Are you looking for the perfect first week of school activity that’s both meaningful and fun? This engaging back to school project helps students feel welcomed and comfortable in their new classroom while also giving you the opportunity to informally assess students’ writing skills. Whether you’re sharing it at your school’s open house or displaying it for meet the teacher night, this back to school activity sets the tone for a positive and productive school year.
This resource is standards-based, differentiated, and scaffolded. It blends a step-by-step descriptive writing lesson with a creative art project students will love. It’s flexible enough for whole group instruction, writing centers, morning work, or even an extended writing project. Best of all, it makes a fantastic bulletin board display that showcases both your students’ creativity and their writing progress right from the start. Learn more about this back to school activity below!
What Does the School Open House Resource Include?
This school open house resource includes…
- Teacher guide that explains how to use all of the included printables.
- Writing prompts and story starters that offer you options you can choose from or have your students choose from, which increases student engagement.
- Brainstorm activities to help your students generate strong word choice (nouns and verbs) for their writing.
- Sensory details planner that guides students through using their senses to describe the house.
- Graphic organizers to help students plan out their writing in a strategic way.
- Drafting pages that come in three different templates so you can choose which ones work best for your students.
- Publishing pages that come in two different template papers so you can differentiate based on your students’ needs.
- Class book covers so you can create a keepsake that students can refer back to throughout the year and remember the fun activity they completed together as a class.
- Bulletin board resources that will help you create a beautiful classroom display showcasing your students’ work.
- Art project directions and examples that walk you step-by-step through how to create different art/craft projects that can go with your students’ writing activities.
- Digital resources so your students can complete this activity in school or at home.
Why Teachers Love the School Open House Activities
Teachers love the school open house activities because…
- The printable resources are quick and easy to prep – just copy and go!
- The resources make it easy to differentiate so you can meet the needs of all your students.
- They help disorganized writers plan their writing, which leads to their future success with writing.
- The brainstorming and planning pages help reluctant writers generate ideas and get started.
- This resource includes a digital version so your students can access it at home or in school.
Why Students Love the School Open House Activities
Students love the school open house activities because…
- They feel comfortable and welcomed because the activity helps them get comfortable in their new classroom right away.
- They enjoy being creative during a fun, hands-on art project.
- Students get to choose from a variety or writing prompts and story starters.
- They feel confident and supported thanks to helpful tools like brainstorming pages, graphic organizers, and sensory detail planners.
- They feel proud when they see their work displayed on a bulletin board or included in a class book.
10 Back to School Open House Tips and Ideas
Check out the list of back to school open house ideas for elementary teachers to use in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom below!
- Use a theme.
- Rearrange your classroom to fix your needs.
- Post student work.
- Have students create a self-portrait.
- Have all content areas represented in the classroom.
- Tie the theme into everything.
- Get creative.
- Organize and clean your classroom before families arrive.
- Keep like-items together.
- Highlight collaboration.
Get the School Open House Activities for Students
Check Out These Other Back to School Activities
In closing, we hope you found this post about school open house activities and ideas helpful! If you did, then you may be interested in our other back-to-school activities.
