5 Must-Do Read Aloud Activities for the First Week of School

The first week of school can be so hectic. Use these 5 read aloud activities to make your planning a breeze. You’ll cover expectations, build community, and teach about cooperative learning. These first week of school activities are the same format. Once you do one read aloud activity, the rest will go so smoothly because your students know what to expect!

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First Week of School Read Aloud #1:
THE DAY YOU BEGIN

This is a fantastic first week of school activity and it would be great to do on the first day! This read aloud activity accompanies The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson. This book is about feeling like you may be different from everyone else when you enter a room. However, when you begin to tell your stories, you will learn that you have more in common than you thought. 

How I use this activity:

One way you can use this activity is to discuss how students felt coming to school on the first day. After reading the book, ask students to complete a story retelling page. They will identify characters, setting, and what happened in the beginning, middle, and end.

I remind students that it can be scary to enter a room and feel like you may not belong and I ask students how they felt on the first day of school. If students feel comfortable sharing (anonymously or not), you could create an anchor chart with their responses like the one below. 

If students don’t feel comfortable sharing how they felt with the class, they can write or draw their feelings.

This read aloud activity can also be used on other days! I like to highlight the importance of recognizing our unique qualities after reading this book. Students can identify what makes them unique and share with the class! I find that it’s most helpful to brainstorm together because students may have trouble coming up with something unique about themselves

They can draw and write about what makes them unique. I like to take their picture, print it, and add it to the blank space on the pages. Then they can draw a picture of their unique quality around their picture!

I also like to make a flip book with them where they identify their unique quality and then choose a classmate or other person they are similar to and one that they are different from. Last, they will choose one way they can make others feel welcome in the classroom. 

Why I Love This Activity: This SEL lesson shows students that whether they are feeling nervous for the first day of school or feeling scared because they think they’re different from everyone else, they are more similar to their peers than they believe. It’s a great way to show students that your class is a family.

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First Week of School Read Aloud #2:
INTERRUPTING CHICKEN

The book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein has been a staple in my back to school reading rotation. Blurting is something that many little ones struggle with, particularly in the first few weeks of school. This book is about a chicken named Little Red who can’t help but interrupt while her Papa tells her a bedtime story. 

How I use this activity:

After reading the story, we complete a retelling page, where students identify characters, setting, and plot. This will be familiar because they’ve done it the day prior.

Then we’ll sort scenarios: which shows an interrupting chicken and which does not. I like to sort these in my pocket chart with the whole class.

Then we will brainstorm strategies we can use to not be an interrupting chicken, such as catching a bubble, raising a hand, blurt beans, etc. I’ll use the label pieces ‘Don’t be an interrupting chicken’ and we’ll add ideas to an anchor chart to display in the classroom.

Finally, students will make their own Little Red and write about what strategy they’ll use to stop blurting or how it makes them feel when someone else interrupts them. 

Why I Love This Activity: Blurting is one of the biggest challenges for little ones, especially during the first week of school. This activity allows us to discuss strategies to avoid interrupting and we can identify concrete examples and non-examples of interrupting. 

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First Week of School Read Aloud #3:
ENEMY PIE

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson is a great book to teach about friendship and problem/solution. I like to incorporate this activity in the first week of school because my students are so surprised to hear that the boy in the story is going to make ‘enemy pie’ for his enemy, Jeremy. However, after they spend time together, the boy learns that he may have misjudged Jeremy.

After reading the book, I like to talk to students about the problem and solution in the story and brainstorm ways to make a ‘friendship pie,’ instead of an enemy pie. We add our ideas to an anchor chart like the one above.

I also have my students complete a story retelling page and we sort actions that would be in friendship pie and enemy pie together. I like to do this sort in my pocket chart with the whole class.

Finally, my students choose four ‘ingredients’ to include in their friendship pie. There are a few different options for the writing piece attached to the pie. Some have step-by-step directions, some have simple lines, and there’s also just a label that says, ‘My Friendship Pie.’

Why I Love This Activity: This book gets students talking about how to be a good friend! That is a must-have conversation during the first week of school. 

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First Week of School Read Aloud #4:
GIRAFFES CAN’T DANCE

The book “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae is a great read aloud to introduce growth mindset. This book is about a giraffe named Gerald that wants to dance but can’t, no matter how hard he tries. The other animals laugh at him. By the end of the story, Gerald finds his own special music. 

How I use this activity:

After reading the story, I talk about a growth mindset and what it means for students. Then I ask them to write what they can do to have a growth mindset and add them to an anchor chart like the one below.

We then retell the story using the retelling page. We’ll also do a sort in the pocket chart, identifying which phrase represents a growth mindset and which do not.

Finally, we discuss goal setting and set goals for ourselves this school year. The goals could be academic, social, or personal. We make our own version of Gerald (isn’t he so cute?!) and display our goals in the hallway!

As an alternative, students can write ways that they can train their brain to have a growth mindset. These giraffes are always a hit!

Why I Love This Activity: Growth mindset is something I really enjoy teaching. Simple things like changing the language we use to talk about ourselves can change the way we think! I also love incorporating goal setting in our first week of school because it gets students excited about the year.

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First Week of School Read Aloud #5:
ALL ARE WELCOME

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold is a must-read book during the first week of school. It’s vital that you create a safe space for your students and begin to build classroom community. This read aloud activity shows students that they are welcome in your classroom.

After reading the story, my students will complete the retelling page. Then we will discuss the message of the book and brainstorm ways to make our classmates feel welcome. I’ll use the anchor chart labels and we’ll make a list to display in our classroom as a reminder. 

After we come up with our list of ideas, we’ll make our banner display! I’ll take photos of each child and print them out to put on their banner. Each child will write their name on their banner and then write how they can make their classmates feel welcome on the small writing page.

I’ll display these next to our classroom door on our bulletin for the beginning of the school year. Later, I’ll move the banners inside. I like to keep them up all year and give them to the students before they leave for summer break.

Why I Love This Activity: It reminds students that they are important, they are valued, and they are loved in my classroom. I love ending our first week of school with this read aloud activity. The students know that the classroom is a safe space for them and I hope they go home knowing that they are cared for at school.

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I hope these read aloud activities make your first week of school a breeze! Happy Reading!