The first few days of school are crucial to building strong relationships and routines. As a primary teacher, I always enjoy using read alouds to work on both of these things. Here are some of my favorite books and activities for those beginning days!

All books and activities are linked below!

*Please note: as an amazon associate, I receive a small commission when someone shops using my link, at absolutely no cost to you.

1. Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen

This will always be a first day staple for me! This story shows how the people you share a classroom with become your class family.

After we read this story we create our classroom promise. We then each color a handprint with our names to mark our promise. We now say it every morning as part of our morning meeting.

This year, I invited my students to each draw their own portrait and we now will have our class family hanging in our room all year!

2. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

This is a great story to discuss everyone’s name and how each is unique.

After reading, we complete a name analysis (great mini assessment too!) and then a class name graph.

This fun flower craft is a great way for students to practice writing the letters in their name while working on fine motor skills.

We also use this book to discuss using kind words and what happens to someone’s heart when unkind words are said. Everyone makes a promise to always think before they speak and colors a bandaid to “fix” the heart.

The entire Chrysanthemum activities pack can be grabbed HERE!

3. First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

Another first day classic! I first read this story in one of my education courses back in undergrad! It was immediately added to my list of must reads for the first day of school.

Complete a feelings graph and discuss how it’s okay to have different feelings and emotions AND that teachers have them too.

Jitter juice is also a great way to celebrate the first day of school!

4. My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook

This is a great story to show and explain the importance of not blurting out during class. My students really enjoyed this story and have constantly been reminding each other to “not be a volcano” when someone blurts out.

This is also a great way to introduce voice levels and when to use each throughout the day.

5. All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

This is a beautiful story that addresses everyone’s uniqueness. It is so nice to have a class filled with students of many different cultures and backgrounds.

After reading, we completed this Rainbow of Me activity where we looked at how everyone in our class is special and different.

6. Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

This is a fun story that will keep your class laughing while also addressing an important message.

We discussed different things we can’t do YET but want to work on during our school year. We then wrote a goal for first grade!

7. Only One You by Linda Kranz

This is another great story to celebrate everyone’s uniqueness,

We thought about what we love most about ourselves and then drew our own “selfie” to go along with our writing.

Phew! The first few days of school are certainly exhausting but they also are so special and memorable. I hope these activities help your first few days/weeks and foster a beautiful year ahead 🙂

*You can grab all these activities in a bundle HERE!