Tried and True First Day Activities

I love the First Day of School!  Truly!  I can't wait to meet my little kiddos! I usually overplan for this day because I feel like I'd much rather have too much to do than not enough.  Of course, I plan lots of getting to know each other activities and begin introducing procedures, but I also read, read read!  I make sure I have all of my "back to school" books in a basket and at my fingertips!

I make some very purposeful choices to read books targeting specific behaviors or concepts.  These help set the stage for our discussions about classroom expectations and procedures!  

Afterall, just about everything that needs to be taught, can be introduced with a book!  These are some of my favorite first week of school books and activities!

Since there are three first grade classes at our school and we are the First Grade Froggies,  we always start the year with Froggy Goes to School!

The Froggy books by Jonathon London are a favorite with our group!  After reading this fun book we are going to make this cute little craft. This provides a great opportunity to go over expectations and procedures! Plus, I love having hands on crafts the first day. They can take something fun home from the school this first day, or I may try to convince them to let me hang them up for our first display!

Two of my favorites are No, David! and David Goes to School by David Shannon. The kids always giggle and laugh and pay attention to the story.  We follow up with a super cute directed draw!  You can find the directions here! 

We then brainstorm appropriate choices to make at school.  What did David do?  What should David have done?  We complete a writing activity which is perfect for the beginning of the year.  You can download this freebie here!  Students choose either a "Yes" or "No" paper, write their name and an appropriate or inappropriate thing to do at school and illustrate!  It's hilarious and makes a great class book to kick off the year!

I also love to share Officer Buckle and Gloria during the first few weeks of school as we discuss school safety and review procedures such as fire drills, code reds, etc.  After reading the story, each student writes a safety rule for the classroom and draws Officer Buckle!  I love how different they each are!

 

Here are some of the books I will have in my "Back to School" basket!   

What are some of your favorite Back to School books?  Please share your favorites in the comments!  I'm always looking for new books to add to my classroom library!

Speaking of "Back to School", be sure and and enter my back to school giveaway!  There are some great prizes for your classroom!  Good Luck!

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