September · Week 1 · Day 1 · School day 1

Day 1: Welcome to First Grade!

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🤝 Play with your child: Our Class Rules

The day, step by step

1. 10–15 min Morning meeting and calendar 1.NBT.1, 1.NBT.2

   1. Greeting: choose a greeting (wave, high five, elbow bump) and greet each person by name.
   2. Calendar: "Today is ___. Yesterday was ___. Tomorrow will be ___." Read the date together.
   3. Days of school: add one straw. Today is day 1.
   4. Weather: mark the weather chart and the outside temperature (warm, cool or cold).
   5. Question of the day: "What are you excited to learn in first grade?" Everyone answers in a full sentence.

2. 15–20 min Phonics and decodable reading RF.1.2b, RF.1.3g

   1. Introduce: Short a: the letter a says /a/ in the middle of short words.
   2. Key word: apple. Say the key word and stretch the sound /a/. Your child repeats it.
   3. Model blending: point under each sound in cat and map, then sweep and read the whole word.
   4. Read together: cat, map, bag, sad, ham.
   5. Heart words: the, a, is, I. Say the word, spell it aloud, write it, and put a heart over the tricky part.

3. 20–25 min Reading workshop and read-aloud RL.1.1, RL.1.3

   First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg (or any first-day-of-school story)

   1. Before: "The title is First Day Jitters. Jitters means a nervous, wiggly feeling. Who might feel jitters?"
   2. During: stop at two places and ask: "How is Sarah feeling? Which words or pictures tell you?"
   3. After: talk about the surprise ending. "Who was nervous? Why was that a surprise?"

   Then read: 10 minutes of independent or partner reading from "just right" books.

4. 25–35 min Math and math centers 1.OA.5, 1.OA.6

   1. Show 5 counters and say "five." Add 2 more one at a time: "six, seven."
   2. Model: "I put 5 in my head and count on: 6, 7. 5 and 2 make 7." Tap your head on the 5.
   3. Your child counts on for 4 + 1, 5 + 3 and 6 + 2 with counters, then says the full sentence.

   Math center: Count-on dominoes: say the bigger side, then count on the dots of the smaller side.

5. 15–20 min Social studies C3 D2.Civ.3.K-2

   1. Ask: "What helps a classroom (or a home learning space) feel safe and fair?"
   2. Write 3 to 5 rules together in kid words, like "We take turns." Everyone signs the poster.
   3. Act out one rule the right way and the wrong way. Ask: "Which way helps everyone learn?"

6. 15–20 min Writing W.1.3, W.1.2, L.1.2

   Write one sentence about your first day: "I like ___." Start with a capital letter and end with a period. Draw a picture to match.

   Sound spelling is real writing in 1st grade. Expect correct spelling for heart words and patterns already taught.

7. 20–30 min Centers and independent practice

   • Word building: magnetic letters or letter tiles for short a words
   • Book bins: choose two "just right" books for your book box
   • Math: ten-frame flash and count-on dominoes
   • Listening: a read-aloud recording from the public library

   Device time (5 to 10 minutes, together): Our Class Rules.

8. 5 min Closing circle SL.1.1

   Ask: "What is one rule that helps us learn?" Each child shares one thing.

Short day? Do the morning meeting, phonics, reading and math. Fold science or social studies into the read-aloud talk.