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The first word you see is your goal for the school year. Word grid hiding 16 words: ARTIST, BUDDY, CONFIDENT, CURIOUS, EXPLORE, HELPER, KIND, LEADER, NOTEBOOK, PENCIL, PRACTICE, QUESTION, READER, RECESS, SCIENCE, TEAMWORK.
0 of 16 found

Drag across the first word you see, or tap its first and last letter.

Seasons & holidays · 16 words

The first word you see is your goal for the school year

The first week of school is full of new shoes, new seats, and a few nerves. This puzzle gives every student a friendly starting point. Sixteen goals are hidden in the grid, such as CURIOUS, HELPER, READER, and TEAMWORK. Whatever word a student spots first becomes a goal to try on for the year. It works well as a morning warm-up, a bulletin board, or a note in a lunchbox.

Customize this puzzleDownload imagePinterest size

Drag across the first word you see in the grid, or tap its first and last letter, to reveal what it means. Shown in the Notebook template.

Ready-to-post caption

New school year, new goal. What was the first word you saw? Teachers, try this one with your class on day one. #firstwordyousee #backtoschool #teachersofinstagram #firstdayofschool

All 16 words and what they mean

Spoilers ahead. Find your word in the grid first, then look it up here.

  • ARTISTMake something this year that did not exist before: a drawing, a song, a strange invention.
  • BUDDYFind someone new to sit with this month. Your next good friend may be one desk away.
  • CONFIDENTWalk in like you belong there, because you do. Try out for the thing you want.
  • CURIOUSAsk one extra question in every class this year. That is how the fun stuff gets discovered.
  • EXPLOREJoin a club, try a new sport, or check out a subject you have never studied before.
  • HELPERLook for the person who seems stuck and offer a hand. You will be great at it.
  • KINDMake it your goal to say one nice thing to someone every single school day.
  • LEADERThis is your year to go first, speak up, and help the group decide what to do.
  • NOTEBOOKWrite things down this year. Your future self will thank you the night before a test.
  • PENCILMistakes are fine. That is why pencils have erasers. Keep going and fix it as you learn.
  • PRACTICEPick one hard thing and do a little every day. By spring it will not feel hard.
  • QUESTIONRaise your hand when you are confused. Someone else was wondering the same thing.
  • READERYour goal is to get lost in a book you picked yourself, just because you wanted to.
  • RECESSPlay hard and include everyone. Fresh air is part of learning too.
  • SCIENCETest your ideas this year. Guess, try, get it wrong, and try again like a real scientist.
  • TEAMWORKYour best work this year will happen with other people. Share the job and the credit.

How to use this puzzle

Teachers can project the grid during the first morning meeting, have each student write their word on an index card with one sentence about how they will work on it, and pin the cards to a bulletin board. Revisit the board in January to see how the goals are going.

Want different words, colours or a story-sized version? Open it in the maker, where you can edit every word and meaning, switch between dozens of templates and export sizes for Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok or print. The puzzle is for fun: the word you notice first depends on where your eyes land, not on a personality test.

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