By Beth at Southern Schoolhouse
The first day of school is the perfect opportunity to lay the foundation for a positive and respectful classroom community. I like to use a mix of engaging picture books, discussion, and student collaboration to help create a safe and inviting learning environment where everyone feels valued.
After students arrive on Day 1 and settle in, I begin the morning with a read-aloud of We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. This story blends humor with important lessons about kindness, empathy, and self-control—perfect even for fourth graders. It’s also a great icebreaker to ease first-day nerves with a little laughter. Sometimes we simply enjoy the book, while other times it sparks a conversation about our classroom expectations. Because it’s part of a series, I can revisit similar themes later in the year with another title by Higgins as a fun refresher.
Later in the morning, we dig deeper into building our classroom expectations. Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller is another wonderful read-aloud that naturally leads into a collaborative discussion about how we want our classroom to look, sound, feel, and function. After reading, I invite students to reflect on the characters’ actions and relate them to real-life situations in school.
In small groups, students brainstorm and jot down ideas on sticky notes about what should be included on our expectations chart. Groups then share their ideas with the whole class, and we add their sticky notes to the chart. I later organize these ideas into a final version of our class expectations, and each student signs their name before it’s posted.
When children help create the guidelines, they feel a stronger sense of ownership and responsibility for following them. By beginning the year with shared literature and meaningful collaboration, we create not just a list of rules, but a classroom community built on respect, empathy, and shared responsibility.
