lots of easy, no prep icebreakers that you can use any time as an engaging way to build and cultivate classroom community. Have a snowball fight, play Would You Rather?, or challenge students to find each other using only animal sounds. Find icebreakers that work for you in our EfficienTEACH Icebreakers and Team Building Activities resource.

Get the Activty

Simple All About Me Worksheet

This comprehensive "ALL ABOUT ME" template is an excellent tool for initial ice-breakers, fostering a sense of community by allowing students to share details about their name, birthday, family, pets, school, friends, favorite things, city, and hobbies.

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Getting Started with Seesaw 2025-2026

This course is for teachers who are brand new to Seesaw or who want a refresher. This training will get you up and running on Seesaw to capture student learning and reflection while creating a learning loop between school and home.

Go to the course

Create a Google Classroom banner quilt

Welcome!

Give each student a square blank Google Drawing and have them decorate it. Download each square and put them together to make a "quilt" or collage Google Classroom banner. Alternatively you can have each student add their name to a collaborative Google Drawing Classroom banner by making the file "anyone with link can edit" and asking students to add their name using word art. Don't forget to revisit this activity when any new students join your class.

Banner Template

Square Template

The Me Project

In this unit, students will explore the basics of Scratch, personalize sprites, and develop programs to create an animation that tells a story all about themselves! They will explore the basics of animation by creating storyboards that focus on sequencing and dialogue, and give and receive peer feedback throughout to help shape the development of their Scratch project.

Go to the Project

Connect students with an icebreaker Kahoot

It’s tricky to jump straight into lessons and lessons during the first day, or week, of school. Students – and teachers alike! – need time to ease into new environments, processes, and of course, get to know new classmates and teachers. Understand your students’ feelings and mindsets by using this icebreaker kahoot template as a guide.

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Google Docs Scavenger Hunt

This Google Docs Scavenger Hunt is an interactive activity designed to help students explore and practice basic word processing skills. Through a series of fun, guided tasks, students learn how to type, format text, adjust alignment and spacing, and add stylistic elements like fonts and colors. It’s a great beginner-friendly way to build confidence using Google Docs in a creative and engaging format.

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Design a Poster About You

Students will introduce themselves to their classmates by creating a poster using Google Drawings.

Go to the Lesson

This is Us! Collaborative Slides

Use this This is us HyperDoc created by Nicole Beardsley to build community in your classroom! It creates a space for each student to share about themselves asynchronously.

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Try a fun (and EASY) writing activity

Have some extra time on your hands? Want a good bell ringer activity to get those creative juices flowing? Using Flippity's randomizer template and easy to follow instructions (option 2) you can create your own customized writing prompt generator.

Get the Template

Roll and Tell Icebreaker

“Roll and Tell” is a fun icebreaker activity designed to help students share about themselves in a playful way. Students roll a die and answer the question that matches the number they rolled—questions range from favorite meals to dream superpowers. It’s a great way to build classroom connections and spark conversations from day one!

Get the Activty

20 Back to School Games

Discover 20 exciting and FREE back-to-school games that will energize your classroom! From an “Escape the Classroom” game to a class-wide scavenger hunt, find activities that promote learning, laughter and community.

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Google Workspace Training

In this course you will be introduced to each tool Google Workspace for Education has to offer; you will build the digital skills necessary to create materials within each tool; and you will understand how to apply these skills to integrate digital learning into your classroom.

Get the Training

Try a fun (and EASY) writing activity

Have some extra time on your hands? Want a good bell ringer activity to get those creative juices flowing? Using Flippity's randomizer template and easy to follow instructions (option 2) you can create your own customized writing prompt generator.

Get the Template

Help your students get to know Kami with these exciting activities introducing the Kami tools. Familiarize yourself with the most popular tools in Kami - Text box, Drawing Tool and Text Comment.

Get to know Kami

Kami scavenger hunt

Activities for the First Days of School

The first-week-of-school activities in this collection address three important goals for the beginning of the school year in grades 6-12:

• Reorienting students to school
• Getting to know each other and building relationships
• Creating classroom community

See the Collection

Old-School Recess Games Your Students Should Be Playing Now

This article from We Are Teachers highlights 38 old-school recess games—both outdoor and indoor favorites—designed for today’s students. It revisits classics like tag, hopscotch, Crab Soccer, Parachute/Popcorn, Kabaddi, and Ship to Shore, offering fresh options beyond screens to get kids moving and socializing.

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5 Ways to Make Art on the First Day of School

This article from The Art of Education University shares five creative ways to get students making art on the very first day of school. From collaborative murals to design challenges and playful art games, each activity helps build community, introduce classroom routines, and engage students right away. The goal is to start the year with creativity, connection, and meaningful artistic expression.

Read the Article

Mission School Blackout Jr

A storm has knocked the power out at your school and the first day is tomorrow! You must solve a series of puzzles to get the combination you need to unlock the 5 letter word lock. Are you ready?

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Create your own customized class word search

With Flippity's "skip the spreadsheet" option you can input your class roster into their site and create some fun customized games for your class. Here's how: 1. Go to Flippity.net 2. Click on the tab that says "skip the spreadsheet" 3. Delete the list of countries 4. Paste your class roster (separate each name with a comma or line breaks) 5. Click on the activity you want to generate

Get the Template

Hopes and Dreams HyperDoc

Start the year off by having students share their hopes and dreams. This HyperDoc is a great one to share at the beginning of the year then go back at the end of the year and read what you wrote!

Get the HyperDoc

Design Your Own Locker

Students can design a locker to introduce themselves to classmates in this fun template. They simply copy items from the other slides in the template to add to their lockers. Then they can explain why those items are important to them and represent them.

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All About Me Book Creator Book

A graphic organizer used to collect and organize information about oneself, including personal details, interests, hobbies, and goals. This is a great template for students using Book Creator for the first time, and can be used as an About the Author page as well.

Get the Template

Create your own customized class word search

With Flippity's "skip the spreadsheet" option you can input your class roster into their site and create some fun customized games for your class. Here's how: 1. Go to Flippity.net 2. Click on the tab that says "skip the spreadsheet" 3. Delete the list of countries 4. Paste your class roster (separate each name with a comma or line breaks) 5. Click on the activity you want to generate

Get the Template

Mission School Blackout

A storm has knocked out the power at your school and the first day is tomorrow! You must find the clues and solve a series of puzzles to get to the power box and turn the lights back on.

Get it FOR FREE

Secret Agent Jr. Codebreaker Back to School Pack

The Secret Codes packet offers fun and flexible activities perfect for morning bell ringers, early finishers, rewards, or quick time fillers. Each code challenges students to decode a back-to-school themed word using a simple key.

Get the Codebreaker Pack

Book Creator Certified Author Course

This experience is designed to help educators unlock creativity, elevate student voice, and build engaging digital learning environments.

Go to the course

Chromebook Care Presentation

Thispresentation designed to guide students on the proper care and responsible use of Chromebooks in the classroom setting. It outlines practical steps for handling the devices, from carefully removing them from the charging cart to signing in and out correctly.

Get the Kahoot

Get the Slides

Canva Teacher Essentials

Learn essential Canva tools to create engaging teaching resources, lesson plans, and activities. Use AI-powered tools to save time, track progress, and give meaningful feedback.

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Interactive Resource Room Template

Use this fun digital resource room to make important resources for your class really easy to find! You can delete, change or add to this room and fill as many of the shelves, cubbies, tables, and boards as full of resources as you'd like. Then, share a link to it with students -- or embed it in your class in your learning management system.

Get the Template

Diffit Certified Educator

This 25-30 minute self-paced course will teach you everything you need to know to become a Diffit Certified Educator today. When you complete the course, your Diffit Certified Educator Digital Badge will be sent to your email.

Go to the Course

Become A Brisk AI Professional

Get Brisk-certified and show you know how to use AI where it counts—in the classroom. Quick, practical, and built for busy teachers who want real skills (plus a badge to show it).

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