If you're looking for an awesome first day of school book then we recommend reading The Kissing Hand. This is a favorite among teachers, students and parents. This sweet story is sure to comfort students that might be nervous on the first day of school. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Chester the raccoon does not want to go to school. He wants to stay at home and be with his mother, play with his friends, play with toys, read his books, and swing on his swing. Mrs. Raccoon tells Chester that sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to do and can be scary, but that he will love school once he starts.
Chester’s mother teaches him about the kissing hand. She kisses the palm of his hand and says that whenever he feels lonely at school he can hold his palm to his cheek and think ‘Mommy loves you.’ This makes Chester feel a lot better and know that his mother’s love will always be with him.
When it is time to go to school, Chester is ready. He gives his mother her own kissing hand and dances away to school.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
- Practice summarizing skills by asking students to retell the story after reading.
- Encourage students to make personal connections during the reading.
- Ask students to write letters to characters from the story.
- Engage students in a writing activity about family traditions.
- Teach a lesson on plural nouns and practice making noun plural.
- Review prepositions with students.
- Share strategies students can use to deal with transitions.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This will quickly become your favorite resource to use on the first day of school!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
- Ruby Finds a WorryΒ by Tom Percival
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
- Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
