It's back to school time again and this year looks NOTHING like we have ever seen before. As summer comes to a close teachers are preparing for that big first day of school. Only this year, for many of us, it's going to be in a virtual classroom.
If you are going back to school in-person chances are you will still be doing some sort of remote learning in the future. Or perhaps your instruction is a hybrid of in-person teaching and distance learning.
But one thing we know is true, no matter where you or your students are learning from, those first few weeks of school are crucial for community and relationship building. Lucky for us, many of the beginning of the year activities you know and love can be done in a virtual classroom!
Below we have curated over 75 back to school activities for the remote learning classroom. Scroll down for tons of ready-to-use lessons along with tutorials, templates, and examples to make planning this year a little easier.
What are your back to school ideas? Please share them in a comment at the bottom of the post!
FREE Remote Learning 101 online course
If you're looking to dive deeper into remote learning or just aren't sure where to start, this course can help you feel more comfortable with taking your class online.
- 14 modules
- 2.5+ hours of video
- Downloadable planning guides
- Lifetime access
- Forum for sharing ideas
75 back to school activities for the remote learning classroom
Click on any picture below to jump directly to that section.
Preparing your online classroom
Remote learning first week of school activities
Remote learning community building lessons
Social Emotional Learning
Connecting with families remotely
35+ beginning of the year activities
Preparing your online classroom
Take a FREE course on launching and leading an equitable online classroom.
Dr. Sheldon Eakins and Marcus Borders will walk you step-by-step through the entire process of launching and facilitating an online course! And it's TOTALLY FREE!
Create a Bitmoji or virtual classroom.
Bitmoji classrooms are all the rage on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Creating your own virtual classroom can help you feel a little bit more "at home" with distance learning. The resources below (including 200+ ready-to-use templates) will help you create your own.
Tutorials and templates for making your own Bitmoji classroom:
Create an interactive digital syllabus or handbook in Slides or PowerPoint.
Before beginning the year you can set up your syllabus or classroom handbook to be interactive in Google Slides or PowerPoint (also check out how to create an infographic style syllabus using Piktochart). You can see an example digital syllabus created by Kevin Feramisco here.
SlidesMania has TONS of amazing free templates you can use to get started.This "Phone App" template from Slides Mania could be a fun way to pull all your class information together for students and parent.
Gamify your syllabus!
Create instant day one engagement. John Meehan's Class is Lava gamfied syllabus is great for physical school OR distance learning. Hit the ground running with student centered autonomy, agency and purpose.
Check out Class is Lava! by John Meehan for directions and the FREE template!
Create a back-up plan with choice boards!
What happens if the power goes out? Or the internet is extremely slow? Or maybe you need to take a sick day and need quick sub-plans?
Make it easy and fun with choice boards! You can make them as open ended or specific as you want. Review what is expected of the students before you need to use them and be sure to include offline activtities.
eLearning Choice Boards: A step-by-step guide to creating resources you can use tomorrow! by Karly Moura
Choice Board Bingo by John Meehan
Use our simple "drag and drop" back to school planning doc!
Sometimes too many ideas can be overwhelming, especially when you're reading through a post with over 50 activities to go through! A simple planning template can be helpful when sifting through resources. Just drag and drop the activities to a time slot on the planner. Make a copy of an activity you want to do more than once or if you want to give students multiple days to work on it.
This planning template was created using the Google Slides sticky note brainstorming template and has a link to 16 of the activities listed in this post. There are 8 more blank notes to add your own activities or add more of the activiites you find in here. Of course once you make a copy of the presentation you can edit any of the activities to swap out or change the ones that don't work for you or your class.
Note: The links to the activities take you back to this blog post so that you can grab the resources you need to assign to your class.
Get the tools, the practical ideas, and the inspiration to transform the way you use technology in the classroom!
- Lesson ideas and downloadable templates
- A companion webpage full of FREE resources (click here to access NOW)
- Brand new PIRATE engagement hooks
- Encouragement and motivation to start
Remote learning first week of school activities
Take students on a tour of their virtual classroom.
You spent all that time making your Bitmoji virtual classroom right? See idea and tutorial links in the section above. Take some time to give your students a tour. Show them where everything is and why the items you chose to include are important. You could even take it fun step further and create a virtual classroom scavenger hunt.
Let kids decorate their virtual classroom!
We want our students to be a part of our classrooms even when our classrooms are virtual. A fun first day of school project is to have students create a digital art project to "hang up" in your virtual Bitmoji classroom. It can be a decorative name tag or a digital picture.
Click here to get some pre-made art "frames" (Need these in PowerPoint? Just click "file" then "download" and choose Microsoft ppt.)
Have students create their own virtual background.
Why should teachers have all the fun creating their own classrooms? Take it a step further and let students create their own virtual learning space. Show them how to download and use their own virtual background in Zoom, Teams or Google Meet!
Check out Creating Educational and Fun Backgrounds for Microsoft Teams and Zoom by Holly Clark for a tutorial video, templates, and ideas.
Get to know each other AND Flipgrid with an "All about me!" topic.
Use this Topic as anan introduction activity, a get-to-know-you icebreaker plus it's an opportunity to have students explore all the Features within Flipgrid!
Flipgrid "All About Me!" disco library topic
Also check out Flipgrid for ALL! 50+ ways to use Flipgrid in your class
Design a poster all about you!
This ready-to-use lesson from Google Applied Digital Skills walks students step-by-step through introducing themselves to their classmates by creating a poster you can print (or "hang up" digitally) with Google Drawings.
Get the "Design a Poster About You" lesson from Google Applied Digital Skills
Play back to school BINGO.
Give your students a challenge between your video calls with a BINGO style choice board. Encourage students to try as many activities as they can.
Back to School BINGO board created by Lisa Guardino
Connect Four Warm Up created by Rachel Marker
Create a Google Classroom banner quilt.
Give each student a square blank Google Drawing and have them decorate it. Download each square and put them together to make a "quilt" or collage Google Classroom banner. Alternatively you can have each student add their name to a collaborative Google Drawing Classroom banner by making the file "anyone with link can edit" and asking students to add their name using word art. Don't forget to revisit this activity when any new students join your class.
Introduce Google Slides with an "About Me" presentation.
In this applied digital skills lesson students pick a topic and share information about it by creating an interactive presentation. The example presentation walks them through sharing about themselves and things they care about. This is the perfect way to introduce creating their own Google Slides presentation. Later they can use the same lesson but present on a topic they have learned about in class.
About a Topic Google Applied Digital Skills lesson
Play a teacher quiz Kahoot!
Create a quiz about yourself and let students guess the answer with a fun Kahoot all about the teacher. You can also use your own "All About Me!" Flipgrid video to introduce yourself and give students the answers before the quiz.
Introduce Google Drawings with Shapegrams.
Learn and practice Google Drawings skills with interactive tutorials from Tony Vincent. The first 4 shapegrams are FREE to download and use with your students. Thirty-five dollars gets you 365 days of membership privileges, which includes access to all Shapegrams and a license to distribute them to students. Two new Shapegrams are added per month (August through May).
Code your name and animate it!
Don't wait until December to introduce your students to coding. In this FREE interactive Google CS first lesson students add their name and bring the letters to life through animation, sound, and music through programming.
How to create your first Google CS First class:
Go to csfirst.withgoogle.com/teacher-registration and choose "I'm a teacher"
Sign in with your Google Account
Answer the questions to complete the registration
Click "Create Class" in your teacher dashboard
Choose a name and a color for your class
Click "add activities" to assign any of the hands-on instructional video activities in the curriculum
Click "add students" for a step-by-step guide you can assign directly to Google Classroom!
Let Seesaw plan your first week for you!
Seesaw has created a map of ready-to-go Seesaw activities for home learning organized by grade and subject.
This remote learning activities map includes directions to each activity along with a direct link to the FREE activity in the Seesaw library! Follow the activities as they are laid out or switch them with acitivites from a different grade level. Teaching grades 6+? You can easily edit the activities to fit your content area and grade level.
Smart Start the year with EduProtocols.
Check out the NEW all ONLINE version of Smart Start! Includes even MORE EduProtocols for your remote learning classroom. The virtual Smart Start includes links to directions for each EduProtocol plus TONS of FREE templates!
- Get Smart Start from EduProtocols!
- Looking for EduProtocols for littles? Check out all of the resources from Jennifer Dean on Seesaw!
Remote learning community building lessons
Design an album cover.
This project, created and shared by Yaritza Villalba, asks students to think of their strengths and helps build on social emotional aspects of student lives during COVID-19.
Design an Album cover Flipgrid Discovery topic.
Find MANY more incredible culturally responsive remote learning resources at Yveducationalresources.com/remote-learning-resources.
Gamify problem-based learning with Solve in Time!
Solve in Time! creates learning opportunities that challenge students solve real-world problems using a design process and critical thinking.
Check out PROBLEM-SOLVING IS VIRTUALLY POSSIBLE! by Dee Lanier.
Watch this presentation by Solve in Time! creator Dee Lanier from the 2020 Pear Fair on utilizing the equity expansion cards to facilitate students as they use the design thinking process to solve real-world problems related to inequity in their setting.
Complete the All Are Welcome HyperDoc.
All Are Welcome, a book by Alexandra Penfold, follows a group of children through a day in their school. In this school everyone is welcomed and accepted with open arms. Use this All are welcome HyperDoc by Lisa Guardino and Carla Dunavan to create an opportunity for your students to read (or listen), respond, and reflect to the story within your online learning community. Remember to choose "file" then "make a copy" to edit and replace the links for your own class.
All Are Welcome - Read Aloud Picture Book from Brightly Storytime
Find out "What makes you unique?"
This lesson uses the book "Chrysanthemum" to encourage students to share about their unique qualities and what makes them special.
What make you unique? Flipgrid Disco Library topic
Share your Hopes and Dreams for the year.
Start the year off by having students share their hopes and dreams. This HyperDoc is a great one to share at the beginning of the year then go back at the end of the year and read what you wrote!
Hopes and Dreams HyperDoc created by Rachel Marker and Karly Moura
Play "Guess Who" on Flipgrid.
Start your year off right with a fun get to know you game. Guess who is a great game where students can share more about themselves. Students will use the pixel filter for a "disguise" and share a few things about themselves for to get their classmates to guess.
Guess Who? Flipgrid topic from the Disco Library
Also check out a version of Guess Who on Jamboard (#2 in this post)
Create a collaborative Slides or PowerPoint "This is us" presentation.
Use this HyperDoc to build community in your classroom! It creates a space for each student to share about themselves asynchronously.
This is us HyperDoc created by Nicole Beardsley
Pitch (and code) your passion.
Get to know what your students really care about AND integrate computer science into your classroom. In this CS first lesson students will build a project about an idea, activity, item, or cause they feel strongly about. You can have students share a link to their project and describe it on Flipgrid.
Try a team building digital escape room.
Digital escape rooms are super fun and kids love a good challenge! This escape room's theme is teamwork and students can and should work together to figure out the clues. Utilize the "breakout rooms" feature in video calls to put kids into teams to work together and escape!
Exit: A teambuilding experiment digital escape room created by Lisa Guardino
Check out more community building lesson ideas.
Marilyn McAlister has compiled some great classroom community ideas this summer from amazing educators Mari Venturino, Sean Gaillard, Meredith Akers, Isabel Adame, Stephanie Rothstein andCheck out this Building Classroom Community collection of ideas.
Looking for more remote learning resources?
Our eLearning page has TONS of resources for bringing learning directly to your students no matter where they are!
- 70 remote learning activities templates and tutorials
- Distance learning lesson planning guides and templates
- FREE ebooks for getting started or taking your remote teaching futher
- More resources added all of the time!
Social Emotional (remote) Learning
Try weekly check-ins with Flipgrid.
Weekly check-ins are a powerful way to keep in contact with your students. It give all of your students a chance to touch base with you and hear your voice and see your face as you respond to them. You can make this more manageble by giving each student a specific day of the week that they know you will be responding back to them. Or leave it open and let students drop a video to you whenever they feel the need.
Pear Deck check-ins before each lesson.
Use the Pear Deck add-on for Google Slides or add-in PowerPoint to check-in on your students before, during, and after any presentation. Pear Deck even has a classroom climate feature that allows you to gather feedback on how your students are feeling.
Click here to get a "Check in with Students" lesson that you can copy and add to your Google Drive
Try Good, OK, Bad with Jamboard.
Using this template will help you to know about where your students are at and allow you the opportunity to follow up with any issues. Now more than ever, it is important to be mindful of our students social emotional health! This template works best if you complete their activity as a class.
Check out this template plus 9 others in 10 Jamboard templates for distance learning by Kris Szajner
Do a daily check-in with forms.
A Google (or Microsoft) form makes it simple and easy to get started connecting with all of your students. Ask your students to fill out the form as they are logging in for the day. You can review their answers while they complete a digital warm-up or between video calls.
Check out Daily Check-in With Google Forms by Mari Venturino for a template and examples.
Do a quick check-in or check-out with Mentimeter.
Mentimeter allows you to create interactive presentations that can poll your audience in real time. Try using the ranking option to see how students feel at the beginning of the day or lesson. Or utilize the word cloud feature as an exit ticket to see how students feel at the end of a lesson.
25+ SEL activities shared by educators
Mr. Gupton posted this tweet in mid-August asking educators to share their first week SEL activities and the response was amazing. We have curated many of the responses into a Wakelet collection and have embedded it below. Be sure to check out the original tweet for recent additions and give Mr. Gupton a follow on Twitter!
Connecting with families remotely
Send home a "welcome box" or "welcome bag" to your students and families.
If your school has some sort of registration day or walk through before school begins you can put together a welcome box or bag for the famlies to pick up.
Ideas for items to add:
- A letter or postcard from you to the family.
- A list of usernames and passwords students will need and where to go on the first day.
- Offline learning games students can play at home (try to find games that use items students may already have like cards or dice).
- A list of supplies they might need for the year. Or if you are fortunate enough to have those available for students you can send them home in the box too.
- Materials for a project that gets the whole family involved.
- Resources for parents to help their child be successful. A link to your class website, your contact information, list of helpful websites for parents. In this digital world families still appreciate something they can stick on the fridge.
Host one-on-one family video calls before school begins or during the first week.
During the week before school or over the course of the first month try giving your students each 15-20 minute time slots to meet with you along with their family members.
Make a hub of resources for parents and students.
Keep a consistent place (website or even a published Google Slide) for students to access assignments for parent to find resources and announcements. You can add a welcome video and tutorials for help.
Examples:
Use the Talking Points app to communicate with ALL families.
Talking points allows you to communicate with your families. You write your message in your home language, families respond in theirs and it is translated automatically. Teachers can use the web-browser or mobile app, families can use text messages or a mobile app.
Create a digital portfolio in Seesaw.
Seesaw is NOT just for the K-2 crowd (although it is an incredible tool for our younger students!). Seesaw can be used in any grade level and provides students and teachers an easy way to connect the classroom to home.
Visit Remote Learning with Seesaw: A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS and 20 Seesaw ideas with Chromebooks for K-12 classes
Create a Flipgrid topic to host "office hours" for families.
You can create a separate Flipgrid topic for each family (in elementary) or each class (in secondary) to offer asynchronous office hours. Families can use their topic to get in touch with you and ask any questions they need. Remember to keep the videos moderated if more than one family is accessing the same topic.
Check out Connecting School + Home for a guide to setting up your grid
30 beginning of the year activities from the #Ditchbook community
Below you will find 30 beginning of the year activities that you can use right away. Also, be sure to visit our back to school Pinterest page filled with ideas from the #Ditchbook community.
1. Complete a G Suite tools refresher HyperDoc (click here for even more).
A2- I created a hyperdoc for my students as a refresher for @gsuite. It will allow me to be freed up to continue building relationships. #ditchbook https://t.co/Kqli3jx4hh
— Mr. Meyer (@54Mr_Meyer) August 9, 2019
2. Learn to be a Chromebook Lifeguard then have kids create their own meme!
A1: I cover the Chromebook rules with my students the first week of class, and they then make memes out of those rules. It’s a really engaging way to begin and the Ss absolutely love it! #ditchbook
— Evan Mosier (@emosier3) August 9, 2019
3. Gauge tech skills with a 3-minute challenge.
Here’s my slide that I use to gauge student familiarity with technology and also talk about that my class is more about learning HOW to learn than anything else –Nate #ditchbook #newteacherpodcast pic.twitter.com/d4v12ZhTd7
— Nate & Angie Ridgway (@TeachFromRidge) August 9, 2019
4. Become Digital Citizenship Superheros.
A2.b I love going through this Digital Citizenship Superhero Training HyperDoc with the kids at the beginning of the year. Sparks great discussions! https://t.co/4OkujCSqcN #ditchbook pic.twitter.com/0jlFjtAcvj
— Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura) August 9, 2019
5. Teach students proper email etiquette.
A2: I watched this video recently on @TeachingChannel of lesson on email etiquette and the difference formal and informal emails. I love that it is with younger students. https://t.co/Bl7WPXZcgf#ditchbook
— Trina Serrano (@TrinaSerrano79) August 9, 2019
6. Go on a Google Docs Scavenger hunt!
A3: I modified a Doc Scavenger hunt based on a template from @catlin_tucker Here is my link. I really like how it covers so many of the basic features so quickly & Ss jump right in & get started. https://t.co/x4lPIPcxN3
#ditchbook— Vicki (@33heupel) August 9, 2019
7. Review or teach Chromebook policies (and play a fun Kahoot!)
A2.a We show this Chromebook care presentation in every class before we get started with our devices. https://t.co/sFHF3J5hsX And we play and accompanying @GetKahoot! https://t.co/DsQHMbfR06 #ditchbook pic.twitter.com/4f2mZHS04A
— Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura) August 9, 2019
8. Create an “All About Me” poster with Adobe Spark.
Have Ss create an All About Me using @AdobeSpark or another topic, safety, etc #ditchbook
— Marcia Carrillo (@MarciaMentor) August 9, 2019
9. Complete the TLAP Play-Doh challenge HyperDoc.
Check this out #ditchbook https://t.co/gNxfd9cyTg
— Rayna Freedman (@rlfreedm) August 9, 2019
10. Create identity silhouettes.
A4: My students will be creating identity silhouettes in our journey of exploring mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors in ELA & SS. #Ditchbook https://t.co/Ga093ljCxY pic.twitter.com/EtqH9EAq4I
— Chanmi Chun (@mrschun) August 14, 2020
11. Try visual learning selfies.
A4. I love doing visual learning selfies I learned from @MindWise_CK https://t.co/lm6egSMBrq #ditchbook https://t.co/73nJVFzJTp
— Rayna Freedman (@rlfreedm) August 9, 2019
12. Create an icon board.
A fun, very visual way to start the school year …
Use this “icon board” template to let students share about themselves and their goals for the year …https://t.co/dLAzwZBff0
Post: https://t.co/T7Bba6FI2R#DitchBook #googleedu #gttribe pic.twitter.com/CO5G86LAvR
— Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) August 9, 2019
13. Have fun with a beginning of the year QR Break-In!
A1: I’m doing a QRBreakin @MeehanEDU and a hyperdoc about the students th first week. #ditchbook
— Heather Stringham (@hsengteach) August 9, 2019
14. Create Vision Boards (blog post by Kasey Bell).
A2: At the beginning of my Forensics class I Ss make Vision Boards in @googleslides Thanks @ShakeUpLearning for the idea! 2-3 personal goals & 2-3 in class goals. We spent lots of time brainstorming possible areas of interest in Forensics first. #ditchbook Here is 1 example. pic.twitter.com/B0kjZJu2M1
— Vicki (@33heupel) August 9, 2019
15. Practice following directions in Google Drawings.
Here is a 1st Google Drawing activity for I would do with my 4th grade students. It was a great lesson on following directions and being creative.
Many Ss liked to take what they created and use as chromebook wallpaper #Ditchbook https://t.co/OpERi18bfZ pic.twitter.com/NhB2FTw9vb— Sean Fahey (@SEANJFAHEY) August 24, 2018
16. Get to know your students with a 360 spreadsheet.
I use #googleforms to create 360 spreadsheets that help me get to know about my Ss. I refer to them all year long when building relationships. #ditchbook
— Nicole Nowlin (@nicole_nowlin) August 9, 2019
17. Start the year off with One Word.
Some amazing “get to know you” ideas for back to school:
> Flipgrid meet-and-greets
> Shared slide presentation: 1 kid per slide, webcam pic with details about themselves
> THE @SEANJFAHEY One Word Hyperdoc (https://t.co/WAkWu1sRnH)#DitchBook— Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) August 9, 2019
18. Play “Two Truths and a Lie” on Flipgrid.
A1: I love @FriendsinFourth’s @Flipgrid idea of “Two Truths and a Lie.” What a great way to start the year! #DitchBook https://t.co/LCJlMJr2IU
— Joe Merrill (@MrMerrillsClass) August 9, 2019
19. Get to know your classmates with the “thin slides” Eduprotocol.
THIN SLIDES @eduprotocols @jcorippo
name
Word
Picture
(Fav food)&…….
All on the same slide deck.
Make 1 slide 3 min-6 sec to present #relationships— Marcia Carrillo (@MarciaMentor) August 9, 2019
20. Frayer a friend (Google Drawings template).
#EDUProtocols Here is a Frayer A Friend Template I made in Google Drawings. Feel free to make a copy for yourself for your use! https://t.co/3FN7ge2EVt
—
BRIAN ROSS21. Try a “Who Am I?” activity on Google Slides.
A3. This is such a great question… Considering what I am calling a soft start and holding off on curriculum start for a while. One idea I got from @gcouros is something like this: https://t.co/wpL3Dfdnms #ditchbook https://t.co/1bhhZLOl0I
— Stephen Chapin (@stephenchapin) August 14, 2020
22. Get to know your students with a Google Form Survey
A4: I gather info via Form to use throughout the year in an end of class activity. I’ll also either (or maybe both) do the Get To Know You Collaborative Slide or Locker Collab Slide.https://t.co/CqTSb3KtzA#ditchbook https://t.co/gNjQKmFrwP
— Mandi Tolen (@MandiTolenEDU) August 14, 2020
23. Have students create their own island.
Ss create a 2d/3d island that represents them and their interests, values etc.
Ss label physical features of the island creatively, choose colors, shapes and landforms etc that are all about them. #ditchbook
Autobiographical is a better descriptorFrom pinterest pic.twitter.com/rViId0zBhl
— Eric (@eric_falls) August 9, 2019
24. Introduce the design process with a watercraft challenge.
A4 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE @PBSKIDS Design Squad watercraft challenge! Such a great way to jump into design thinking right at the beginning of the year! https://t.co/xK0iNlQNAV #ditchbook pic.twitter.com/hvl6NHDpIc
— Karly Moura (@KarlyMoura) August 9, 2019
25. Get to know each other with a “mystery person” activity.
Q4. We do a ‘mystery person” activity w a fun fact about themselves that others don’t know — like ” I can jump a rope 40times in a minute” on a blank card. Mix them up and find the mystery person who matches the fact the card. Intros to the class to follow. — Angie #ditchbook
— Nate & Angie Ridgway (@TeachFromRidge) August 9, 2019
31. Challenge your students to a GIF battle!
32. Begin each day with community circles.
33. Get back to school with G Suite from Shake Up Learning.
34. Start the year off with a back to school HyperDoc.
35. BONUS! Check out an entire FOLDER of back to school resources!
BONUS 2! Check out an entire PADLET of back to school resources from Krista Harmsworth!
What are your back to school ideas for remote learning? Please share them in a comment below!
For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links:
Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail!
Is Matt presenting near you soon? Check out his upcoming live events!
Thank you for sharing..This awesome and well needed!
Thanks Terry 😀 So glad it’s useful!
THANK YOU SO KINDLY FOR CURATING THIS AMAZING LIST TO SHARE!
[…] Read the full story by Ditch That Textbook […]
Wow! This will be useful in building my virtual classroom. It’s funny, the first idea on your sight is to set-up a virtual classroom tour and I was thinking about going to my classroom and making a video of it for my students with that purpose in mind. Thank you for all the resources. I am sure we will all need them.
I needed this in my life!!!
I am astonished with so many information¡ I want use all at once¡ I know, I am crazy but thanks a lot for this gift.
[…] 50 back to school activities for the remote learning classroom – Ditch That Textbook […]
This is amazing! Thank you so much.
[…] That Textbook: They have curated and created over 50 back to school activities for the distance […]
Thank you very much!