First Day Jitters Activities: Back-to-School Read-Aloud Worksheets & Games

First Day Jitters read-aloud activities for grades 1–3: comprehension, vocabulary, story elements, grammar, feelings activities and get-to-know-you games.

Suitable for: 1st–3rd Grade
Categories: Literacy Activities
Classroom Community & Routines

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Learning goals

Talk about first-day feelings
Respond to a read-aloud with comprehension and story elements
Build vocabulary and practice nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns
Retell the beginning, middle and end
Get to know classmates through games

Preview pages

What’s included

Before Reading: First Day Feelings
Vocabulary activity and Make New Words
Story elements, reading response and beginning, middle and end
First Day Feelings writing and All About Me page
Nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns practice with a grammar flip book
Find Someone Who and a Get to Know Me dice game
Jitters Jar, feelings reflection and Jitter-Free Jellybeans activity
Comprehension, vocabulary, story elements and grammar review
Answer key and completion page
20 pages in total

Materials and preparation

A copy of the picture book First Day Jitters (not included)
Pencils and crayons
Scissors and glue for the flip book
A die for the dice game

Have the picture book ready, and prepare a jar and paper slips if you want to make a real Jitters Jar with your class.

How to use it

Before reading, talk about first-day feelings with the pre-reading page.
Read the book aloud, then complete the story elements and beginning, middle and end pages.
Practice vocabulary and grammar with the word activities and flip book.
Play Find Someone Who and the Get to Know Me dice game.
Close with the Jitters Jar and the review pages.

Classroom idea

Let each child write a worry on a slip of paper and put it in a real Jitters Jar. At the end of the week, talk about how those feelings changed.

Adaptations

1st grade: do the grammar pages together and focus on drawing and short answers.
3rd grade: ask for full-sentence written responses.
Use the games on the first day and the grammar pages later in the week.

Questions

Is the picture book included?

No. You need your own copy of First Day Jitters to read aloud.

Is there an answer key?

Yes, an answer key is included.

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First Day Jitters Activities: Back-to-School Read-Aloud Worksheets & Games is available from our store on Teachers Pay Teachers.