Back to School Dinner Ideas

I love the idea of a back to school dinner. It does not necessarily have to be done on the first day of school or the night before. You can have one a few days after school starts so that the kids can have something to look forward to after school. It continues to motivate them and not have time to think of how tired they are with their new routine.

How to prepare for the dinner

You can make dinner as usual or make them their FAVORITE meal. The point is to have your table ready before dinner. This will give them enough time to sit at the table, talk about how their day went and enjoy the goodies at the table. As you can see, I just placed dry erase boards on top of their plates. Then, I added an alphabet letter on top of that. It so happens that the letters match the first letter in their names. Isabella goes by Bella at home and that’s why we chose the letter B for her. The little gift bags have a container of Play Doh, which they love. The milk jars and paper straws just add a nice touch and it’s something different to enjoy during dinner. Just hit the dollar spot at Target and your decor is complete 🙂

How can they use the white boards?

These can be used while waiting for dinner to be ready. Just let them write the alphabet letters, sight words, sentences , about their day at school or whatever they want. Let them enjoy this time while they talk to you about school.

When should they open their gift bags?

You decide! It depends on what you have in the bag. I have play doh, so that’s something that they can play with at any time. If it’s something very special, maybe they can wait until after dinner so that they have plenty of time to enjoy it.

How about the decorative letters on their plates?

Later, these letters can be used to decorate their rooms. You can place it on a dresser or hang it over the bed.

Where can I find the milk jars?

You can find these in the Target Dollar spot or at Michaels.

Back to School Party Ideas

Have you ever had a Back to School Party? It’s a fun way to motivate children and get into the back to school mood and routine. Trying to get them back into the routine of waking up early and getting them on top of their purple mattress before it’s too late in the evening after a summer of this being relaxed can be hard so why not motivate your kids to get back into the routine with a party? Teachers can have this party on Back to School Night or after a long holiday break. Parents can have this party before the beginning of the school year, at the end of the first week of school or after any long holiday break. As long as the children have all their stationery such as pens, notebooks and pencils ready for when they start the new school term, a back to school party is a great idea. It can be as simple as cookies and juice box. If you add a banner and party labels, it makes it extra special.

To prepare for the party, all you need is:

1. Any school items already at hand
2. A few printables to label and decorate the room or table
3. If you’re inviting lots of guests, why not get some wholesale school snacks as well as some apples, cookies, cupcakes, popcorn and candy

The following are photos of our Back to School Party

Here’s a close-up of our table.

This is our full table. It’s simple but very inviting.

Our back to school banner has a bright polka dot background.

A little student gift.

Name tents with their names in big, bold letters.

Display their school supplies in caddies. These containers are from Michaels.

Find some other cute containers to hold your pencils and treats.

The cookies and cupcakes were a hit!

We used special containers and straws for our milk. Cafeteria milk boxes are also a great choice.

Our cupcakes had special messages to get them into that back to school spirit.

And, here’s one happy girl ready for school. She must be thinking about the amazing field trips that she’ll be going on this year. I have heard wonderful things about the trips offered by Allnatt.

Simpler Ideas for Back to School Night

Teachers, your room is already decorated with all the supplies and bulletin boards. You can add this Back to School banner to welcome parents, if you want. After you place student folders and work samples on their desks, you can add a special treat on top. It could be anything like, a cookie, an apple, a small popcorn bag or a writing object with a gift tag.

Here are some examples:

These Back to School Party printables are available for download. It includes this bright colors set and another primary colors set. It is in English but includes FREE Spanish printables.

You can download the complete file from my Kinder Alphabet teacher store.

Here are some popular back to school books for kindergarten. I love it when our school library has multiple copies of these books so that there’s always enough for several teachers. You can also get them from Scholastic when they go on sale, from Amazon, or online at Target (and you can check out Raise to see if there are any extra savings to be had at Target).

Books for the First Day of School

My favorite book for the first day of kindergarten is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. Students are always nervous and scared on the very first day of school. Starting daycare Castle Rock CO or a daycare local to you, is always nerve-wracking for children, it’s a new time and they want to feel at home. This story helps them get rid of their nerves a little at a time. I just keep reminding them to place their hands on their cheeks throughout the day, and all of a sudden, I see a new smile on their faces. I love this book!

Leo the Late Bloomer is my favorite for pre-k. This story helps students understand that we come to school to learn new things. Some will learn a little quicker and others will take a little more time… and it’s OK!!!! All we have to do is TRY our best.

Back to School books for Kindergarten

These Back to School books include:

1. The Kissing Hand

2. Leo the Late Bloomer

3. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

4. First Day Jitters

5. Crisanthemum

6. Froggy Goes to School

7. The Night Before Kindergarten

8. Mommy in My Pocket

9. Clifford’s First School Day

10. Wemberly Worried

11. Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten

12. David Goes to School

13. Pete the Cat

Back to School Books in Spanish

The Spanish Back to School Books include (Libros acerca de la escuela):

1. Un Beso en Mi Mano

2. Leo, el retoño tardia

3. Chica Chica Bum Bum

4. ¡Que nervios!

5. Froggy Va a La Escuela

6. Crisantemo

7. Clifford Va la La Escuela

8. Si Llevas un Ratón a La Escuela

9. Splat, el Gato

Many students are going back to school this week. As teachers, we try to go over our lists and lesson plans to make sure that everything is ready for the first day of school. Although some of us know that we will have to start soon and we always want to be prepared.

Here is a blog post, about the first day (and week) of school, that I published on my old blog back in 2011. It contains my notes for ideas that can be used on the first day of school, but they can also be spread out throughout the week. I hope that it is useful to you.

To do list:

• Hallway Bulletin Board
• Class list (3 copies- one to post at your door -one for attendance -one on clipboard that you will carry all day)
• Create a door sign
  (Welcome to Mrs. Barbosa’s Classroom) or (Mrs. Barbosa’s Shining Stars)
• Parent information form. Parents will fill out important information when they drop child off on the first day.
• Supply list
• Decide on storage for supplies for the first day of school
• Name tags, desk plates and backpack tags with student names
• Put up the classroom decorations and any posters you have to make the classroom look more inviting.
• Classroom labels (dual language classrooms will print English words in black or blue and Spanish words in red.
• Book basket labels for the library center.
• Center signs
• Daily schedule
• Tubs for middle of tables for community supplies (crayons, markers, pencils, erasers)
• Word Wall letters are up on the wall
• Restroom Signs
• Labeled mailboxes for Student work
• Calendar for morning songs and routines
• Teacher table for Guided Reading
• Bulletin Board to display student work
• Center materials nicely organized in each center
• Seating chart for tables and carpet area

Just a few things that you might want to incorporate into your lesson plan.

First Day Lesson Plans

Student Arrival

The first day is very quiet in the classroom because students are a little nervous. Have some soft music playing in the background as they walk in. This will help calm their nerves. Greet students and parents at the door. Show student where to place backpack. Ask students to come in and get started on a table activity. I like to place colored trays out with play-doh for each student. I take half sheets of construction paper and write their names in large print. Each student will trace his name with play-doh. This will keep students stay engaged while you give parents an information sheet to fill out.

Introductions- Time to call students to the meeting area. First welcome the students and introduce yourself. You can have a getting to know you activity. It can be something as simple as tossing a bean bag to one student at a time. When a child catches the bean bag, he will say his name. Students receive their name tags as soon as they state their name. You can write their lunch card number behind their name tags.

Summer stories-

Engage students in conversations about their summer adventures.

Our School

Students will get to know that there are different areas within our school.

• This will be your classroom and I am your teacher, Mrs. Barbosa. I will take care of you at school and teach you how to read, write, count and much more.
• We have restrooms. This is where they are located. If you need to go to the restroom, just look at this door where the restroom passes are hanging. If you see that the restroom pass is available, just get up and take the pass with you. Make sure you return it to it’s home when you come back, so that other students may use it.
• We have a cafeteria. This is where we will go to eat. We will take a tour of the school a little later.
• We have a nurse. If you ever feel sick, the nurse can take care of you.
• Our school has a library. We will go there for Story Time and to check out books.
• We have a Computer Lab. We will go there once a week to learn how to use the computer and work on some activities.
• You will have recess time every day. This is when you will take a break from studying and play with your friends in the playground.
• The office is located at the entrance of the school. This is where the Principal and Assistant Principal have their offices to work in. They will come visit our classroom throughout the year to see what we are learning.

Story Time

I love to read The Kissing Hand on the first day of school. This will be a story that all students will be able to relate to. After the story tell students to kiss their hand and place it gently on their cheek. I tell them to do this any time they feel sad or miss home when they are at school. This will represent their mom’s presence, love and warmth while they are at school. It’s cute to see students kissing their little hand and then placing it on their cheek throughout the day. It’s like their security blanket. Hold a discussion after you read the story. Ask; What happened first? next? last? Now talk about how the racoon felt on his first day of school. Now, tie it in to how your students feel today on their first day of school.

Follow-up activity

This can be an illustration of how the student feels on their first day of school. (This will become your first Class Book.) I always demonstrate how to complete an activity before I send them to their tables… Before they go to the table, I give them three choices with visuals. How do you feel today? Happy, nervous or sad? Students will go to tables and get started.

Restroom Break and Procedures

While students are working on the Kissing Hand activity, I start calling one table at a time for a restroom break. Before each student walks in, I explain that they have to go inside toilet bowl so that seats don’t get wet (you have to repeat this over and over to the boys throughout the year). Also, all paper needs to be flushed away! No paper is allowed to be thrown on the floor. I also show them where they need to stand to wait their turn in line when the restroom is busy. I also show them how to wash their hands. You need to demonstrate step by step. A drop of soap, place hands under running stream of water, scrub hands, rinse hands and turn faucet off – they could even use hand sanitizer to keep their hands free of germs. Take one paper towel and toss it in the waste basket when you are done. Walk quietly to your work station or carpet. They also need to know where and how to wait their turn.

Calendar time songs and procedures

• Sing the songs and use the Macarena gestures for Months of the year
• Sing Days of the week
• Yesterday was, Today is, Tomorrow will be
• Count the number of days in school
• Last month was, This month is, Next month will be
• Today’s date is
• Alphabet chant
• Star of the day -Choose one student per day to be the star.

Introduce Quiet Signal (Give me 5 poster)

• Eyes on speaker
• Listening ears
• Hands to self
• Legs crossed (Sit like a pretzel)
• Quiet voices (to respect the speaker)

Procedures to line up- Students practice how and where to line up when we are going to exit the classroom. We practice (in the classroom) how to walk in line. Face forward, hands to yourself, feet to yourself, nice and quiet. Now we practice in the hallway while taking a tour of the school. I take them to the cafeteria first because we go to lunch very early. Students practice walking into the cafeteria and to our designated table. They also practice procedures for putting lunch trays away and getting up from table to line up quietly. We continue our tour around the school. I make sure to take them to the playground to show them where our meeting area will be at the end of recess.

D.E.A.R. time procedures

(or Daily 5 reading time) -let students know that this is a good time to go to the restroom if needed.

• Quiet spot (in Kinder, the teacher selects a quiet spot for each student until students demonstrate an established routine and responsibility)
• Choose book from your book basket (or browsing box)
• Read quietly without interrupting your neighbors
• Teacher walks around the room praising students who are following procedures.

Introduce math tubs

Teacher will model how to:

• select a math tub
• take manipulatives out quietly
• return tub to its’ home when they are done

Graphing Activity

How do you go home?

Dismissal procedures

Use a list and name tags to make dismissal time a breeze.

Songs for the Week

• Wheels on the Bus
• Good Morning song
• Everybody Clean Up
• Calendar songs
• Alphabet song

Assessment Checklist and notes

• follows directions
• attentive listener
• participates during songs
• participates in discussions
• speaks up when needed (needs to go to the restroom, needs a pencil…)
• gets along with others
• need to separate from this student __________
• writes first name
• good fine motor skills
• good gross motor skills
• concerns: ________________________
• I love doing a sounds assessment on the first week of school after reading the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I incorporate an art activity. Students make a coconut tree and each student adds colorful stickers with the sounds they already know as I conduct the assessment. Some students will know a lot of sounds and others will not, but you can keep adding stickers throughout the year as the student learns new sounds. Post these in your classroom. It’s a quick way of monitoring a student’s progress.

The next few weeks of school, students will continue to practice rules and procedures until they demonstrate an established routine.

Your students will also be helping you write criteria charts.

Criteria Chart ideas

• I’m Ready for School (students will generate a list of classroom rules)
• I’m Ready for the Hall (hallway rules)
• Good Listeners (students always come up with the Give Me 5 rules)
• I’m Ready to work ( table work procedures)
• Good Readers
• Good Writers
• Arrival Procedures

Here are some school forms that will help you on the first weeks of school. They are all available in English and Spanish.

Find the Spanish resources here.

Hello friends! 

Our team of Freebielicious Authors enjoy giving you freebies for the classroom throughout the year. We LOVE it when you visit and comment on our blogs, facebook pages and in our stores. Soooo, we want to do something SPECIAL for you now that the new school year is approaching.  In honor of the back to school season,  Freebielicious is hosting a MEGA Christmas in July Giveaway. 

Enter to WIN a Paper Pro Easy Punch

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Freebielicious MEGA Giveaway from our authors

Special Grand Prize from our sponsors

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Merry Christmas in July from Santa’s elves 

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What’s in the bundle?

My contribution

Kinder Alphabet’s contribution  to the deal is this Sight Words on-the-GO activity. It includes a purse pattern for girls and a car pattern for boys. This is a very fun way to get your students excited about learning their sight words. These booklets contain one sight word per page where students can practice reading and writing their target words.

Take a look at the other products in the bundle