There is no stronger message that I want to send my students during the first few days of school than all students are welcome in my classroom! When students enter your classroom they want to feel safe, loved, and welcomed. We can make that experience happen for them very simply.
Your warm smile is the BEST way to send that message to students, but with these welcoming read alouds your students will feel like they are home in no time at all!
All Are Welcome Here Read Alouds
These picture books help to send the message home to students that you are glad that they are there!
- All Are Welcome written by Alexandra Penfold
- All Welcome Here written by James Preller
- A Hundred Thousand Welcomes written by Mary Lee Donovan
Welcome Students and Families
Go one step further and help students feel welcomed before school even starts by sending them a welcome letter! All kids love getting mail and what happier mail to get than a welcome letter direct from your new teacher! {Insert huge student smiling face here}
In your letter, you can tell students about yourself professionally and personally and tease them with some clues about some upcoming units and topics they will be learning about.
You can see this letter that I use HERE.
Don't forget about welcoming parents and families and sending them the same message: everyone is welcome! Parents and families want to feel welcomed and valued, just like their students. Send a formal invitation to parents for meet the teacher day, night, or open house. They will appreciate the time you took to help them feel welcomed.
Once parents and families have arrived at your classroom for the open house, enlist their help to stock your classroom by displaying a classroom wishlist. Parents love to donate and feel like they are needed and also a part of your classroom community!
Classroom wishlists are so easy to use! The concept is simple. I create a bulletin board with cards labeled with a classroom supply that is needed that parents pull down to donate.
Classroom items that I include in my wishlist display:
- pencils
- highlighters
- papertowels
- wipes
- hand sanitzer
- glue sticks
- sticky notes
- crayons
- markers
- lined paper
You can put any item that you need for your classroom. I try to include items that are easily available for parents to find in stores and that are not too expensive. I also include items that go fast on more than one card for parents to take. Hand wipes and glue sticks are examples of ones that I include multiple times.
I pull this wishlist display back out during Parent-Teacher Conference Week in the fall and spring so that parents can once again donate to our classroom so that we can collect new items we now need or to refresh dwindling supplies. Parents know what to do the second (and third) time around, so be ready to get a lot of donations!
When it comes to welcoming your new students, creating a classroom community, and celebrating students as individuals send the message that all students are welcomed and an important part of your class. Taking the time at the start of the year to build classroom community and make each student feel welcomed and valuable is worth every minute you spend on it!
You might be interested in reading:
Check out my favorite community-building activities HERE.
Like this monthly writing set!
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