Our Class is a Family Activities for Back to School

Back-to-school season is full of fresh starts, new routines, and so many little moments that help students feel safe, seen, and connected. One of my favorite ways to begin building classroom community is with a meaningful read-aloud that gives students language for what it means to be part of a classroom family.

Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen is a beautiful back-to-school read-aloud for talking about belonging, kindness, responsibility, and the way a classroom can become a safe place to learn and grow together.

To keep those conversations going beyond the read-aloud, I created a set of Our Class is a Family Back to School Activities that help students reflect, respond, share about themselves, and build community together during the first days and weeks of school.

You can find the Our Class is a Family Activities here.

Our Class is a Family Activities for Building Classroom Community

A great back-to-school book can open the door to powerful conversations, but it is also wonderful to have simple follow-up activities ready to go. These activities help students think about what a classroom family looks like, sounds like, and feels like in everyday classroom moments.

This resource includes activities for class meetings, reading response, student reflection, a class book, and a collaborative banner. You can use the activities across the first week of school, during morning meeting, after your read-aloud, or anytime you want to revisit classroom community throughout the year.

This read-aloud is a natural way to begin building positive relationships with students because it gives the class shared language for connection, kindness, and belonging during the first days of school.

Class Meeting Scenarios

One of the most meaningful parts of this resource is the class meeting scenario set. These scenarios give students a chance to talk through real classroom situations in a safe and thoughtful way.

The scenarios are designed to continue the conversation after reading Our Class is a Family. You can display one scenario during a class meeting, morning meeting, closing circle, or anytime your class needs a community reset.

The prompts help students talk about classroom routines, shared spaces, working with partners, including others, respecting materials, solving small problems, and thinking about how their choices affect the classroom family.

I love this because the conversation does not have to end after the book. You can come back to the scenarios throughout the week or anytime a related situation comes up in your classroom.

Reading Response Pages

After the read-aloud, students can respond through writing, drawing, and discussion. The reading response pages give students a simple way to reflect on the message of the book and connect it to your classroom.

These pages can be used whole group, independently, or as part of a follow-up lesson. They are helpful for slowing down the conversation and giving every student a way to process what it means to be part of a class family.

The resource also includes anchor chart-style pages that help your class create shared language around how you will support one another. These are perfect for building a class promise, talking about helpful choices, and creating a visual reminder of the community you are building together.

All About Me Class Book

Back to school is also the perfect time for students to share about who they are. The class book pages give each student a place to tell about themselves, their interests, their family, their goals, and what makes them unique.

Once students complete their pages, you can put them together as a class book. This becomes a sweet classroom keepsake and a simple way for students to learn more about one another.

The class book is also a great early finisher activity during the first week of school because it is meaningful, independent, and connected to your classroom community theme.

For another simple way to help younger students share about themselves during the first week, I also love this All About Me Flip Book for Back to School for K-2 and for older students, the Get to Know Me Flip Book for Back to School gives grades 3–5 a more age-appropriate way to reflect, share, and ease into the new year.

Student-Made Class Banner

The student-made class banner is one of those activities that turns into an instant back-to-school display. Students complete their own banner flag, then the pieces come together to create one classroom display.

It is simple, student-centered, and meaningful because every child contributes to the finished product.

You can hang the banner in the hallway, on a bulletin board, near your meeting area, or anywhere you want to display the message that your class is a family.

A Simple First Week Plan

You can use these activities in many different ways, but here is one simple way to spread them across the first week of school:

• Day 1: Read Our Class is a Family and talk about what a classroom family means.
• Day 2: Complete a reading response page or create a class promise together.
• Day 3: Use a class meeting scenario to talk through a real classroom situation.
• Day 4: Begin the all about me class book pages.
• Day 5: Create the student-made class banner and display it together.

This gives you a meaningful classroom community focus for the week without needing to plan something new each day. If you are planning more than one community-building activity for the first few days, these first week of school activities can help you map out a calm and meaningful start.

Why These Activities Work Well for Back to School

The first days of school are not just about teaching routines. We help students understand how they belong, how they can contribute, and how the class will work together.

These Our Class is a Family activities give students multiple ways to connect with the read-aloud and with each other. The varied activities are discussion-based, reflective, and creative. Together, they help build the kind of classroom community that supports the routines, expectations, and learning you will continue developing all year.

Our Class is a Family Book Companion Activities

If you are planning your back-to-school read-alouds, Our Class is a Family activities are a meaningful way to extend the book.  Build classroom community from the very beginning of the year.

The resource includes:

• Class meeting scenarios
• Reading response pages
• Anchor chart-style activities
• All about me class book pages
• Student-made class banner pieces
• Community-building reflection activities

Please note: This activity set was created to accompany your read-aloud of Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen. The book is not included.

More Back-to-School Ideas

For more back-to-school ideas that help students feel connected, confident, and ready for the year. We also shared several ways to create classroom culture for the new school year.

• Beginning-of-Year Math Assessments
• Back-to-School Math Lessons for K–2
• Back-to-School Math Lessons for Grades 3–5
• Back-to-School Math Parent Letters
• Math Workshop Launch Ideas

Starting the year with a book like Our Class is a Family gives students a shared message.