Back-to-School Social Studies Activities
After a long vacation, get things going in your social studies class by planning activities that are entertaining and informative. Students can get acquainted with you, and one another, through activities that involve classroom participation. Use the activities as a foundation for the lesson plan for the class to help motivate children for a productive school year.
Other People Are Reading
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Take a Count
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Conduct a census of your classroom and introduce students to the national census that's conducted every 10 years. Form a questionnaire for students to fill out and share with the other members of the class. Structure the questions based on the age level of the students, and include a variety of questions such as their name, birthday, the number of people who live in their house and how many pets they own. This activity is a good way for students to not only get to know one another, but for you to get to know a little more about them as well. Take the activity a step further by having children create bar graphs or charts to compile the information learned from the questionnaires.
Cultural Perspective
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For this activity, have each student place a self-adhesive piece of paper with his name on it on a world map on the country of his family's origin. Hang the map in a prominent area of your classroom, and select the countries that are labeled as the ones to cover first during your social studies lessons for the year. Invite the children to learn more about their country of heritage, and create a festival for each culture that includes food, clothing and music distinctive to that area. For younger children, encourage parents to take part in the activity by coming to school to share information about their culture. This activity is a good way for children to become more aware of the "melting pot" that our country is.
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No Place Like Home
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Encourage children to take a closer look at the place they call home by having them pick out a specific place or business that they frequent regularly, either by themselves or with their families. Have children tell the class what their favorite place in the community is and why it is their favorite place. This icebreaking activity helps children find things in common with others in the classroom and also allows them to think about social studies on a more local level. Further the activity by having children take pictures of their favorite local place and conduct interviews with people who work there or go there regularly. Have them present the information as their first project for the class.
Something Special
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Explore what makes social studies an exciting subject by uncovering the special qualities of the students in your classroom. Have each child write down two or three things about herself that she feels are distinctive. Select one quality from each student and create a list. Have children go on a classroom mission to discover which of their classmates possess the qualities that you selected. Do the activity as a group by posting the list of distinctive qualities on a bulletin board, or pass out printed sheets so that children can do the activity on their own. This activity encourages students to talk to one another, and it also helps them to better understand and appreciate the things about each of us that make us special.
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