Shannon Olsen’s picture book, Our Class Is a Family, is quickly becoming a back-to-school favorite. We’re not surprised. It’s short. Sweet. And speaks to the idea that a group of people who care about each other is another type of family. And that makes it just right for the first week of school.
ACTIVITIES FOR OUR CLASS IS A FAMILY
Lesson plans for the first few days of school are pretty predictable. We’re getting to know each other, introducing routines, and discussing rules and expectations. But just as important (maybe even the most), we’re establishing guidelines for creating and maintaining a healthy classroom environment.
We talk about kindness and ask questions like, “What does it look like to be respectful?” We role play tricky situations and challenge their problem solving skills with, “What would you do if…?” These are fairly standard first-week conversations in our classrooms. Yours, too?
The good news is, Our Class Is a Family has all the right words already in it. All you have to do is read it and then keep the goodness going.
We start with this interactive book project.👆 Each page reinforces a key idea from the story and includes an interactive element so the kids can personalize their own text.
As students work through the book, they’re encouraged to:
- draw their family at home
- sketch their class family
- draw their idea of what it looks like to be kind
- write examples of kind words in the speech bubbles provided
- trace key words in the message – We can learn from our mistakes.
- write to explain what makes them unique
- draw and write about their new teacher
And the patterns are provided… just in case you want to turn the book into more of a craft project. And why not? It’s pretty cute!
BUILDING A CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
Clearly a big idea in the book Our Class Is a Family is the importance of creating a kind and respectful space for everyone who gathers there. So we like this follow-up sorting activity.👇 The pieces help us facilitate whole-class discussions about helpful and hurtful behaviors.
This activity works well in a pocket chart and helps children understand the differences between appropriate and inappropriate choices, as well as their impact on maintaining a compassionate classroom setting.
If Our Class Is a Family is on your back-to-school read-aloud list, check out these ideas before you wrap up your lesson planning. You can preview more about the resources HERE.
Happy teaching!
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