First Week of School Lesson Plan Ideas

It can feel overwhelming thinking of all the things you need to fit into the first week of school. You want to make your students feel welcome in your classroom and get them excited about the school year, but you also want to teach them all the routines and procedures they will need to know.

After I shared how I pack a first week of school box, I received a lot of questions about lesson plans for the first week. I’ve compiled a list of things that I like to teach in the first week (or maybe two!) of school. I also put together how I would lay these out in a lesson plan. Pick and choose what you want to include in your first week plans and build your week of lesson plans from there! I also made a PDF you can download with clickable links to the activities that I like to do during the first week of first grade!

When I teach first grade, I like to use read alouds to teach throughout the year but especially in the first weeks of school. Read alouds are a great way to get to know each other, to facilitate class discussions, and build community. In these first week lesson plans you’ll see quite a few read alouds!

Each day has a community focus and an expectation focus. In the first week of school we cover inclusion, growth mindset, making connections, friendship, and setting goals in our community lessons. Remember you can download the PDF for the first week of school lesson plans so you have access to all these links in one place!

Making students feel welcome and excited for the first week of school

The following activities are things I like to do during the first week of school to help my students adjust back to the school environment, get ready to learn, and to show them that our classroom is a safe space.

• Monday: All Are Welcome read aloud and lesson – This shows my students that they are a valued member of our classroom and that we are all a family!
• The Day You Begin read aloud and first day feelings lesson – Whether it’s nerves, excitement, or sadness that summer is over, talking about our first day feelings helps students feel comfortable in their new classroom.
• All about me activity – This allows students to tell me a little bit about themselves!

• Tuesday: Giraffes Can’t Dance read aloud and growth mindset lesson – This lets my students know that I expect them to make mistakes because it will help them learn and grow.
• Names lesson – This is a fun way to acknowledge student names and help them get to know each other.

• Wednesday: Circles All Around Us read aloud and making connections lesson – This lesson is such a sweet way to show students that we are surrounded by community.
• This or That game – This is a fun icebreaker activity to do with your students.
• Thursday: Stick and Stone read aloud and lesson on friendship & how we treat each other – This is something I always teach before our first recess to remind them of our expectations at school.
• Friday: The Word Collector read aloud and goal setting lesson – After reading a story about the power of our words, my students choose a word that they hope will describe their year. This is also a great activity to do for the New Year!

Teaching expectations for the year

I also like to use read alouds to teach expectations during the first week of school! Some topics I will cover with a read aloud and some topics we simply discuss as a class. It’s important to explicitly teach your expectations in the first week of school because studies have shown that expectations significantly impact student outcomes. You get what you expect of your students. Just like the community lessons I shared above, there is a focus each day for my expectations. During the first week, we cover self control, conflict resolution, showing respect, being kind, and perseverance

• Monday: Interrupting Chicken read aloud and blurting lesson – This is a fun lesson to remind students that they need to try and exert self control.
• Tuesday: The Recess Queen read aloud and writing response – I typically try to do this lesson before recess on the second day of school so that my students know my expectations when they are out at recess.
• Wednesday: Do Unto Otters read aloud and writing craft – This is a sweet lesson on showing others respect.

• Thursday: The Invisible Boy read aloud and invisible words activity – This quick lesson is a great way to reinforce the importance of kindness.
• Friday: The Most Magnificent Thing read aloud and class discussion – We create an anchor chart of things that are hard and how we can persevere.

Routines and Procedures to Teach during the First Week of School

There are so many routines and procedures to teach! During the first week of school, I like to pick 3-4 routines and procedures to teach so that we can practice them adequately. When teaching procedures I, explain and model the procedure, tell students why it’s important, answer any questions they have about the procedure, and ask for a volunteer to model or we practice as a class.

I also created a checklist of all the routines and procedures that I teach during the first week of school. There’s an editable version so you can change or add the routines that are relevant to your classroom!

I hope this helps you feel ready and confident for your first week of school!