The First Week of School Activity That Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Your 4th Graders

The first week of school in 4th grade is a lot of things at once.

It is exciting. It is loud. It is twenty-some kids walking through your door carrying brand new folders, wide eyes, and absolutely zero idea what your classroom expectations are yet.

And somewhere in the middle of handing out supplies, reviewing procedures, and figuring out who already knows each other from last year, you are also trying to do one of the most important things you will do all year long: learn who these kids actually are.

Not just their names. Not just their reading levels. Who they are.That is where the 4th Grade All About Me WRDZ Craft® comes in, and it has genuinely changed how you kick off the school year.

Why Most “Get to Know You” Activities Fall Flat

Let’s be honest. The standard first week of school activities for 4th grade have been the same for a long time. Fill out an interest survey. Draw a self-portrait. Write three facts about yourself on a notecard.

And those things are fine. They check a box. But they do not give you much to work with.

When a student writes “I like soccer” on a notecard, what do you do with that? You smile, you nod, and it goes in a pile somewhere.

What you need is an activity that actually pulls something out of kids, gives them ownership over how they share, and produces something they are proud of enough to want to display. Something that makes them feel seen on Day One, not just surveyed.

That is the whole idea behind WRDZ Crafts®.

What Is a WRDZ Craft®?

WRDZ Crafts® are research-based writing activities where students write facts, ideas, or personal reflections inside large block letters that spell out a word (hence WRDZ).

The block letters become a canvas. The writing lives inside the letters themselves. And the result is a display piece that is genuinely beautiful, genuinely personal, and authentically theirs.

For the All About Me WRDZ Crafts®, students fill the block letters of their grade level with facts about who they are: their family, their favorites, their goals, their personality. Every letter gets filled. Every student produces something completely unique.

Why It Works So Well as a 4th Grade Back to School Craft

Here is what you’ll notice when you start using this during the first week of school in 4th grade.

Kids who normally said nothing in a whole-group share started wanting to explain what they wrote. Because it was theirs. They had made something with their hands, and it looked good hanging on the wall, and suddenly they had something to point to and say, “That one is mine.”

The craft itself creates conversation. When students are working, they talk to each other. They ask questions. “What did you write for that letter?” “Oh, I put that I have a little brother too.” That peer bonding during the first week of school activities in 4th grade is genuinely hard to manufacture with a worksheet, and it happens organically here.

And from a teacher standpoint, you learn so much more from what students choose to write inside those letters than you ever would from a standard survey. You see what matters to them. You see who thinks carefully before they write. You see who needs prompting and who runs out of space because they have so much to say.

How to Use It During the First Week

I recommend introducing the 4th Grade All About Me WRDZ Craft® on Day 2 or Day 3, once the excitement of the very first day has settled and students are starting to look for something to sink into.

Here is how you can structure it:

Day 1: Model and brainstorm. Walk through what the craft looks like with a completed example ( I always suggest that you do one in advance as the 4th grade teacher). Do a short whole-class brainstorm of the kinds of things students might include: family members, hobbies, favorite books or shows, things they are good at, things they want to learn this year, places they have been, foods they love. Get them thinking before they pick up a pencil.

Day 2: Draft and write. Students begin filling their 4th Grade WRDZ Craft® letters with their brainstormed ideas. Encourage them to vary their sentence starters and go beyond single words. “I love my dog” is fine. “My dog Biscuit follows me everywhere and I think she understands everything I say” is better and takes up more space, which is a bonus.

Day 3: Final touches and display. Students add any finishing details, finish coloring, and the crafts go up. This is also a great moment for a gallery walk where students read each other’s work and leave a sticky note compliment.

By the end of the week, you have a classroom full of student work on the walls, students who already know a few things about each other, and you have a much clearer picture of who is in that room with you.

The Display Piece That Works All Year

One thing I love about using a WRDZ Craft® as a 4th grade back to school craft specifically is that it does not feel like a throwaway activity. It is not something that gets sent home on Friday and forgotten. (It’s actually the perfect open house project)

These go on the wall. They stay there. And throughout the year, those block letters become a reference point. In October, you can point to a student’s craft and say, “You wrote that you wanted to read a whole chapter book on your own this year. How is that going?” That is relationship-building that compounds over time (take notes of what students wrote).

It also signals something to students from the very first week: in this classroom, what you think and who you are matters enough to display on the wall. That is a powerful message to send before you have even started your first unit.

Grab the All About Me WRDZ Craft®

If you want a first week of school activity for 4th grade that produces real writing, real connection, and a display piece your classroom will actually use, the 4th grade All About Me WRDZ Craft® is ready for you.

Everything is included: the block letter templates, student directions, and an example image for modeling. Print (on cardstock is best), prep, and you are ready to go.

Your students will surprise you with what they share when you give them the right structure to share it in.

And if you already have this one and are looking for more ways to use WRDZ Crafts® throughout the year? My full catalog has options for science, history, mythology, and more all in the same research-based format, all built to go straight on your wall. Come browse more!

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