
It’s Back to School time, but it’s anything BUT a normal beginning. With a long to-do list, I thought I’d share fun back to school activities for community building and establishing norms, for skill review, and for great picture books. Regardless of the setting your district has chosen, I think these teaching resources will work. I don’t think any of us fully expected back to school to go as it has, and this means LOTS of change. Hopefully, these option will lighten your load.
Word Building Tool Kit for Back to School

The first resource I want to share is probably THE most used reading resources I’ve made. I hear many teachers are needing individual word building tool kits for your students, and this fits the bill. I wish I could laminate and cut them for you too, but perhaps if you print on card stock, they’ll hold up for the kids. You can download it by completing the form below. I used this set all the time for word building and modeling of spelling patterns. I store mine in a tackle box like this from the Dollar Tree, and I still use it in every tutoring session I do. You might put the cards in smaller storage containers for students especially if you don’t print the full kit.
Cooking Up a Great New Year for back to school
Another fun back to school reading resource I’ve enjoyed using to jump start the new year is this cooking themed poetry set. I wrote the poem with all of the important points we try to convey in the first few weeks in mind. Teachers work to establish norms, set goals, build a community, and outline the plan for the year. The set includes a few supplementary activities to go with the poem that you can use over a few days. Keep in mind that you can project the poem or share it electronically. Students would each need a copy of the pages for the supplementary work.You can click the image or HERE to download it. It could be projected or shared electronically. Students would each need a copy of the pages for the supplementary work. It would work just fine for remote teaching or a hybrid model
Back to school Exclusive Free Resource
I just love this poetry set! I developed a poetry bundle focused on character building which I’ll explain more later. This particular set ties nicely with the book, Mrs Spitzer’s Garden. It talks about all of the things needed to blossom and grow and about the potential each seed has. As I wrote these poems, the faces of my former students popped in my mind, and of course my own children. I hope you make connections reading it too.
Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden-A Back to School Favorite
Speaking of Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden. It is a popular title for back to school, isn’t it? If you’d like to use it as an interactive read aloud, this freebie now offers two options. You can print the black and white pages, or you can use the colored pages with Google Slides. I put the full resource in Google Slides, so if you just need one part or the other, you can just delete out the pages you don’t want. Of course, make a copy first! You can click HERE or the image to access the file. I hope your students enjoy reading it with you.
Other Posts you may enjoy:
- 10+ Books for Building Positive Traits in the First Week
- 5 Ways Parents Can Make a Difference This Year
- Five Tips for Making Distance Learning Work for All
start back to school off right with SEL Poetry
Earlier, I shared one of the poetry sets included in my Social Emotional Learning Bundle, but guess what? There are 31 more included! I’d like to explain a little more about the bundle. First of all, each set includes the following:
- an easy to read poetry page
- key word vocabulary cards
- a comprehension organizer or activity
- a discussion guide,
- and a visualizing page where students can pull key information from the text to illustrate the important concepts.
With these things included, you can easily use one set per week. Another feature of the bundle is that they are versatile. For example, they can be used as a focus for morning meetings. However, I also think they can tied to literature with a similar theme,used as a literacy station activity during your literacy block, or used to illustrate positive behavioral options if you have an issue arise. Let’s face it. We all need help with classroom management from time to time. If you’d like more information or a look at what’s included, you can check out the resource below.
Well, I do hope you get through these first few weeks well, and that no matter how you’re teaching, that you’re able to establish a workable routine. I will be thinking of you and if you need something, please just shoot me an email: Carla@comprehensionconnection.net
Until next time…stay safe and happy reading.