fruit snacks and a freebie

Do you have a favorite activity for the beginning of the year? A few favorites?

Second Grade Sparkle is having a linky party for favorite back to school activities.

The first day of school can be tough, especially for the littles. They are excited and just a little scared. They may or may not be with they friends they wanted in their class. They are used to sleeping later and being able to have a snack whenever they want.

Sometime in the middle of the morning I like to give the kids a fruit snack.

But.

There are strings attached! Each snack has a question taped to it. One at a time the kids read and answer the question. This activity serves several purposes.

The kids get a snack.

We all get to learn a little bit about each other.

It also gives me an small opportunity to see the kids as readers and their level of comfort in reading & sharing. I stand behind each student as they read their question in case they need a little help with the words. Right away I can get a sense of how they read or whether or not they tend to be shy. Sure, I will already know their end of first grade reading levels, but this just adds to that bit of information.

I let the kids eat their fruit snack as soon as they are done with their question as long as they are quiet and still listening.

I have a list of 24 questions for you that I have used in the past. If you have more than 24 students, just print the sheet twice and repeat some of the questions. Don't forget one for yourself to start the activity. Click the owl to get the questions.