3 Back to School GLAD Strategies to Start the Year Strong
There is nothing quite like the energy of a brand new school year. Your classroom is fresh. Your students are curious. And you have a beautiful window of time to build community before the routines settle in. The best part? You can build that community while building language from day one! GLAD strategies make this easy because they invite every learner in no matter their language level. Here are three of our favorite back to school GLAD strategies. Each one helps students feel seen. Each one gets them talking, writing, and connecting right away. Let's dive in!
1. Interactive Journals
An Interactive Journal is a written conversation between you and each student. Students respond to a prompt with words, sketches, or both. Then you write back to them. It is simple and it is powerful.
Why do we love this one for the first weeks of school? It meets students exactly where they are. A newcomer might draw a picture and label it with a single word. A more advanced writer might fill the whole page. Both are succeeding! Both are using language in a meaningful way.
Interactive Journals also give you something priceless. They give you a real look at who each student is. When you write back you show every student that their voice matters. Try starting with prompts like these:
What made you smile this summer?
Draw and tell me about someone special in your life.
What are you most excited to learn this year?
Keep your responses warm and personal. A few sentences back to each student goes a long way toward building trust.
2. All About Me Narrative Input Chart
The Narrative Input Chart is a GLAD favorite for a reason. It turns a story into a visual anchor students can see, revisit, and build language from. The All About Me version puts you at the heart of the story.
Here is how it works. You tell the story of you. As you speak you place images onto the chart. Maybe you share where you grew up. Maybe you share your favorite food or the pets you love. Your students soak in rich comprehensible input while they learn about the person leading their classroom.
Then comes the magic. Students create their own All About Me stories. They practice the same academic language you modeled. They build community as they share. And they discover that storytelling is something they can do too!
Want to see this strategy in action? Watch our video walkthrough here:
3. Extended Name Tag
Names carry identity. The Extended Name Tag takes something familiar and turns it into a celebration of who each student is. Instead of writing only a name students respond to prompts that reveal a bit about who they are.
Here is how it works. You provide four open ended prompts that invite students to share something personal about themselves. Students write or sketch their responses right on the tag. Then they pair up with one partner and share their two favorite prompts. In just a few minutes every student has created a snapshot of who they are and made a new connection!
This strategy is perfect for the first week. It sparks oral language as students share with a partner. It helps everyone learn names faster. And it builds personal connections between students from the very first days of school. Best of all it tells each student a wonderful thing. You belong here!
To make this one easy for you we created a free printable. Our Extended Name Tag prompts are ready for you to download and use in your classroom.
Download the free Extended Name Tag PDF HERE !
And if you would like to see the strategy modeled step by step we have you covered. Watch the demonstration video here:
Start Strong, Stay GLAD
The first weeks set the tone for everything that follows. When you open the year with strategies like these you tell your students something they will carry all year long. Your voice matters here and I care about you. Watch your classroom community come to life with these strategies to build personal connections!
Happy back to school and happy GLAD teaching!
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Be GLAD
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