"All About Me" Name Table Tent Craft for Getting to Know Students During Back-to-School Season

If you're anything like me, it can be difficult to memorize the names of new classes of students during back-to-school season. I used to find myself constantly glancing at my roster. Now, I've found a name-learning hack that students LOVE. Allow me to introduce...the All About Me table tent craft. The name card serves as a fantastic icebreaker, helping students and teachers to get to know each other. It works well with students from elementary to middle school and is SO simple to incorporate into your first-day-of-school lesson plan! 

To get started with making "All About Me" table tents with your students, download and print off the PDF template on 8.5 x 11 in paper in black and white. Consider printing a few extra in case you get a surprise new student or someone makes a mistake during the assembly process. 

Next, distribute colored pencils, markers, and crayons to your students. Explain that there are several sections to fill out: 

• space to write their name in large, colorful letters
• an area to illustrate two things that they love
• a frame for drawing a self portrait
• prompts for writing about their favorite movie, song, food, school subject, sport, and more

Give students about 15 minutes to decorate their table tent name card. After the majority of the group has finished, demonstrate how to assemble the tent. 

Finally, students should fold their paper along the dotted lines and then glue or tape the flaps at the base together. 

Once students have completed their name table tents, I ask them to put the tents on their desks for the first week of school, so that their classmates and I can learn about them. It truly does make a big difference, and students love being able to share what makes them unique!

What are your favorite back to school activities? Leave a comment below to share what works well in your classroom!