The first day of school can feel like a balancing act. You need to introduce yourself, explain important procedures, learn about your students, and give them some idea of what your course will actually be about—all within one class period.
And no one wants to spend the entire first day reading a syllabus aloud. A strong first-day social studies lesson can accomplish several goals at once. Students can begin getting comfortable with their classmates, interact with the subject matter, and leave with a clearer picture of the year ahead.
To make that easier, I’ve created course-specific first-day resources for nine different high school social studies classes. Each option includes a mix of introductory slides, low-pressure icebreakers, course previews, student information activities, and content-based games or assessments. Here’s a quick look at the options so you can find the one that fits your course.
Ancient World History First Day of School Activities
Best for: High school Ancient World History or World History I courses
The Ancient World History First Day of School Activities resource is designed specifically for teachers whose courses focus on the ancient world.
Instead of using a generic icebreaker, students begin interacting with the geography, chronology, and historical content they will encounter throughout the course.
Highlights include:
- 17 PowerPoint and Google Slides featuring a World History edition of Two Truths and a Lie
- Customizable slides for classroom information
- A printable student inventory
- Icebreaker BINGO
- A collaborative World History Events Sort
- A continents and oceans map quiz
This is an especially useful option if you want students talking and working together while also informally assessing their background knowledge.
APUSH First Day of School Activities
Best for: AP United States History teachers who need to introduce both the content and expectations of an AP course
The first day of APUSH needs to do more than welcome students to U.S. History. Students also need an approachable introduction to the structure, themes, and expectations of an AP course.
The APUSH First Day of School Activities pack combines course orientation with games and community-building activities.
The resource includes:
- 30 PowerPoint and Google Slides
- A U.S. History edition of Two Truths and a Lie
- An APUSH course overview
- A student inventory sheet
- Icebreaker BINGO cards
- A student handout covering APUSH units, themes, and exam basics
- Additional course-specific games and introductory activities
You can introduce the serious parts of APUSH without making the first day feel intimidating. The different activities also give you flexibility if you teach shorter periods or want to spread the material across the first several days.
World Religions First Day Activities
Best for: High school World Religions courses or electives
Students often enter a World Religions course with very different levels of prior knowledge—and sometimes with very different ideas about what the course will involve.
The World Religions First Day Activities resource helps establish an academic, curious, and discussion-friendly tone from the beginning.
It includes a 13-slide presentation that introduces important course themes and poses introductory questions intended to spark curiosity and conversation. Ready-to-use slides are provided in both PowerPoint and Google Slides, along with customizable slides for adding your own expectations, syllabus information, and classroom procedures.
This option works well for introducing students to the kinds of questions they will explore during the year while creating space for respectful discussion.
History of Sports First Day of School Activities
Best for: History of Sports, World Sports History, or sports-themed social studies electives
A History of Sports class provides a great opportunity for first-day activities that are immediately relevant to students’ interests.
The History of Sports First Day of School Activities pack goes beyond the history of sports in the United States and introduces the course from a world sports perspective.
It includes:
- 15 sports-themed introductory slides
- Customizable slides for class policies and other first-day information
- Three rounds of Two Truths and a Lie: World Sports Edition
- Six icebreaker BINGO cards
- A sports-themed student inventory
- An Origins of Popular Sports video activity with an answer key
This is a low-pressure way to get students participating quickly while showing them that the course will explore the larger historical and global significance of sports.
AP Psychology First Day of School Activities
Best for: AP Psychology teachers who want a mix of community building, course orientation, and introductory psychology
Psychology gives teachers plenty of opportunities to capture students’ attention from the very first class.
The AP Psychology First Day of School Activities pack includes enough material for the first day—and potentially the second day, depending on the length of your periods.
Inside, you’ll find:
- Ready-to-use introductory slides
- An AP Psychology course and exam overview
- Customizable slides in three design themes
- A psychology thought experiment
- Six icebreaker BINGO cards
- An Introduction to Naturalistic Observation mini-project
- A collaborative true-or-false pretest
- Ten introductory vocabulary terms and a quiz
- A student course overview handout
- Answer keys and teaching notes
These activities introduce students to how psychologists observe, question, and investigate behavior while giving you several ways to assess what they already know.
World History First Day of School Activities
Best for: Full-year high school World History courses covering ancient through modern history
The World History First Day of School Activities and Assignments pack is designed for broad World History survey courses.
The resource includes:
- 20 introductory PowerPoint and Google Slides
- World History Two Truths and a Lie
- Customizable classroom information slides
- A printable student inventory
- Icebreaker BINGO
- A collaborative World History Events Sort
- A continents and oceans map quiz
- A geologic timeline activity
- Video questions about rethinking the way we organize historical dates
- An editable syllabus template
- A fast-paced “5 Seconds to Name 3” game
The event sort is particularly useful for getting students into small groups. They attempt to arrange major world events chronologically, allowing you to observe how they communicate, reason, and approach unfamiliar material.
There is more included than most teachers will use in one class period, so you can select the activities that fit your schedule and save the others for later in the first week.
AP World History First Day of School Activities
Best for: AP World History: Modern courses
AP World students need an introduction to a huge amount of information: geographic regions, historical periods, course themes, vocabulary, and the AP Exam itself.
The AP World History First Day of School Activities pack helps make that introduction manageable.
It includes:
- 17 introductory PowerPoint and Google Slides
- World History Two Truths and a Lie
- A student inventory
- Icebreaker BINGO
- An AP World course overview handout
- An “Organizing World History” whole-class activity
- A continents and oceans map quiz
- 15 introductory vocabulary terms and a quiz
- A geologic timeline activity
- A Course and Exam Description scavenger hunt
- An editable student syllabus template
- A “5 Seconds to Name 3” icebreaker game
The “Organizing World History” activity asks students to work together to arrange major events chronologically. It gets students moving, talking, and thinking historically without requiring them to have mastered the course content already.
The resource also reflects the AP World History exam updates taking effect in 2027.
U.S. History First Day of School Activities
Best for: On-level or honors high school U.S. History courses
If you teach a non-AP U.S. History course, the First Day of School U.S. History Activities pack provides course-specific games without the additional AP framework.
Activities include:
- A small-group U.S. History event card sort
- A 50 States quiz
- A student inventory
- A missing-presidents activity
- An editable U.S. History syllabus template
- A “5 Seconds to Name 3” U.S. History game
- A geologic timeline activity
- Video questions about rethinking our current dating system
- Icebreaker BINGO
- Presentation slides
- Printable and Google Drive options
These activities provide a mix of familiar U.S. History topics and broader questions about chronology and the study of history. You can also use the informal quizzes as low-stakes checks of prior knowledge rather than graded assessments.
AP Human Geography First Day of School Activities
Best for: AP Human Geography courses or introductory Human Geography classes
Many students begin AP Human Geography without fully understanding what “human geography” means. The AP Human Geography First Day of School Activities help students distinguish the course from a traditional history class while beginning to build essential geography knowledge.
The resource includes:
- Eight introductory AP Human Geography slides
- Six coordinating backgrounds for adding your own classroom information
- Icebreaker BINGO
- An APHG course overview handout
- A “My Place in Human Geography” activity
- Eleven political geography map quizzes with answer keys
- Ten introductory vocabulary terms
- A vocabulary quiz and crossword puzzle
- Questions for a “What Is Human Geography?” video
The map quizzes can be used throughout the year, making this resource useful beyond the first week. The “My Place in Human Geography” activity also helps students see how their own lives and experiences connect to the subject.
A Simple Formula for Planning Your First Day
You do not need to complete every activity in one class period. In fact, having extra options is helpful during a week filled with schedule changes, unexpected assemblies, new enrollments, and shortened classes.
A simple first-day plan might include:
- Welcome students with a few introductory slides.
- Collect a student inventory.
- Complete one movement-based or collaborative icebreaker.
- Introduce the course with a content-based game, map quiz, or card sort.
- Save the remaining activities for the next several days.
This gives students a chance to interact without making them share anything overly personal. It also communicates that your class will be active, structured, and focused on meaningful social studies content.
Make Your First Day Feel Like Your Course
Students will probably hear plenty of rules and procedures during the first week of school. Your first-day activity is an opportunity to give them something different: a glimpse of the questions, stories, places, and ideas they will explore in your classroom.
Whether you teach Ancient World History, APUSH, World Religions, History of Sports, AP Psychology, World History, AP World, U.S. History, or AP Human Geography, you can begin with activities created specifically for that subject.
Know another social studies teacher who is still trying to plan the first day? Share this post with them or send them the link to the course-specific resource they need. A ready-to-use first-day plan may be exactly what helps a teacher friend head into the new school year feeling a little more prepared.
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