First Week of School Book Companion BUNDLE – Activities for Back to School

Description

These book activities are perfect for the first week of school! There are 8 resources included with book companions for 11 different books. The crafts your students create will make the perfect back to school bulletin board!

The books these activities are based on will teach growth mindset, acceptance of others, celebrating names, friendship, and more!

 

What’s Included:

1. All Are Welcome Book Companion & Social Emotional Learning Lesson

This book promotes inclusivity in the classroom. Use this activity to encourage open discussion at the beginning of the year. At the end of the read aloud, students can brainstorm ways that they can make their classmates feel welcome. This can be paired with the welcome banners for each student!

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was a great activity for the beginning of the year! It went along perfectly with the book and helped build a sense of community in our class early in the year. -Brittney

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This is one of my favourite books for back to school! These activities and wall displays were the perfect companion for the book! -Hillary

2. Giraffes Can’t Dance Growth Mindset Activities

These growth mindset activities pair perfectly with the book Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae! This resource is ideal to use with your students during the first weeks of school. This book companion activity set includes a giraffe craft, writing response page, anchor chart labels, sorting cards, and retelling page. I love using this story to introduce growth mindset!

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was a great lesson and activity! Can’t wait to use it for the beginning of the year! -Having Fun in Grade 1

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This was an amazing product! Glad I purchased it! – Jennifer C.

3. Stick & Stone Book Companion & Friendship Lesson

The book Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry is a sweet story about friendship and sticking up for others. Use this activity to encourage a discussion about how to treat your friends. The crafts included make a great bulletin board display and a reminder that students are expected to treat each other with kindness at school.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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I loved using this at the beginning of the year for one of our first big SEL lessons, and the students really enjoyed the story and all the fun activities you created with this! So engaging 🙂 – Jennifer S.

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My class has had many friendship struggles this year. I love the extensions on this read aloud! – Jaci T.

4. Celebrating Names in the Classroom

Are you looking for fun ways to celebrate names in the classroom? These 4 activities will highlight the importance of our names and make great classroom displays! Included in this resource is a name story to accompany Alma and How She Got Her Name, a flower craft to accompany Chrysanthemum, a name guitar to accompany My Name is a Song, and a name jar and optional name apple to accompany The Name Jar.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was a fantastic way to start the year! I love The Name Jar and so did my students!They loved creating their own name jars! -Christina N.

5. Enemy Pie Book Companion & Friendship Lesson

The book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson is the perfect back-to-school read! In this story, the little boy feels left out by Jeremy Ross and puts him on his enemy list. His dad recommends that he make enemy pie for Jeremy. The story has an unexpected ending and a great message about friendship. This book companion resource includes a craft, writing response page, anchor chart labels, sorting cards, and retelling page.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was such a great way to teach friendship. My 1st graders loved the activities- they were very engaging. -Denise M.

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This was an excellent resource filled with activities to accompany the story I love, Enemy Pie. I used it before Thanksgiving when we were celebrating “Friendsgiving.” -Debra S.

6. Interrupting Chicken Book Activities for Blurting

The book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein is a fun book to read at the beginning of the year to teach about classroom expectations in regards to blurting. This book companion activity set includes a chicken craft, writing response page, anchor chart labels, sorting cards, and retelling page.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was a fun activity for the first week of school when we are learning about how to be interrupting chickens. 😉 -Allie P.

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This was a great activity to couple with a SEL unit (interrupting appropriately). I loved the writing extension. I also used this as a bulletin board write/craft for open house. It was great and came out super cute! -Rachel

7. The Day You Begin First Day of School Activity

The book The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson is a wonderful book for the beginning of the year. It shows students that we all feel alone until we begin to tell our stories and realize that we have more alike than we realize. This book companion activity set includes a flip book, writing response page, anchor chart labels, and retelling page.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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Great beginning of the year activity! Kids loved the flip book style. -Sonja M.

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This was a great resource for one of my favorite beginning of the year books. -Karen D.

8. Circles All Around Us Social Emotional Learning Activity

The book Circles All Around Us by Brad Montague is a sweet book about connecting with others. After reading the book, use this activity to encourage a discussion about our own circles. Students will write or draw people that are in each ‘circle.’ Add your students’ photos to the inner circle or they can write their name! Then lead a discussion with students about how we can build relationships and make connections to grow our circles.

What other teachers have said about this resource:

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This was a great supplemental activity to leave with my substitute because it connected to our social studies unit on community as well as SEL reinforcement too. My students enjoyed the book and seeing their face in the center of their community wheel! -Athena

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This was a perfect extension to the book! I was looking for something to complete my reading lesson! Thank you! -Tania

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