Veteran teachers Share 11 Awesome First Day Read-Alouds

As another school year gets underway, many of us are squeezing in a few last vacation days before heading in to set up this year's classroom. Some of us are trying to make sense of chaos as we get ready for Meet the Teacher Day. And some of us already have classrooms full of kids. With that in mind, I asked some veteran teachers to share their favorite first-day read-alouds. I got some great responses and I'm happy to pass them along.

Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links which means that I earn a small amount when you make purchases (at no extra cost to you). However, my promise to you is that I am only sharing my honest opinions and I will never promote something I do not believe in.

Let's start with my new favorite first day book. 

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson is a wonderful book about how we all feel like outsiders until we begin to share our stories. Once we are brave enough to do that, we discover that we are not so different after all. I'm looking forward to sharing it with my third graders this year as we build a classroom community where individual differences are appreciated, respected, and valued. 

Veteran teachers Becky from Overheard in Kindergarten, Crystal from Primary on the Prowl, and Brianna Krebs rave about First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. Crystal even wrote a blog post about how she makes Jitter Juice with her class. Such a fun way to start the year! Brianna says, "Always a "go to" for me! Teaches my kiddos that their teacher was just as "nervous" for the first day of school as they were!"

Becky's second recommendation is Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. She says, "I like to tell the class what I did to get ready for kindergarten. Then, have students practice taking turns to speak and share what they did to get ready for kindergarten."






Becky's third recommendation is a new favorite, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School by Mo Willems.







Kelli from Kelli C's First Grade recommends two books. The first is The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague.

 Kelli's second pick is Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. "They talk about safety tips at schools.. we use this to open up a discussion for our classroom rules and we talk about making the classroom a safe place."

Yvonne from Journeyed Transformations recommends You're Finally Here! by Mélanie Watt. She pairs the book with some fun activities created by Linda Kamp.

Kayla from K's Classroom Kreations loves to use the book, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes with her first grade class. 

Literary Sherri recommends The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler. "It makes students laugh and puts them at ease. :)"

For our final recommendation, veteran teacher Pat McFadyen says, "As a math/science teacher, I loved reading Math Curse the first day! It's funny and I could share my love of math humor!" What a great way to help students see that learning math is fun!

What are your favorite first day read alouds? Post them in the comments below.

Have an awesome school year!

13 Amazing Anchor Charts that Help Build Classroom Community

Anchor charts are incredibly helpful tools. They provide learners with visual reminders of concepts, procedures, skills, and strategies. Here are some great anchor charts that I've created, used, or found on Pinterest that help build classroom community and hold students accountable. Make sure you pin these to your Pinterest boards for future reference!

Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links which means that I earn a small amount when you make purchases (at no extra cost to you). However, my promise to you is that I am only sharing my honest opinions and I will never promote something I do not believe in.


1) Creating a class promise is a great way to set expectations for the classroom community and hold students accountable all year long. You can find out more about how to create one in your classroom by reading this blog post.





2) Here's an anchor chart that sets expectations for math talk. Students have clear guidelines for their conversations. Again, this is a way to hold them accountable.




3) Need a way to remind students how they can be good friends? Work together to create this anchor chart.





4) Teach your students how to disagree respectfully with this awesome chart.





5) Set your expectations and keep the noise level under control by creating this visual reminder.





6) Encourage meaningful apologies. Some students have never been taught how to apologize.





7) Teach students what it means to be a good classmate. Brainstorm ideas with your class, so that they take ownership.





8) Make classroom procedures a daily habit.





9) Lots of procedures make for a happy classroom!





10) Create a classroom full of bucket-fillers! You'll want to create this chart after reading one of the Bucket-Filler books by Carol McCloud. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is my favorite!





11) Establish expectations for small groups.





12) Develop self-directed learners!




13) Encourage a growth mindset.



If you love creating and using anchor charts in your classroom, make sure you follow my Pinterest board.

If you need more information on how to create and use anchor charts with your students, I recommend Smarter Charts by Marjorie Martinelli and Kristine Mraz.




What do you do to help build your classroom community? Please share in the comments.

Until next time,