Mail each child a short letter several days prior to the start of school. Address each letter directly to the student and state how much you are looking forward to having him in class. Write the letter on a colorful sheet of paper. Include a blank name tag in the letter. Request that the student decorate the name tag with his name and wear it to class on the first day of school.
Call each student the night before school starts. Keep all conversations brief. Introduce yourself with a pleasant and soothing voice and verbally repeat the message in your letter -- how much you are looking forward to meeting him and having him in class. Remind the student to wear his name tag to class and come prepared to enjoy the day.
Express positive energy and lots of smiles. Sit all students in a circle on the floor. Discuss how each school day will progress throughout the year and what exciting adventures -- field trips, for example -- they can look forward to. Encourage each student to talk to his neighbor and learn his name and one thing he enjoys. Ask each student to introduce his new "friend" as a way to keep all kids relaxed by not having them talk about themselves -- which can be nerve-racking -- on the first day.
Give a tour of the classroom guided by cookies or treats. Take the kids around the room, with treats set in advance at each stop. Give the kids a treat while explaining what area of the room they are in, describing its purpose and fielding any questions.
Plan an imaginative first-of-the-year activity. Make a time capsule, for example. Ask each child what his name, age, favorite book, TV show, movie and person are, then write the answers on pieces of paper. Collect the papers and put them into a small tin box labeled, "TIME CAPSULE." Bury the tin box in a large box of dirt. Keep the time capsule buried until the last day of school, when you will dig it out and read what the children wrote way back on the first day of school.