Students Hopes & Dreams Fun, Crafty Back to School Activity
Are you ready for this? Here is a really fun, crafty activity that you can do with your students at the very beginning of the year. This is a school project that will not only help build a positive community of learners; but you can also use this back to school activity to CO-CREATE the class rules together. My Students Hopes and Dreams activity is something I did at the beginning of every school year; and it really helped to launch the classroom routines and expectations and then eventually to launch reading & writing workshop.
Several of your students will have many hopes & dreams for the school year. They might choose academic goals such as reading longer chapter books or writing longer stories. They might choose social goals such as making new friends or speaking when they have a question about something. Or maybe they will choose an organizational goal such as keeping my locker clean or remembering to bring their homework to school. No matter what their hopes & dreams are; EVERYONE in the class can help to support them in that goal.
Help Students Narrow Down To One Big Hope and Dream for the School Year.
This is the actual PowerPoint slide that I used with my students to help them narrow down to one big hope & dream. First, I allow some students to share a few of their hopes and dreams.
Then I would say, “Okay it’s time to pick just one… like your top one, the big one. If you had to only pick one hope or dream for this school year, what would it be, tell your partner.”
The purpose of this is to try to help them narrow their hopes and dreams down to ONE for the school year. Then everyone can work together to help them achieve it.
Materials For The Students Hopes & Dreams Back to School Activity.
It’s time to introduce the fun art craft activity. Show them all the materials they're going to need to complete this back to school activity.
You will need:
- Two cloud templates
- Rainbow template
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Pencil
- Skinny markers
I ask them, “What do you think we are going to create?” Of course they say…
RAINBOWS!!!
The first cloud is for the students to be able to write their #1 hope and dream down.
I would suggest having them write it in pencil first. Some of your students might make a mistake. If they write in a marker right away, and mess up, then you have to get another cloud.
QUICK TIP: Print a few extra clouds & rainbows!
Get Families Involved In This Fun School Project About Their Child’s Hopes & Dreams.
You might be wondering what the 2nd cloud is for. Well… it’s for their families. Their family writes down their hopes and dreams for their child for the school year. You can give the families this cloud at Back to School Night or an Open House before school actually starts.
The other option is you could send it home on the first day of school and just pray that they come back. But worst case scenario, if they don't you can always email the parent/guardian or call and say, “Hey, what are your hopes and dreams for your child this school year.” And then write it on the cloud for them. I’ve done that plenty of times.
Now what about the RAINBOW of the craft?
The rainbow is for you, the teacher. This is where you write your hopes and dreams for all of your students. I always picked the same hope and dream and made it very general enough that it would apply to all of my students. That way, I wasn't writing a new one for each child. Now you have all the pieces of the craft complete. The last step is to glue it all together.
Last but certainly not least, tell your families what their child’s hope and dream is for the school year. Here is the actual form that I sent home after this activity is over.
Display Your Students School Year Goals (Hopes & Dreams)
You can hang up your students' hopes & dreams rainbows somewhere in the classroom. That could be a bulletin board, hang them from the ceiling, or cabinets. Think of the best place that will allow your students to refer back to their hope & dream throughout the year.
Now once this Students Hopes & Dreams Activity is done, you can co-create the class rules or agreements together. And don’t forget this activity can even springboard into launching reading & writing workshop routines & expectations.
If you’re looking for even more FREE training, strategies, and resources on building a positive classroom community; come on over to my Facebook page and Literacy Teacher Greatness Community on Facebook. I just love this positive, supportive community of literacy teachers and instructional coaches. We are all in this together and we can fill each other’s toolbox of strategies along the way. So hop on over into the group and say hello. I would LOVE to meet you.
Talk to you soon!
