Week 1

Welcome to Grade 3 - Fun Week 

Week 1: September 1-4

Day 1: Welcome & Community Building

Objective: Students will feel comfortable in the classroom, learn routines, and start building friendships.

Today we're going to start getting to know each other. By the end of today, I'm hoping I learn lots of interesting things about you—and I'm sure you're going to learn some interesting things about each other too!

Activities:

• Morning Circle – Read Aloud: A back-to-school story (e.g., First Day Jitters). - 

  • 📚READ ALOUD: First Day Jitters By Julie Danneberg #firstdayjitters

• 🎨 All About Me: Help me get to know YOU!

• ⭐ Introduce Our Classroom Agreements

• 🔔 Create Attention Signal

• 🏫 Scavenger hunt: Tour of Our Classroom

• 🚦 Teach Your Transition Procedure

• ☀️ The Summer Scoop: Tell us about your summer!

• 🔎 Back-to-School Bingo: Let's get to know our classmates!

• Closing Circle: Share one thing they’re excited about for Grade 3.

Day 2: Building a Reading & Writing Community + Growth Mindset

Objective: Reading, speaking/listening, and descriptive writing. Students will understand that mistakes help us learn and practice working together.

Activities: 

• 💌 Letter From Teacher: Read a letter from the teacher and write a short response.

• 🗣️ Would You Rather: Students share their choices and explain their reasoning to a partner.

• 🎭 Reader’s Theater: Listen to a short story and practise fluency, expression, and teamwork through a short script.

• ✏️ Writing: “What makes someone a good friend and classmate?”

• 🧠 Growth Mindset Mini-Lesson: Sort fixed vs. growth mindset statements and discuss “I can’t do this…yet!”

• 🏫 Routine Practice: Review and practise transitions, voice levels, asking for help, and partner work.

• 🏗️ STEM Challenge: In teams, build the tallest free-standing tower using limited materials. Encourage students to plan, test, make mistakes, and improve.

• 📓 Reflection & Closing Circle: Students share or write “One thing I learned today” and reflect on a challenge they faced.

Day 3: Math & Problem Solving Fun

Review again classroom and procedures through a fun game.

Objective: Students will review math concepts (addition, subtraction, place value) through games and collaboration.
Activities:

• 🕵️ Math Warm-Up Game: Math Detective

• Math Centers:

  1. Place Value Dice Game

  2. Addition/Subtraction Bingo

  3. Puzzle Challenge (Sudoku or tangrams)

• 📚 Mini-Lesson: How Do Mathematicians Think?: Discuss that there can be more than one way to solve a problem.

• 🎲 Math Centres: Place Value Dice Game, Addition & Subtraction Bingo, Math Puzzle Challenge, Teacher Table

• 🌳 Outdoor Math Hunt: Find shapes, angles, or numbers around the playground.

• 🎨 STEM/Math Art: Create “Math About Me” posters (e.g., shoe size, number of family members, favorite number).

• Closing Circle: Group math riddle challenge. Present a final mystery number/problem for students to solve together.

Day 4: Looking Ahead & Celebration

Objective: Students will reflect on their first week, set personal goals for Grade 3, strengthen their sense of classroom community, and celebrate their accomplishments.

Activity: 

• 💬 Morning Circle: Share one goal for Grade 3. “What Kind of Class Do We Want to Be?”

• 🎯 Goal Setting: Create a “Grade 3 Time Capsule” (students write/draw goals, seal in envelopes to open at end of year).

• 📦 Grade 3 Time Capsule: Students create a time-capsule letter to their future selves.

• 🎉 Class Game: Fun games (Kahoot quiz about classmates, or minute to win games).

• 📓 First Week Reflection: Journal prompt – “My favorite thing this week was…”

• 💬 Closing Circle: Share one word that describes their first week.