Back to School with 10 First Week Lessons

The first week of school is unlike any other week of the school year. We are tasked with getting to know 20+ students and establishing a classroom community while still teaching them classroom and school procedures and expectations. Oh, and we have to squeeze it all into a week because we hit the ground running with pacing the following week. It’s exhausting and can be overwhelming. There is no wonder I usually crash on the couch at 5 every night that week.

As I am gearing up for my 8th year in the classroom, I’ve come to realize what really works in my classroom to check off all the boxes mentioned above. Every year I try out a couple new lessons, but I definitely keep my tried and true in the mix. I’ve condensed my back to school must-do’s into 10 lessons that I teach during the first week of school. The first 4 lessons are all about setting up my classroom data wall and establishing behavior/learning expectations. The second set of 6 lessons focus on building my classroom community and fostering relationship not only between the students but between myself and them as well.

I’ve spent some time this summer writing formal lesson plans for my big 10 lessons and creating all the resources you would need to teach them in your class. The resources can be found in my TPT store, by click on the links below.

⭐ First Week Essentials: Classroom Community Lessons & Activities

⭐ First Week Essentials: Data Wall & Lessons

⭐ Back to School Pack (10 First Week Lessons & Data Wall) BUNDLE

Building Your Data Wall & Expectations Lessons

Pre-Lesson: Data Wall rundown, graphs, and header

Lesson 1: Crafting a Mission, Vision, and Goals

Lesson 2: Crafting Classroom Expectations

Lesson 3: Defining a Quality Student and Teacher

Lesson 4: Establishing Classroom Procedures

 

 

Building Your Classroom Community Lessons

Lesson 5: Student Surveys

Lesson 6: Creating a Birthday Board

Lesson 7: Creating a Class of Problem Solvers

Lesson 8: Laying the Groundwork for Reader Leaders

Lesson 9: Setting up a Writing Portfolio

Lesson 10: Sharing Summer Experiences (You can download this lesson as a freebie and a sample HERE.)

 

This will be my third year departmentalizing to teach reading and writing in third grade, so you know I’m a sucker for a good read aloud. Below are some of my favorite books to use during the first week.

I am always looking for recommendations for read alouds or lessons for the first week back. Don’t be shy! Drop your ideas below.

Talk to you soon,

Adrienne