Back to School Lesson Plans for First Grade

Crafting back-to-school lesson plans for first graders might seem like a daunting task. The early years of a child’s education lay the foundation for their academic journey, making it essential for educators to design lesson plans that are engaging, interactive, and tailored to meet the unique needs of these young minds

In this blog post, you will receive FREE lessons plans for the First Two Weeks of School! I will share creative resources to make the first days of school unforgettable. Whether you’re an experienced teacher looking to revamp your lesson ideas or a new educator seeking inspiration, this post will provide you with a treasure trove of activities and approaches to captivate your students from day one.

From fostering a welcoming classroom atmosphere to going over rules and procedures, we will cover a range of tried-and-tested techniques to keep your first graders excited, motivated, and eager to learn. Let’s embark on this journey together and discover how we can turn the back-to-school season into a time of exploration and joy for our first graders.

You can obtain a copy of my actual first grade plans by clicking the images above or below.

The first week of school lays the foundation for the rest of your school year. Modeling and teaching essential routines and procedures will set the stage for a well-organized and efficient classroom environment. You can start this the minute your students walk through your door!

Greeting students at the door creates an immediate connection, fostering trust and belonging. Inside, the magical surprise of play-doh gifts empowers creativity and gives the students something to occupy themselves while enhancing fine motor and having fun.

Each school day comes alive with pre-made Google Slides, specially crafted around popular back-to-school themed picture books. These captivating slides are a hit with my students and offer you the convenience of NO prep time! This resource contains at least 30 minutes of seamless integration of technology, literature, reading comprehension, social emotional learning, phonics review, math review, and classroom community building questions of the day. Not convinced? Grab a free sample day HERE.

There are so many amazing back to school themed picture books that you can read to your students. As an enthusiastic educator, I have carefully curated a collection of my favorite reads, and I’ve linked them all below for your convenience.

Books like “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold are the perfect first-week-of-school read, as they beautifully capture the essence of inclusivity, diversity, and the welcoming spirit of our classroom community.

After reading the story, I like to follow up with a quick and easy writing extension. These engaging activities not only reinforce the book’s message but also provide a platform for our young authors to express their thoughts and feelings creatively. To make things simpler for you, I’ve linked banners below that will inspire our students to craft thoughtful ways to make all students feel welcome.

Moreover, I believe in steering clear of a textbook-based math curriculum during the first week of school. Instead, we embark on math crafts that are fun, engaging, and perfectly tied to our back-to-school theme. These delightful activities not only foster a positive attitude towards math but also create vibrant hallway displays, showcasing our students’ creative brilliance.

One such exciting resource is this “First Day of School Graphing Craft.” Through this activity, our young mathematicians graph their feelings on the first day of school. As they dive into this delightful project, they don’t just learn about graphing but also explore their emotions and develop valuable social skills.

First Week Resources Used:

• Back to School Plans with Links
• Editable Plan Book Resource
• Back to School Google Slides
• First Day Graphing Craft
• First Day Jitters Writing Responses
• First Day of School Banners
• Back to School Classmate Search the Room
• First Day of School Hat
• All Are Welcome Here Banners
• School’s First Day of School Craft and Writing Response
• Color Word Centers
• FREE This is How I Wrote My Name in September/August
• 1st Grade Math Centers
• Picture Book Links

Since our first week back is a short one, I have thoughtfully prepared my second week of school plans to ensure a smooth continuation of our learning adventure. As we dive into this new week, my focus remains on modeling and teaching essential routines and procedures, setting the stage for a well-organized and efficient classroom environment.

While exploring engaging activities, I like to address our classroom rules, fostering a sense of responsibility and accountability among our students. By instilling a clear understanding of expectations, we create a safe and respectful space where everyone feels empowered to learn, share, and grow.

During the second week of school, we continue to foster a sense of belonging and unity through back-to-school community-building read-alouds like “Our Class is a Family” by Shannon Olsen. These heartwarming tales reinforce the idea that in our classroom, we are a close-knit family, supporting and caring for each other throughout our learning journey.

As the week unfolds, I dedicate time to model and teach essential listening skills, laying the foundation for effective communication and active engagement in the classroom. These skills will empower our students to become attentive learners and respectful classmates, fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding.

In our quest to cultivate well-rounded learners, we embark on exciting new adventures in literacy and math. During the second week, we kickstart our phonics curriculum, igniting a love for language and decoding words. Our phonics-based literacy centers come to life, offering interactive activities that nurture reading and writing skills in a playful and engaging manner.

Additionally, our young authors begin their creative journey in writer’s workshop, where they learn that they are already authors! My friends Deana Jump and Deedee Wills have created an intro to Writer’s Workshop unit where, “Students will be encouraged and guided as they learn to use illustrations and/or words to express themselves as writers. Every student can be successful, even those who do not know any letter sounds.”

But the learning adventure doesn’t stop there! In our math centers, we explore the wonders of numbers and addition, instilling a strong foundation in mathematical concepts. Each activity is engaging and helps to foster a love of math that will last a lifetime.

As the second week comes to an end, we culminate our phonics exploration with a delightful phonics-based cat craft. This craft not only reinforces the phonetic principles we’ve learned but also celebrates our students’ creativity.

Second Week Back to School Resources Used:

• Visual Plans with Links
• Editable Plan Book Resource
• Back to School Google Slides
• Listening: Activities to Model and Teach Listening
• Writing Through The Year’s: Our Pictures Tell a Story
• Short Vowel A Phonics Based Literacy Centers
• Our Class is a Family Print and Go Banners
• Cat the Cat -at Word Family Craft
• Back to School Math Centers
• Back to School Picture Books Link

At the end of the first two weeks, we are all exhausted but through community-building read-alouds, nurturing communication and listening skills, and diving into the realms of literacy and math, we’ve laid a strong foundation for the year ahead.

I hope you found that this post and these lesson plans, will not only educate, but also inspire and empower our budding scholars. As we prepare to unlock the doors to our first-grade classrooms, let the learning ed-ventures begin!