Bully is a great book to use during the first few days of school for grades first-fifth. This book is about young students who want to be accepted in school and online bullying takes place during this adjustment of a girl moving to a new school. Online bullying occurs more than people think, so I think it is a very important topic to cover in your classrooms. An idea to go along with this book is for students to identify the theme and the message of the story. Students would enjoy acting out the book to be able to fully grasp the effect it can have on students.

Lexile Level: 630L

A fun read for Kindergarten-2nd grade: readers find out that David is not your average student! He breaks almost every rule at school-he chews gum, runs in the halls, yells, and tests his teachers patience. This would be a funny, yet valuable book to read during the first week of school to introduce class rules. Your class could come up with 4-5 class rules all together. Students love knowing that their input is valued!

Lexile Level: BR210L

On the first day of school, new students are asked to tell what they want to happen during this school year! Some answers are reasonable, while others are crazy! Kindergarten-2nd grade would enjoy reading this book during the first few days of school. As a teacher, it is a good idea to ask the students to set goals for the year, so this would be a great way to introduce goal setting.

Lexile Level: 440L

Gerald and Piggie are best friends, but Gerald has a decision to make about sharing his ice cream. Will he make the decision in time? This is a good book for Kindergarten because it talks about sharing. Students could design their own ice cream cones and make a promise to share during class.

Lexile Level: 260LL

If You Take a Mouse to School is about a mouse who asks for a lunch box, pencil box, and backpack. But then with that, he will want a sandwich, pencils, notebooks, and maybe even a backpack, too. This is a fun book for Kindergarten-2nd grade, but would be fun to read during the first week of school. A writing activity to go along with this book, is to have the students imagine that they were a mouse. Ask them to write about what they would take to school and have time for shared reading.

Lexile Level: AD490L