Children grow and change so much throughout the school year. A time capsule activity is a great way to show kids how they have changed from the beginning of the year to the end. Explain to the kids that they will be filling out a sheet of paper with a series of questions on it. The paper will be kept private and will be given back to them at the end of their fourth-grade year. The time capsule worksheet can have questions such as, "What is your favorite song?," "What is your favorite movie?" and "Who is your best friend?" This simple worksheet is a great first-day activity to put the children at ease and get them excited to start the year.
Get to know your fourth graders and help them get to know you with a picture-drawing activity. Begin by drawing pictures of your favorite things on an overhead projector or on the board. For example, if you like to hike, you could draw a mountain or a forest path. Ask the students to guess, as a class, what the pictures say about you and your interests. Next give them each a piece of paper to do the same activity with the students around them. This activity helps the kids get to know each other and start making friends with common interests.
Ask the children to stand up and form a circle either outside or in the classroom. Give them a small beanbag to toss from one person to the other. For the first round ask all the kids to say their names, for the second round ask them to share their favorite food and for the third round ask them to share their favorite color. When everyone has finished sharing, ask for a volunteer to repeat as much of the information as possible. Award the student who is able to remember most about her classmates with a small prize.
Giving out small prizes is a great way to put kids in a good mood for the first day of fourth grade. Pass around a big basket full of prizes like stickers or small toys and tell the children that they may take as many items as they want. (Because it is the first day, most kids will probably be shy and only take a few things.) When all the kids have chosen a few prizes, tell them that they must share one thing about themselves for each item that they took. This is a fun way to get them talking and sharing things about themselves.