First Day of School Math Activity for Middle School – Ice breaker

These Back to School Puzzle Stations are a first day of school activity for middle school classrooms. Students rotate through six stations to complete an “About Me” coloring puzzle, a low-pressure task that lets them practice routines, connect with classmates and ease into the year.

The stations are there to establish station procedures, group norms and smooth transitions before you get to content-heavy work. Students talk, create, move and share while you observe personalities, how groups work together, and the classroom culture as the year starts.

What’s included

• 6 printable and editable station cards
• Student “About Me” coloring page (1 per student)
• Two versions of Station 6 to fit your school community
• Teacher prep notes and clear directions
• Digital Google Slides version (links included)

Why teachers use it

• Low stress for the first day, and students stay involved
• Helps establish station routines you will use all year
• Gets students moving and interacting
• Easy to prep. Just print, cut and go
• Works with any class size or schedule
• Gives you a creative, structured way to learn about your new students

Good to know

The stations work for any grade. They are not exclusive to middle school or math, so this set is not included in my Middle School Math Stations Mega Bundle.

Quick facts

• Grades: 3–10

Bundles and related resources

• The digital version is included in each grade level digital bundle and in my Middle School Math Digital Bundle.
• More back to school activities are in my Back to School Activity Category.

Free resources

Get my free Warm Up Slides templates.

Terms of use

By purchasing this product, you own a license for one teacher only for personal use in their own classroom. Licenses are non-transferable and therefore can not be passed from one teacher to another. If the teacher who purchased this license leaves the classroom or changes schools, the license and materials leave with that teacher. No part of this resource is to be shared with colleagues or used by an entire team, grade level, school or district without purchasing the correct number of licenses. If you are a coach, principal or district interested in transferable licenses that would accommodate yearly staff changes, please contact me for a transferable license quote at lindsay@beyondtheworksheet.com.

© Beyond the Worksheet. Please note – all material included in this resource belongs to Beyond the Worksheet Inc. By purchasing, you have a license to use the material but you do not own the material. You may not upload any portion of this resource to the internet in any format, including school/personal websites or network drives unless the site is password protected and can only be accessed by students, not other teachers or anyone else on the internet.