Starting out the school year on the right foot is so important. We want our new students to feel welcomed and loved. We don’t want them to feel nervous or worried about the upcoming school year. As teachers, we want them to feel safe and excited. A simple way to achieve this is to have a beginning of the year classroom door display. This helps students know what class they are in and helps them feel like they are a special part of that class. So today I am sharing beginning of the year classroom door ideas that you can use to help your students feel welcome in your class.
Beginning of the Year Classroom Door Ideas
The first beginning of the year classroom door idea I have has a theme of donuts. I post a sign that says, “Donut worry. Second grade is sweet!” Then I put my students’ names on donut clipart, cut them out, and hang them up on the door. When doing a beginning of the year classroom door, it is important to include your students’ names.
Help welcome students into your classroom with these beginning of year classroom door ideas.
No one likes figuring out they are in a place where they are not intended to be. When students see their name on their classroom door on the first day of school, or back to school night, they can ease their nerves because they know they are in the right classroom.
I also love to use my students’ names in my beginning of the year classroom door display because it helps to build a positive classroom community. It helps each student feel like they are a special part of our class. That if they were not here, our class would not be the same.
On the display, I also hang up a cute banner. This helps to bring in all the fun colors of the donuts. Find these beginning of the year classroom door decorations here. They can work for any grade from Kindergarten to Sixth Grade.
But since it is the beginning of the school year, I like to take things a step further. I tie our classroom door display in with a fun beginning of the school year gift to students. Our school has back to school night on the night before the first day of school, so this is when I give the gifts to my students.
Beginning of the year student gifts help students know that their new teacher cares about them.
I print out a little card that says, “Donut worry. Second grade is sweet.” I attach a cute donut keychain on each one. Students love to put these on their backpacks. Giving them a little gift helps them know that their teacher is nice and cares about them. It helps to set a nice tone for the school year. Find these donut keychains here. Find the signs to go with them here.
I love how these gifts match our beginning of the year classroom door.
On the first day of school, I show my students a PowerPoint presentation of some of the topics and subjects we will learn in second grade, as well as some fun projects we are going to do. This helps students feel at ease because it gives them a sense of what to expect. It also helps them get excited for how great second grade is going to be.
I have my first week of school plans typed up in a google doc to share with you for free! That way you can tweak things to your needs and save time this back to school season. Get your copy here. It also comes with my Back to School Checklist!
After showing them this presentation, I have them do a little writing prompt. Students write about why they are excited for second grade or why they think second grade is going to be sweet. Is it because they have a nice teacher? Or maybe because they can’t wait to research about animals later on in the school year. Maybe they are excited to learn second grade math or listen to some of the chapter books you are going to read to them.
Help students brainstorm ideas and then have them finish the sentence to either “Second grade is sweet because” or “I am excited for second grade because.” Then students can color the donut clipart on the page. Find these writing pages here.
Having students do this little writing prompt on the first day of school also gives me a little glimpse on where my students are at with their writing skills.
Get students more involved in a beginning of the year classroom door display by having them do a matching writing activity.
You can hang these up as part of your beginning of the year classroom door display, or hang it up on a bulletin board. My resource works great as a door display or as a bulletin board. I have even included letters you can print out that say, “Donut worry, second grade is sweet!” Find those letters, and for other grades too, here.
Beginning of the Year Classroom Door
Now that was just one beginning of the year classroom door ideas you can use. I have another fun idea for you!
I set up a fun beginning of the year classroom door display on the wall right on the side of my door. This stays up all school year. I think it is fun to keep my students’ names by our classroom door all year.
I used a Cricket to help cut out the letters to, “In this room, we will bloom.” I have a floral theme in my classroom so this goes along with it well. The Cricket also helps me cut out a bunch of flower outlines.
Here’s a back to school bulletin board idea you can set up on your bulletin board right outside your classroom.
Then I print out a small picture of each students’ face in a circle. I glue this on the flowers as the center part of the flower.
To finish it off, I write my students’ names below their picture. This is so fun for students to see their picture on their name. I love having it up before back to school night and the first day of school so students feel welcomed and special.
Looking for everything you need for Back to School? Check out this bundle where you get this beginning of the year classroom door decorations plus other back to school essentials in this Back to School Mega Bundle here.
For more back to school night/meet the teacher night tips and ideas, check out this blog post here, 4 Meet the Teacher Night Ideas to Make the Evening Run Smoothly
Find more classroom set up tips in this blog post here, Meaningful Classroom Setup Ideas
For more first day of school ideas, check out this blog post here, 8 First Day of School Activities
I hope that from this blog post, you have gotten the beginning of the year classroom door ideas you needed. It comes down to making a door display that helps students feel comfortable and excited for the new school year.
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