First Day of School Lessons Plans

I have to begin by saying that sitting down to write this post is taking EVERYTHING I have.

Seriously!!!  

Last week was our first week of school and it kicked my behind.

I was organized and prepared as I could be, but still........

So for those of you that begin this week, best wishes on a great first week back.

Don't forget to try and fit in some time for yourself during this busy week.

Mandy's Tips For Teachers is hosting an Welcome Back Linky Party this week.  I just had to link up with my first day of school lesson plans.

1. The desks and chairs in my classroom are not all the same size so I begin every year by taking the first few minutes to make sure that all of my kiddos are comfortable in their work area.  

2. We have a "Back to School Night" rather than an open house on the eve of the first day of school.  This gives the students and parents an opportunity to stop by their child's new classroom and check it out.  Students bring in their school supplies as well.  It seems to greatly help the students with that first day of school anxiety.  Generally most of my new students attend this activity, but for the one or two who do not, we quickly put their supplies away when he/she begins the school day.

3. I'm always a little nervous on that first day of school so I like to begin with giving the students a chance to know their teacher a little bit more.  I feel this is a great icebreaker on that first day back.  I always do this activity before I ever go over rules and etc.  This year I created an activity called " Meet The Teacher" Making Inferences box.  I filled the box with 10 cards that have a question that students must figure out about myself and 3 clues to help them answer this question.  For example:  What was your teacher's favorite subject in school?

Clue 1:  numbers

Clue 2: addition and subtraction

Clue 3: word problems

The students use these 3 clues to figure out my favorite subject which was math.   Here's a picture of my "Meet the Teacher" Box:

4.  I am always a little hesitant to go right into my classroom rules and expectations.  I like to begin by showing my students the story  " David Goes to School" by David Shannon on our promethean board.

You can find this story on YouTube by clicking HERE.

I use this story to then go into my classroom rules and procedures.

I found this adorable " David Learns School Rules" craftivity by Angie Neal to use with this story as well.

This is a free download from Angie Neal's Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Click HERE to find out more.

5.  I give my 3rd graders a tour of their new school building.  I show them where their art, music, and cafeteria are at.  We also walk to the nurse's office as well as showing my students how they walk to recess and in which doors they will enter after recess is over.

6.  I LOVE this cute story about a teacher's first day of school.  My students love the repetitiveness of this story,and it has them laughing out loud.

7.  By now, my students are having a hard time following along and paying attention.  They've been used to being so active over summer break.  So, I include a fun activity that gives them a chance to be out of their seats and interacting with the other students in the classroom.  It's called a Student Scavenger Hunt.   I found this activity from Super Teacher Worksheets.  

Those are my first day of school lesson plans.  I never include times on that first day because everything seems to take so much longer than what I expect.  I also seem to plan too much on this day as well.

Don't forget to check out everyone's first day of school plans at Mandy's Tips for Teachers by clicking HERE.

AND don't forget that TPT is having it's amazing Back to School Sale through tonight.

Everything in my store is 20% off.

Thanks so much for stopping by!