Students will feel comfortable, challenged, and ready to learn in their new environment with these back-to-school and Letter From Your Teacher activities.

Whether it’s designing a teacher’s desk or coloring back-to-school sheets, students get to express their creativity while learning about the classroom. They also write letters and questions to their teacher. By using the included writing templates and prompts, children develop letter formation and writing skills.

As well as enhancing academic skills, these activities promote social interaction and self-awareness. Through games and interviews, students learn about their classmates, and create an All About Me page to reflect on themselves. Also, the whole-group prompts and activities promote social skills, fostering a positive classroom environment.

As a result of the included activities, students will be able to:

• color back to school sheets.
• design a teacher desk.
• practice neat letter formation.
• complete color-by-addition sheets.
• write a list of questions they have for their teacher.
• compare and contrast classrooms with a venn diagram.
• sort rhyming words.
• write a letter to their teacher.
• learn about classmates through games and interviews.
• create an all about me page.
• apply writing skills with included writing templates and prompts.
• apply reading comprehension skills with included discussion questions for beginning, middle, and end of the book.
• engage in social skills through included whole group prompts and activities.
• develop fine motor skills with the included coloring, tracing, cutting, and gluing activities.
• play a getting to know each other game.
• write a friendly letter with digital tools.

These activities can be used by the whole group, at stations or centers, or provide student choice. They’re perfect for differentiation and focusing on specific learning goals and skills. 

💙 Looking for more welcoming back-to-school activities? Boost learning excitement from day with these community building ideas!

💙 Amplify your back-to-school read-alouds and pair the book with the soundscape in your Novel Effect app! Don’t have a physical copy of the book? No problem! Read right from your Novel Effect app with the in-app eBook.

About the Book

A Letter From Your Teacher on the First Day of School by Shannon Olsen helps teachers welcome a new class. Through a letter written from the teacher’s point of view, students are given the message that their new teacher is someone they will form a special bond with. Their teacher isn't just there to help them academically, but to cheer them on and provide a caring, safe environment.