first day assignment for students fundamentals

Smitten with First

August 21, 2022

First Day of School Lesson Plans and activities

My kids started back to school on Thursday. I actually really like starting towards the end of the week because it’s only a few days until the weekend. There is no tired like the first day of school tired! I wanted to share some first day of school lesson plans and activities with you. I took previous years plans and tweaked a few things on them. These can be used as a sample to help give you some ideas for your first day or use them as is! There is also an editable version included so that you can create your very own. I so wish I had a guide of some sort my first few years. I hope these are helpful to you!

All the activities are clickable within the lesson plans . The editable version can be edited in PowerPoint. They can be downloaded HERE .

Through the years, I learned that the main goal for the first day of school is making sure students are parents are comfortable, know they are welcomed, students have fun, know how everyone is eating lunch, and how everyone is going home at dismissal time.

Alright, let’s look at an example of the first day of school!

As students and parents are arriving, students can create themselves on ME Mats at their desks. Greet students and parents. Help students hang their backpacks, find cubbies, put up lunch boxes, etc.

Put several different color play dough out on students desks for them to use as they create themselves on their ME Mats . Amazon has multicultural play dough colors. (post contains affiliate links)

I always confirmed two things with parents on the first day: how their child was eating lunch and how their child was going home!

This form is super helpful for that! Sit it out at Meet the Teacher for parents to complete! There are also a few other versions of dismissal forms included in the free download.

Our Class is a Family is one of my very favorite back to school read alouds. It’s perfect for the first day of school.

Create a Class Promise Poster/Contract as a class. Write how you all want to be treated on the poster, rules, etc. Students sign their names on the poster/contract. Hang the poster on a wall in the classroom for students to see all year long. I always referred back to the poster anytime our class needed a reminder about how to treat one another.

Afterwards, students can create their self portraits to add to the Classroom Promise poster.

You can find the self portrait craft plus additional activities for Our Class is a Family read aloud HERE and HERE .

I just came across this book this year and fell in love with it. As a mama to one who always has her name mispronounced, this book hits home for us! I think it is another perfect read aloud for the first day of school to discuss our names, how to pronounce them, and what we love about our names! You can find the book here !

Students can complete a name worksheet as a follow up! These are editable and included a variety of name worksheets to print and go!

While students are completing their name page, practice voice level expectations for working time and any other procedures that you have in place for working time.

You can see more on these editable name worksheets here !

Ok, let’s talk dismissal time for the first day of school! This can be overwhelming for both the students and teacher. To *hopefully* alleviate that overwhelming feeling, I created some activities to make it a breeze!

As a class, create a graph of how everyone is going home . This is a visual to help students see that others in their class may be going how the same way they are, or that their friend will be waiting with them for the bus, too!

Students can color in the picture of how they go home and add it to the graph.

Another option could be for students to use a piece of construction paper rather than the picture pieces. You can color code the graph. For example, yellow is bus riders, blue is car, red is walker, etc.

These colors can correspond with the dismissal wristlets that students can wear home on the first day.

I would STILL tag their backpacks so that they are labeled and ready to go for the school year. Plastic folders cut into squares with a zip tie work great for backpack labels! These wristlets are a quick visual for the first day of school. You can easily scan with your eyes for the colored wristlets to see if students are in the right place at dismissal time.

If time, follow up with a graphing activity . There are 3 different versions included for grade level differentiation. You can find all the First Day Dismissal activities HERE.

And because the first day of school is a piece of cake, students create their very own hats to wear home and share all about their first day with their families! You can find the hats HERE.

Read more about these hats and all the different activities included HERE .

You can find ALL the activities above by downloading the FREE First Day of School Lesson Plans ! You can also use the edible version to create your own first day plans!

I hope these first day of school lesson plans and activities are helpful!

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Teaching Commons > Teaching Guides > Learning Activities > The First Day

The First Day of Class

Before the Course Begins

A few days before your class begins, consider sending your students an email and posting a News item in your course; briefly introduce yourself and let students know what to expect on the first day of class. If you’re teaching online, you can also use this as an opportunity to remind students of the course modality and meeting schedule (if applicable).

Introduce Yourself

An effective introduction helps you establish a welcoming tone and a professional yet approachable presence. Consider how your enthusiasm for the course and discipline can positively impact students’ attitudes as well. 

In your introduction, consider sharing the following: 

• What do you love about teaching the course? How long have you been teaching? What is your favorite thing about teaching?
• Why did you choose to study and work in your discipline? What do you love about the discipline? How you see the discipline affecting the world and vice versa?
• What is your research agenda and how does it relate to the course? (if applicable)
• Personal details that you feel comfortable sharing, such as place of birth, family details, hobbies and interests, future plans.

If you’re asking students to engage in an icebreaker or diagnostic activity, consider providing your own response to the activity or prompt.

Course Introduction Video

Especially if you’re working with your students asynchronously, consider building some of these elements into a pre-recorded course introduction video. Panopto is one tool you can use for recording and sharing that video. In addition to the course introduction elements above, you might also 

• Explain how your course will be delivered and how students should navigate your D2L course each week 
• Point out important areas of the D2L course and explain their function in the context of your class (e.g., if you plan to regularly provide students with feedback via Submission folders, show them the ways they can access that feedback) 
• Emphasize how students can connect with you synchronously, via office hours and any other opportunities for one-on-one meetings or collaboration (e.g., optional group study sessions, individual conferences) 

Using video to introduce yourself to students can help students get to know your personality and better perceive your enthusiasm for the course and subject matter.

At the beginning of Spring 2020, the University shared a video that included clips from many instructors' introductory videos. You'll notice that these are nothing fancy: just faculty members speaking into a camera and connecting authentically with students. 

Ask Your Students to Introduce Themselves

Before the first class, review your roster to begin learning about your students. On the first day, use some of the time to get to know your students personally and academically.

Learn and Use Students’ Names

Learning the names of your students is often cited as a simple way to create an inclusive environment in your classroom. It shows your students you care and helps to foster a sense of community. Furthermore, 

researchers have found that knowing student names helps improve student perceptions of instructors and their courses. It’s also one way, James Lang argues , to get and hold students’ attention.  See 3 Simple Ways to Learn Your Students’ Names and Learning Students’ Names for practical tips for learning and remembering names.

Collect Information via a First Day Survey 

A first day survey is one way to collect information about your students. 

• Here are some things you might ask students to provide:
• Name and pronouns
• Context (hours spent working, childcare responsibilities, etc.)
• Prior knowledge/experience
• Technological proficiency
• Personal goals for taking course 

First Day or Pre-Course Survey Question Examples

Pronouns and name.

You might begin your survey by asking students to share their name and pronouns. One way to do this is to model: 

My name is Abigail Wagner and you can refer to me as Abigail or Professor Wagner. I use she/her/hers pronouns. What is your name and what pronouns do you use? 

You might also ask students to share a phonetic spelling or a recording of their name. 

Students’ Academic Backgrounds, Goals, and Needs

• Why are you taking this course?
• What are your academic and/or professional goals?
• What is your greatest academic strength?
• What is one thing you hope to do or learn during this course?
• What previous experience do you have ______?
• What challenges do you anticipate in this course?
• What else should I know in order to best support you in this course?

Students’ Interests Outside of Class

• What is your favorite song or musical artist?
• What is the best book you’ve read recently?
• What is your favorite movie?
• What is your favorite food or meal? Can you share a recipe?

Responses to fun questions can later be used to build community in the class. For example, you might create a playlist of students’ favorite songs or compile and share their movie, book, or recipe suggestions.

See a comparison of survey tools  available at DePaul to determine the best tool for your first day survey. 

Assess Students’ Previous Knowledge

It is often beneficial to assess students’ previous knowledge and misconceptions about a course topic. This will help us better understand what knowledge students bring to the course and frame our teaching strategies around their needs. 

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) are well-suited for gathering this information,  (see especially Background Knowledge Probe, Focused Listing, and Concept Maps). " How to Assess Students’ Prior Knowledge " from Carnegie Mellon University also addresses how instructors can build on or actively counteract students' assumptions, previous knowledge, and ways of evaluating evidence.

Introduce the Course

Introduce the purpose and application of the course. Presenting it in the context of its discipline, students’ lives, and the world at large can help motivate students. You might even consider telling a story to grab their attention. The story could be borrowed from history, could pose an ethical or moral dilemma, or illustrate a vexing problem that your course will address.

Strategies for Introducing Your Course

Establish relevance.

Use a current event to demonstrate why the content of the course, or the skills students will acquire throughout the course, matters. 

Address Big Takeaways

Identify the big takeaways that you hope your students will have, not just after completing your course, but many years later.

Describe Transferable Skills

Explain what students will be able to do (or do better) by the end of the course. Describe how those skills might be applied to other contexts. 

Present a Paradox

Bennett (2004) suggests presenting an interesting question or paradox in the field. Have students discuss the question in pairs or groups, and then report their thoughts to the whole class. Discuss different viewpoints, possible solutions, and how the course will address or return to this problem or paradox. 

You could also collect answers to these questions using Poll Everywhere or in a   D2L discussion .

Share the Syllabus

A well constructed syllabus shows clear direction, goals, and planning for a course. Provide a digital copy of your syllabus to students before the first class. On the first day, highlight and review key components and important policies. To ensure that students have closely read the syllabus and understand each element, consider having students:

• complete a syllabus scavenger hunt, in which students are asked to find specific pieces of information from the syllabus;
• work in groups to present different parts of the syllabus to the entire class;
• take a low-stakes syllabus quiz (this is often used in online classes);
• or work in groups to write 2 or 3 questions about the course that are not covered in the syllabus.

Syllabus Quiz

You can use a syllabus quiz to reinforce important policies and to set clear expectations with students. Some syllabus quiz questions might address things like 

• Expectations for participation
• How to navigate the course and/or prepare for class sessions
• How to access and use office hours 
• Grading and feedback timelines 
• Late work policies 

A syllabus quiz can be facilitated via Poll Everywhere , Zoom polling , and D2L Quizzes . To keep the quiz low-stakes, consider allowing unlimited attempts or collecting anonymous answers. If many students answer a question incorrectly, consider reviewing that information with students.  

Syllabus Speed Dating 

Syllabus speed dating is one way to introduce your syllabus and encourage students to engage with each other. Maryellen Weimer, writing in Faculty Focus , describes a professor who uses this method; Karen Eifler, an education professor at the University of Portland, designed this activity. 

“Two rows of chairs face each other (multiple rows of two can be used in larger classes). Students sit across from each other, each with a copy of the syllabus that they’ve briefly reviewed. Eifler asks two questions: one about something in the syllabus and one of a more personal nature. The pair has a short period of time to answer both questions. Eifler checks to make sure the syllabus question has been answered correctly. Then students in one of the rows move down one seat and Eifler asks the new pair two different questions. Not only does this activity get students acquainted with each other, it’s a great way to get them reading the syllabus and finding out for themselves what they need to know about the course.”

Have Students Communicate with One Another: Icebreakers

To begin creating a learning community, students need to communicate with one another. Icebreakers are one way to encourage communication between students. Icebreakers are commonly thought of as just "getting-to-know-you" activities, but they can also serve as a useful inflection point to help your students transition into a learning frame of mind.

Icebreaker Examples 

Most of the examples below come from a larger list of icebreakers created by Lansing Community College's Center for Teaching Excellence and The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and Arts’ list of 3 icebreakers .

Something You Want to Learn

Have students complete a form or write on a whiteboard with spaces for "something you already know about the subject," "something you want to learn," and "something that could happen in this class that would make it possible to learn what you need to learn." Have each student introduce themself and share something from the form. 

This activity could also be facilitated via Google Docs or  Microsoft 365

Familiar and Unique

Break the class into groups of four. Each small group must come up with four things they have in common (all working full-time, all single parents, etc.). Then they are asked to share something unique about themselves individually. The group shares their familiar and unique features with the rest of the class. A master list can be made on the board for the class to look at and discuss if appropriate. (This idea is adapted from Victoria Meyers at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.)

This activity could also be facilitated via Zoom breakout rooms  or D2L Group Discussions

Two Truths and a LIe

Give each student a notecard and ask them to write three statements about themselves: one statement should be false, and two should be true. Explain that the goal is to fool people about which one is false. Have each person read their statements and have the group guess the lie. 

If you are teaching a large class, you can break students into smaller groups for two truths and a lie activity. Then, after each group has guessed, ask students to introduce their group members to the whole class. 

This activity could also be facilitated via Zoom .

Paired Interviews

Break students into pairs. Ask students to interview their partner. They can start by learning their partner’s name, major, and where they’re from. Add in other questions and prompts that help students to engage with your subject matter and learn more about their partner. Here are some examples:

• If we were to find ourselves in your hometown, what’s the one thing you’d say we absolutely had to do before we left?
• If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
• What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

After students interview their partner, they should introduce their partner to another set of partners or to the whole class. This activity helps to encourage good listening skills.

This activity could also be facilitated via Zoom breakout rooms.

Favorite Thing

Ask students to share a recent discovery that has become one of their new favorite things (e.g., a snack, podcast, brand of socks, exercise routine, nature preserve, etc.). Give students time to find a picture or link to help share their new favorite thing with the class.

This activity could be facilitated in small groups and works well in Zoom breakout rooms  or  D2L Group Discussions .

Icebreakers in Asynchronous Online and Flex Modality Courses

Incorporate icebreakers throughout the course.

Icebreakers are commonly thought of as just "getting-to-know-you" activities, but they can also serve as a useful inflection point to help your students transition into a learning frame of mind. So, you might periodically begin a class session, or a new module or week, with an icebreaker.  Polling  is a good way to incorporate getting-to-know you activities at the start of synchronous class sessions. D2L Discussions ,  collaborative documents  (e.g., Google Docs), and Microsoft Teams  can be used in asynchronous online courses. 

Engage Students in Active Learning

In “How to Teach a Good First Day of Class, ” James Lang emphasizes the importance of asking students to do something on the first day in order to set expectations for participation and to spark learning and enthusiasm. The following strategies are also another way to encourage students to communicate with each other. 

Model Future Class Sessions

The first class meeting is a good time to let students know what to expect in terms of the types of activities that they will be doing for the rest of the quarter. One way to do this is to organize a first day activity that models how future class sessions will be conducted. These are some examples of how you might model future class sessions: 

• Ask students to read a short excerpt of text and analyze or discuss it in small groups 
• Provide students with a problem and ask them to solve it
• Give students a short case study and ask them to map how they would approach it
• Facilitate a short lab that helps students to see best practices for using the space 

Poetry Course Example

Divide a short poem (or poems) into 5 or 6 parts. Have students form small groups of 5 or 6. Give each student one or two lines from a short poem. Have students read their lines aloud to their group, and then have them reassemble the poem together. The group then discusses and decides on the meaning of the reconstructed poem. (Erickson & Strommer, 1991, p. 90)

Multiculturalism Course Example

Give students 3 minutes to write down the 5 most important historical events or alternatively important people in history. Group students together to create a list of up to 10 “most importants” that they agree on, giving them 10 minutes. Poll each group noting their responses on the board or projector. Determine trends in the list, are the events or people modern if not very recent, are they most American or European, are they primarily political or military. Use the list to guide student reflection about their world views, the limits of those views, and how the course is designed to expand their socio-cultural understandings. (Erickson & Strommer, 1991, p. 90-91)

Asynchronous Online Courses

If you’re teaching asynchronously, you can use the first week of your course to model how weeks or modules of your courses will be organized. If you plan to regularly use certain activities, assessments, or assignments, consider asking students to complete a low-stakes version during the first week of the course. As an added bonus, this will give students an opportunity to test out the technology tools.

Ask Students to Think About the Course Metacognitively

• What study, learning, writing, composing, etc. strategies have worked for you in the past? What strategies haven’t worked? 
• What elements and actions contribute to a productive learning environment? 
• What skills must you learn in order to be successful in this class or in a profession related to this field? 

This activity could also be facilitated in Zoom breakout rooms or D2L Group Discussions . See Activities for Metacognition for additional prompts and resources.

References and Further Resources

Bennett, K. (2004). How to start teaching a tough course . College Teaching, 52 (3), 106-106.

Case, K., Bartsch, R., McEnery, L., Hall, S., Hermann, A., & Foster, D. (2008). Establishing a comfortable classroom from day one: Student perceptions of the reciprocal interview . College Teaching, 56 (4), 210-214. 

Erickson, B. L., & Strommer, D. W. (1991). Teaching college freshmen . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Lang, J. (2020). Distracted Minds: 3 Ways to Get Their Attention in Class . The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Lang, J. (2008). On Course: A week-by-week guide to your first semester of college teaching . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Lang, J. (2019). How to Teach a Good First Day of Class. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

" Make the Most of the First Day of Class " from the Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence. 

Nilson, L. (2003). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (2nd ed.). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.

" The First Day of Class " from Carleton College’s Science Education Resource Center. 

15 First Day of School Activities for Elementary Teachers

Feeling some nervous excitement when you start thinking about the first day of school? That’s totally normal - and we’re here to help with some ideas to help jumpstart your back-to-school planning! Check out our full list of first day of school activities to get your elementary school students learning on day one.

1. Welcome Stations

On their first day your students may be nervous or may be so excited that they’re bouncing off the walls. Either way, having some welcome stations for them to immediately start their day with an activity is a great way to help all your students hit the ground running.

Consider setting up three to five stations around the classroom that involve a variety of activities including:

• Finding and reading a book from the classroom library
• Working on a group art project
• Playing with math manipulatives
• Learning about your classroom learning center

However you want to organize these activities make sure you have a variety of task types to keep your students engaged while they get settled into your classroom.

2. Classroom Scavenger Hunt

Another great first day classroom activity for elementary students is a scavenger hunt to help them explore all the different areas in your classroom.

For example you could have students try to find…

• A book about outer space
• The lost and found area
• A classroom plant
• The classroom supply closet
• Their personal cubby or locker
• Classroom technology
• Pencil sharpener

Depending on your grade level, you could also turn this scavenger hunt into a bingo game to encourage students to not only find different areas of the classroom, but also practice problem solving skills by thinking about how to get five answers in a row.

3. Kodable Back-to-School Coding Challenge

Giving students an engaging activity to dive into on day one is a great way to get students excited about learning all year long. If you’re looking for an activity students are sure to love, look no further than Kodable!

Kodable is an educational game for elementary students that introduces readers and pre-readers alike to the basics of computer science. Self-paced lessons, unlimited creative activities, and helpful hints when students need them all help young learners get excited and prepared for their digital future. 

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to introduce your students to Kodable because starting in September, Kodable’s back-to-school coding challenge begins! These four weeks of coding challenges will introduce your students to the wide world of Kodable, build logical and critical thinking skills, and help kickstart their coding journey. Plus did we mention students get a fun prize after they finish all four tasks? 

Signup for your free Kodable account today to get your class ready for their first day of coding.

4. Review Classroom Rules and Procedures

While this may not seem as fun as the other items on this list, the first day of school is a great opportunity to explain to your students how they are expected to behave in the classroom and to clearly lay out the rules they’re expected to follow all year.

Taking this opportunity to implement your classroom management system doesn’t have to be boring but instead can be a part of another exciting activity like coding your back to school procedures !

5. Names Games

For older elementary grades, your students may already know most of their classmates. But for kindergarten and other younger students, playing a name game is a great way to get students to know each other better (and it helps you remember everyone as well).

You can play this game a number of different ways but really it boils down to having your students stand in a circle and say their name along with an accompanying gesture, movement, or another word that begins with the same letter as their first name. Each student then takes a turn trying to repeat every student before them. For younger students if this is too challenging you can limit the number of students each student has to remember.

6. Friendship Bracelets

Provide students with materials to create friendship bracelets for themselves and to share with a classmate. This activity can help encourage collaboration and communication skills among your students while also fostering a sense of community among your class. Who knows - you might end up with a few friendship bracelets yourself before the day is over!

7. Collaborative Art Project

A collaborative art project can help your students work together while also helping you decorate your classroom. This project could be a mural, collage, or small individual art projects that you piece together to display a full class full of young learners. Need some inspiration? Consider letting your students all sign off on your classroom rules or all draw a self portrait to hang on a bulletin board.

8. Choice Board Exercise

Similar to our welcome stations example, choice boards give students the freedom to decide what activities interest them while still adhering to our overall learning goals and objectives. Choice board examples can range from completing a tic tac toe board, a bingo board, or a virtual makerspace.

9. Learning contracts

Learning contracts are agreements between you and your students that outline specific learning goals and expectations that can be made between you and individual students or a whole class. By doing this at the beginning of the year, you can help set your expectations of your students for the year and refer back to these contracts throughout the year as necessary.

10. “Get to Know Me” Activities 

A crucial part of building a positive classroom culture is getting to know your students. And there’s no better time to start than the first day of school! Consider having your students fill our printables to tell you their favorite food, color, friend, or other information. Students can either use these to give the class a brief presentation about themselves or simply turn them in at the end of the day for you to get to know your students better.

11. Summer Show and Tell

Another quick and easy way to get to know your students better on the first day of school is to have them all give a short presentation on what they did over the summer. Students can stand in front of the class and talk about something they did this summer or you can give them a quick printable to draw or write a summer memory.

12. “Guess Who?” Game

This activity is a great way to jump start gamification in your classroom ! Have students write down three things about themselves and collect the responses. Then, quiz students on their classmates by reading a fact at a time and having students guess who the mystery student is. When students answer correctly, you can give them a small prize like a sticker or pencil eraser.

13. Reading Time

Need a first day of school activity that will give you a quiet moment or two during the day? Either pick out books ahead of time or have students pick their own books from your classroom library to read for a specified period of time. You can also use this as a quasi-transition activity to set up another activity once reading time is over. If you are working with pre-readers you can use this time to read aloud to students instead of having them read themselves.

14. Brain Break Activities

While you likely want to have a full first day of school planned to keep your students engaged and learning all day, don’t forget to make time for brain breaks! These can include short physical activities, mindfulness exercises, or simple stretches to help promote concentration and well-being throughout the day. If you plan on having brain breaks on a regular basis, be sure to emphasize your transition routine in and out of breaks to reinforce your desired behavior.

15. Letter to Their Future Self

Have your students fill out a worksheet or a blank piece of paper with a letter to their future self to be opened at the end of the year. If your students need help with this activity your worksheet can help prompt them or you can give more specific instructions on the board about what to include in their letter. If you are working with pre-readers you could also have students draw a self-portrait instead. Whatever your students create, put them in envelopes and label them accordingly and store them safely. Then at the end of the year you can send your students home with their letters as a fun way to close out what we’re sure is a great year of learning!

Ready to look beyond the first day of school? Check out our holiday STEM calendar for a full school year’s worth of exciting STEM opportunities!

Kodable has everything you need to teach kids to code!

In just a few minutes a day, kids can learn all about the fundamentals of Computer Science - and so much more! With lessons ranging from zero to JavaScript, Kodable equips children for a digital future.

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12 Fun First-Day-of-School Worksheets (Free Printables)

Fun activities for the first days and weeks of school.

Looking for an awesome activity to do on your first day of school? We’ve got you covered! Check out these 12 fun and easy free printable first-day-of-school worksheets. From Classmate Bingo to a First Day of School Flip-Book, there’s something for everyone in this free bundle. Just submit your email here to save and print your collection now.

Here’s what’s included in the free printable first-day-of-school worksheets bundle:

Classmate Bingo

Invite students to mix and mingle as they learn fun facts about one another.

All About Me Worksheet

Have students share their favorite things as well as their goals for this school year.

Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt

Have students search around your classroom to find supplies and learning areas.

First-Day-of-School Writing Prompts & Back-to-School Writing Paper

Choose from a fun list of writing prompts to get those creative juices flowing.

First-Day-of-School Flip-Book

Make a fun flip-book that shares students’ hopes and goals for the year.

First-Day-of-School Poem Template

Invite students to compose a poem about the first day of school with our free template.

“What We Do When …” Activity for Writing About Expected Behaviors

Have students write about and draw what it looks like when they are doing small-group work or lining up for class.

“We’re Different, We’re the Same” Classmate Venn Diagram Activity

Invite students to compare their similarities and differences.

“I Wish My Teacher Knew …” Printable

Invite students to share the things they want you to know about their lives.

3, 2, 1 Back-to-School Writing Activity

Encourage students to share their “3, 2, 1” countdowns with the class.

Interview a Classmate Printable

Help students sharpen their speaking and listening skills with this free printable.

“What Our Classroom Looks Like During …” Activity

Use this printable to talk about expected behaviors during independent work, partner work, and more.

Ready to save and print your free printable first-day-of-school worksheets? Just click the orange button to fill out the form at the top of this page.

Yes, I Want My Printable Bundle!

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Plus, check out these perfect read-alouds for the first day of school ..

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Assignment 1: JavaScript fundamentals

Due thu apr 20 11:59pm pt.

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Backstory: As you embark on your web development journey, you decide to set your sights on something we can all get behind: fixing Axess! And hey, those systems are probably so broken that we may as well start from scratch, right? But before you can take on course enrollments, you'll need a few building blocks first. Besides, as we come up on commencement, maybe you can build up your reputation as a reliable web developer by helping out with that.

This assignment will have you practice some fundamental JavaScript concepts and how to use them in the browser. You'll build a small app to simulate students declaring their major and graduating.

Learning goals

After completing this assignment, you will be able to

• Write functions and classes in JavaScript that manipulate various types and data structures,
• Create modules that import dependencies,
• Create a small HTML page with form elements, and
• Use JavaScript to respond to user events and read form controls.

Getting started

As with assignment 0, follow these steps to get started.

• Download the starter code and extract the .zip file's contents.
• Open your command line and navigate to the extracted assign1 directory.
• Run npm install .
• Run npm start to start the web server.
• Open localhost:1930 in your web browser.

Deliverables: We've tried to use boxes like this one to highlight the specific tasks you will need to complete for the assignment. These boxes won't stand alone without the rest of the handout, but consider, for example, using them as a checklist to make sure you've done everything.

Part 1: Warmup exercises

The first part of the assignment consists of a few short warmup exercises, designed to give you practice with JavaScript data structures.

You will write your answers in warmups.js , which has already been included in index.html . We have provided a function testWarmups() , callable from the console, to check your answers.

Task 1a: Using the debugger

The first task will give you practice using the debugger.

• To begin, please make sure you replace the TODO in the import line at the top of warmups.js with your SUNetID (login name, not number).
• The function debugExercise calls checkAnswer , passing it a "secret code." Your task is to determine the correct code to pass. But since checkAnswer is being imported from debugme.js , located outside of your assign1 folder, you won't be able to modify it (in order to, for example, add a console.log ).
• Use the debugger to look at the JavaScript code for checkAnswer . Then, call debugExercise from the console and stop the function while it is running so you can inspect the values of the relevant variables to determine what you must pass to it.
• Once you have the secret code, replace the TODO in the argument to checkAnswer . Rerunning debugExercise should print a "Success!" message.
• Finally, fill in the comment in debugExercise with a brief (1-2 sentence) explanation of your strategy: how did you enter the debugger, and where did you stop? How did you read the secret code?

Some notes for this task:

• The list of files in the Sources tab is split up by where the files are located. You'll find debugme.js under web.stanford.edu .
• The secret code is a short string of random characters, different for each student. The script that generates it uses some advanced JavaScript features, so we've tucked it away in another file. You may look at the file if you'd like, but it's not necessary (and probably won't help you get the answer).
• This being the web and JavaScript, there are ways to "circumvent the process" and solve the task without the debugger. We ask that you avoid these unintended alternate strategies, both because we think the debugger is a valuable tool to have in your toolbox, and because we expect that solving the task using the debugger will be much easier. If, after following the process we've outlined, you want to think about how you might solve it a different way, feel free.

Task 1b: Working with data structures

For the rest of this assignment, you'll work with data for a few sample students and departments.

First, open data.js to have a look at the provided data. The file exports a single JavaScript Object with three entries:

• students is an Array of Objects, each object representing a student. A student object contains their givenName , their surname , and their sunetid . (Note: These aren't the CAs' actual SUNetIDs.) You can assume that SUNetIDs will be unique across all students in the array.
• depts is an Array of Objects. Each object contains information about a department: its name (like "Computer Science") and its code (like "CS").
• units is an Object mapping student SUNetIDs (keys) to the number of units that student has completed (values). You may assume that there will be one entry in the object for each student in students .

This data object has been imported into warmups.js as the variable DATA . Once you have reviewed the data, fill in the functions in warmups.js , using DATA , as follows:

• firstNSunets returns the SUNetIDs of the first n students ( n is a parameter to the function) in the students array. You can assume there are at least n students.
• shortDeptCodes returns an Object whose keys are department names and whose values are their corresponding codes. But only include a department in the result if its code is exactly two characters long.
• averageUnits returns the average number of units completed by all students in the data. You can assume there will be at least one student, and you don't need to round or truncate the result.

Each function should be relatively short and will involve some form of iteration. Once you have written these functions, you can use testWarmups (which is exposed to the console) to check that your answers match what we expect.

Note on style and style checking

To help identify some common style issues (and a few functionality issues too), we have includes a configuration file for ESLint .

If you are using VSCode and have installed the ESLint extension, these issues should be highlighted automatically as you code. (If you aren't seeing any highlights, you may have to restart VSCode after you do npm install .)

If you are using something else, or would like to check for lint errors manually, you can run npm run lint in your terminal (you'll have to do this in a different window than the one you ran npm start in).

Note that ESLint won't catch all (or indeed most) style issues. We will give you specific style feedback on your assignment through grading. But having a clean lint run is a good first step!

Part 2: Modeling students and departments

For the remainder of the assignment, you will work with the various other .js files in the public folder. All of these files are imported by index.js . We have included index.js in the provided HTML.

Your next task is to implement two JavaScript classes which we will use to model students and departments in our app.

Task 2a: Student class

Implement the Student class in student.js , and export it as the default (and only) export. An instance of Student will have the following properties (instance variables), which are all "public":

• sunetid : The student's SUNetID
• givenName : The student's given name
• surname : The student's surname
• dept : The name of the department the student is declared in (a string), or null if the student has not declared yet
• unitsCompleted : The number of units the student has completed (a number)
• isAlum : true if the student has graduated, false if not

An instance has the following methods (with corresponding signatures):

• constructor(sunetid, givenName, surname) : Construct a new Student . The student's SUNetID, given name, and surname are as passed in. Students start undeclared, ungraduated, and with zero units completed.
• fullName() : Return the student's full name, which is their given name, followed by a space, followed by their surname.
• addUnits(units) : Increase the number of units the student has completed by the parameter units .
• toString() : Return a string representing the student, which should be their given name, a space, their surname, another space, and their SUNetID in parentheses. (For example, "Michael Chang (mchang91)")
• canGraduate() : Return a boolean indicating whether the student can graduate. A student can graduate if they have declared and have completed at least 180 units. If the student has already graduated, this method should throw an Error with a descriptive message.

Task 2b: Department class

Now write the Department class and export it as the default export in dept.js . An instance of Department has the following "public" properties:

• name : The full name of the department
• code : The department code
• students : An array of the current (non-alum) students who have declared under this department

Implement the following methods:

• constructor(name, code) : Construct a new department with the name and code passed in. Departments start with no current students.
• toString() : Return the string representation of the department, which is just the department's name.
• declare(student) : Declare the passed-in Student instance under this department, updating the student's and department's instance variables accordingly. If the student is already declared under this department, this method should return without doing anything. But if the student is already declared under a different department, this method should throw an Error with a descriptive error message.
• graduate() : Check if each current student in the department can graduate; if they can, mark them as an alum and remove them from the list of current students. Return an array of the just-graduated Student instances.

Some notes on these tasks:

• You may add additional instance variables and methods to these classes if you wish, but you are not required to.
• It is a good practice to reuse existing functionality where possible. For example, notice how a Student 's toString contains their full name.
• You may assume that a client of these classes will not modify the instance variables in a way that makes the instance inconsistent. For example, a client will not directly set a student's dept without going through declare .
• You aren't required to do any error checking beyond what is described here.
• Review the end of lecture 3 for the syntax for throwing Error s. Your errors should generate exceptions that can be caught and handled by the client of your class (which you will do in the next part).

Part 3: The App class

Finally, you'll put this app together by implementing the App class (in app.js ).

Task 3a: Console interface

An instance of the App class is constructed by index.js when the page loads. App has the following instance variables:

• students : An Object mapping students' SUNetIDs (keys) to corresponding Student instances.
• depts : An Object mapping department codes (keys) to corresponding Department instances.

The constructor has been started for you; you will add to it in the next task. First, implement the following methods:

• First, reset the students and depts instance variables to be empty. This allows loadData to "reset" the app.
• Populate the students map with new Student instances, using the students data.
• Update the number of units each student has completed via the units data.
• Populate the depts map with new Department instances, based on the passed-in data.
• declare(sunetid, deptCode) : Takes a SUNetID and department code (both strings) and tries to declare that student under that department, then returns the (updated) Student instance. If the SUNetID or department code isn't known to the app, throw an Error with a descriptive message. (If calling declare on the Department causes an error, don't handle it here.)
• graduate(deptCode) : Make the department specified by the passed-in code try to graduate its students, returning the list of graduates ( Student instances). If the department code doesn't match a known department, throw an Error with a descriptive message.

You will also need to add imports for Student and Department .

After completing these methods, you will be able to test your app from end to end:

• The app instance is exposed to the console. You can inspect its instance variables and call its methods.
• For example, you could call app.declare(“mchang91", "CS") or app.graduate(“BOGUS") . (Note that loadData is already called for you in index.js .)
• The function testApp , exposed to the console, will attempt to test a variety of methods from part 2 and this task. If anything doesn't match, it will print out an error message. These tests aren't comprehensive, and we encourage you to add some more tests of your own.

Task 3b: User interaction on the page

Your final task of this assignment is to expose the declare and graduate methods you just wrote to a user of the web page:

• Edit the HTML to add a form with two inputs, one for SUNetID and one for department code. These inputs should be labeled so they are identifiable, and make sure to give them id s so you can reference them in JavaScript.
• Add two buttons to the form, one for "Declare" and one for "Graduate".
• When the user types in a SUNetID and department code and clicks "Declare", call your app's declare method with the entered values.
• If the declaration is successful, display an alert informing the user, including the student's name and the department name. For example, "Michael Chang (mchang91) declared Computer Science!"
• If the declaration fails, display an alert with the error message. (Note: It's not enough for the error to be printed to the console, since users won't think to look there. You must catch the error and present it via alert .)
• Similarly, implement the "Graduate" button. This button ignores the entered SUNetID. Upon success, display an alert listing the students who graduated. For example, Graduates: Neel Kishnani (neelk) Jason Chuen (jahchuen) (You can use \n to add a newline in alert messages.)

Some notes on this task:

• You will need to add additional methods to App and are free to add instance variables as well. But you should mark them as "private" by prefixing them with an underscore (_).
• Recall from lecture 4 that you can access the forms on a web page using document.forms , and you can reference the controls of a form using their id or a property of the form.
• Remember that a <button>l; inside of a <form> defaults to having type="submit" , meaning it will refresh the page when clicked. You'll want to change its type to button to avoid this.
• Don't forget to bind your event handlers! As seen in lecture 4, it is best practice to do this in the constructor (and this is preferred over creating functions on the fly.)

When you are finished, please remember to delete your node_modules folder , and then submit your assign2 folder to Paperless .

Planning the First Day

Main navigation.

As you plan for your first day, you consider the different activities and opportunities you would design for that first in-person encounter with your students. In general, try to layer in low-stakes and incremental tech usage of platforms or pathways you'll use often in class to help students become familiar with the tech infrastructure of the course.

Syllabus walk-through

Many instructors provide an overview or walkthrough of the syllabus on the first day of class. In an online class, you might consider one of the following modes for this:

• Screencast "walkthrough" video that students watch ahead of time, with Q&A either on a discussion forum (asynchronously) or synchronously during the class meeting (you can use Zoom or Quicktime to create this screencast)
• Live walkthrough of the syllabus during your Zoom class session, with Q&A in person or in chat

Activities to Create Class Community

Develop activities to help students get to know one another. For some ideas see our  Creating Class Community page . You might also use some of the icebreakers below:

• Six sentence stories (Ruth) - ala Hemingway. Have them each write their own six sentence story on a Google doc and then try to figure out who wrote which story.
• Story starter (live on Zoom, or asynchronously through a discussion board), where a student starts a story and they all have to add on. A variation could be done on a discussion forum, where someone posts a picture, and then someone else has to post a different picture that builds off of one element in the previous picture.
• A meme based activity - share their favorite meme currently? Or have them make one.  Could also turn into a meme of the week - why this meme at this time?
• JJ's Name mini-story activity  (TBU) - designed for PWR 2, but works well for PWR 1 also

Student survey/introductions

Many instructors incorporate some form of student survey or information form in their first day or week of class. In choosing between whether to have students write a profile or to fill out a survey, consider the following:

• Timing: You might want to do this ahead of time, have them fill out information in class for real-time results, or assign it as homework after the first class meeting.  It depends on your purpose in the survey.
• Identity: Choose between anonymous or not.
• Purpose: Student profile (see examples from elsewhere in teaching writing and Amanda's form) - what's the rest of your life like? What are your expectations for class? What are your goals for the quarter? What are your strengths as a writer? What do you want to develop more?
• Purpose: Class profile (general response, anonymous with option to self-identify).  What device are you on? Phone? Laptop? What's your space like? How do you feel about your wifi speed? What do you usually use to connect with your friends online?  Are there any challenges that you might be facing that you want me to know about?  Helps draw a comparison between what in person education looks like versus what online education looks like.  You can share this information with the class, making the data public as a possible topic of conversation
• See some  examples of PWR student information sheets  from our Canvas archive

Establish classroom norms

• Collaborate on shared norms around technology and classroom behaviors.  You could use breakout rooms for students to brainstorm in small groups and then come back to share with the group.  See also Lisa's  online classroom norms activity , designed to be shared with students on a Google Doc.
• You might also distribute and discuss a Community Guideline's handout, like  Angela's .  

Rhetoric practicum

Consider introducing rhetoric even on the first day and giving them an opportunity to start to apply strategies of rhetorical analysis.

• Play an engaging video that you could use as the basis for rhetorical analysis or group discussion. You can screenshare and play it from your computer (be sure to unplug your headphones), letting students respond in real time in the back channel or on a Google Doc, or you could share the link and have them each watch individually and then come back to a discussion as a full class.

See also our " Planning for the First Day of Class " for best practices drawn from in-person PWR sections.