All About Me pages, pennants and flip books for the first week

The first morning of school is loud and nobody knows where to sit. An All About Me page on each desk fixes both. It gives the children something to do with their hands and gives the teacher twenty-two small pictures of who is in the room.

What the sheet looks like

The All About Me generator prints four layouts. The page has a portrait frame and labelled answer boxes for prompts like my favorite color, my favorite food and my favorite game. The pennant prints two to a page, to cut out and string across a wall. The flip book is six flaps to cut and glue. The bingo card is a 4×4 or 5×5 "find someone who" grid for a class to walk around with.

A grade band sets the prompts: Pre-K–K gets four to six, with drawing boxes and big lines; grades 1–2 get up to eight; grades 3–5 get six to ten with more writing lines. Prompts come from a built-in bank, or you type up to twelve of your own.

Why it works

• The prompts ask for things every child knows the answer to. There is no wrong answer on the first day, which is the right message to send.
• Drawing boxes for the youngest children mean a non-reader finishes the same sheet as everyone else.
• The bingo card gets children out of their seats and talking to someone they did not pick. That is the point of the first week.

Who it suits

Pre-K through grade 5, with the grade band doing the heavy lifting. The flip book suits grades 1 and 2 best, since cutting and gluing six flaps is itself the activity. The bingo card needs readers, so save it for second grade and up. At the other end of the year, the memory book asks the same children what changed.

Hang the pennants low enough for the kids to read each other's.