So, many districts are rolling out their back to school plans…and several places are planning to start the year with distance learning! There are so many questions still surrounding what this will look like, and it’s unclear when we will have answers.

One thing I keep thinking about is how it was one thing to go virtual with a class you’d already had for 8 months. The rapport was already established with your students last spring. You already knew the families. You’d already had parent conferences and IEP meetings.

But to start the year virtually with a brand new group of students and parents you have never met? That is bending my mind a little.

One thing that I’ve decided is highly important is to strive to establish a good sense of community and a great rapport with our kids, no matter how we start the year! I think it’s important to make our kids feel like our learning environment is a safe and loving place, no matter how different or uncertain it may be. I want the back to school joy that teachers typically feel to poke through the clouds every once in a while and remind us why we are doing what we do.

So, I developed a Digital Back to School Luau to give students and teachers that warm and fuzzy new year feeling, even if they can’t be together in person!

Parts of the Digital Luau

Teacher Planning Guide
Invitation & Student Welcome Packet - edit this to send to your students and invite them to your digital luau! It's made to be sent digitally, but you can definitely print and pop them in the mail!
Printable decor - setup your teaching paradise with printable banners and editable surfboards you can put student names on
Meet the Teacher presentation - An editable presentation to introduce yourself to students
All About Me activity - students can create their own All About Me slide for you to put into a class slideshow. This is a great way for students to get to know their new classmates from a distance!
Find Someone Who - students play this fun Back to School game using the class slideshow
Community Building Games - Tacky Tourist Fashion Show, Scavenger Hunt, Charades, Categories, and a Storytelling game - some of these even come with a Google Slides presentation to lead the game. All of these are NO-PREP!
Surfboard Glyph - students follow an all about me glyph to create and design their own surfboard
Hula Lessons & Dance Party - a Google Slides presentation with 5 Youtube videos embedded - students learn the history of hula dancing, take hula lessons, visit a luau, and have a dance party!
Writing Prompts - 3 tropical writing prompts with graphic organizers and writing paper, a great way to gauge students writing skills at the beginning of the year!
Editable Powerpoint - a completely editable Powerpoint file that you can add your own content into - use it for introducing academic content, open house, etc.

What Does it Look Like?

When you download the Digital Luau, you will find a “Meet the Teacher” presentation. You can edit this to include photos of yourself, your family, and other favorite things, then either share you screen with your students during a live call and talk them through it, or email it out on the first day of school!

Your students can learn a little about Hula Dancing through some fun video tutorials that are built into the day!

After you students have gotten to know you, and had a little dancing fun, they can spend some time getting to know each other! One activity included is a Surfboard Glyf! Students decorate the surfboards based on which statements are true for them. They can share the final product in a digital classroom, or email them out to the class.

If you are teaching on a live video call, you can play games with your students! One game included is Categories. Students will race the clock to find items within a certain category to bring back and show the class.

There is also some writing included in the activity pack! Students can choose from a few different writing prompts. Graphic organizer and digital writing paper is included!