Back to School Beginning of the Year Activities for Social Studies Lessons

These back to school and first week of school activities were designed with community, teamwork, and relationship-building in mind so that students can get to know each other while performing fun social studies activities in upper elementary and middle school.

Also included in these bundles:

• This product is part of my Back to School Activities: HUGE BUNDLE
• This resource is part of my Back to School Activities: Social Studies and Community Building

This resource includes:

• 30+ social studies activities for the first weeks of school.
• All pintables, resources, and examples included.
• Black and white versions available for easy printing

I created this pack after my first year of teaching when I learned (the hard way) just how vital the first few weeks of school are.

I realized I needed to really get to know my students, but I also learned I wanted to use the time in the first few weeks to allow my students to explore and learn important concepts in all subjects. There are a variety of great activities to do in the first few weeks and social studies are PERFECT for building community and teamwork.

With that in mind, I created this pack. I didn’t want to create a bunch of time-fillers either.

All activities are designed for you to get to know your students, but also to allow them to see how social studies should look. With this approach, students will learn that social studies is fun, that they are responsible for their learning and constructing their own knowledge, and that social studies will look different for each and every one of the but they are all still part of a classroom community.

The following activities are found in this pack

1. Social Studies Goals

2. Social Studies Class Attitude Survey

3. What Makes a Good Historian?

4. Family Trees

5. Find it on the Map with Food! (U.S. Edition)

6. Find it on the Map with Food! (World Edition)

7. Ethnicity Flags

8. Family Coat of Arms

9. Classroom Quilt

10. Classroom Recipe Book

11. Class Constitution

12. Dream Vacation Research

13. Food From Around the World

14. Famous Buildings in History Models

15. Fishing for Headlines

16. The Five Components of Social Studies

17. History Scavenger Hunt

18. Classroom Timelines

19. State Symbol Collage

20. American Symbol Art

21. Write a Letter to the President Writing Activity

22. Write a Letter to a Solder Writing Activity

23. United States President Matching Game Activity

24. The Nobel Peace Prize Craftivity

25. Proclamation Writing Activity

26. Design Your Own Postage Stamps

27. Social Studies Writing Prompts 1

28. Social Studies Writing Prompts 2

29. Social Studies Picture Books

30. Social Studies Chapter Books

I hope you love these activities as much as I do!