Do you feel that hint of a cool breeze in the air? It’s the end of summer, and with the promise of the fall season comes a new year year! Whether you’re a student or a teacher, the beginning of a new school year is filled with both anticipation, excitement, and planning!

The first day of school can be stressful for students (and teachers!). These Picture Books offer a great opportunity for students to see that they’re not alone in their first day jitters and concerns.

  Wemberly worries about everything, especially the start of school. What if I hate snack? What if I have to cry? These are just some of Wemberly’s questions in Kevin Henke’s popular book, Wemberly Worried which is a perfect September read.

 Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London

Everyone gets nervous for their first day of school- “Not me!” says Froggy. A great read-aloud  story, complete with sound effects,  is sure to calm pre-school jitters and reassure readers that school can be lots of fun!

Celebrating diversity in classrooms is a central part of building an inclusive classroom. These two books deal with embracing difference:

My Name is Yoon  by Helen Recorvits

       Yoon is soon to start a new school and must learn to write her name in English. She’s having trouble adjusting to America, where everything is different, and wants to go back home to Korea. This is a wonderful book about a young girl adjusting to a new culture and coming to terms with the idea that different can be good.

         Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki

Suki’s very favourite thing to wear is her blue cotton kimono she got as a gift from her obachan and she is determined to wear it on her first day back to school–no matter what anyone says. Filled with gentle enthusiasm and a touch of whimsy, Suki’s Kimono is the joyful story of a little girl whose spirit leads her to march — and dance — to her own drumbeat.

Teacher Resources

Preparation is essential for being an effective teacher and the following books offer useful strategies and tips to help you thrive:

Tribes: A new way of learning and being together

With the goal of creating an inclusive learning community, this book gives over a hundred cooperative learning activities to help foster a positive and supportive learning environment.

       What successful teachers do in inclusive classrooms : 60 research-based teaching strategies that help special learners succeed /

This book offers a concise overview of the rationale and research behind strategies meant to create an inclusive classroom, helping teachers ground their techniques in best practices.

The classroom management survival kit : bulletin boards, student activities and teacher ideas to help you motivate, educate and collaborate /

      A handy book if you’re looking for tips on how to organize your class, school-themed poems and bulletin board ideas.

The first-year teacherʹs survival guide : ready-to-use strategies, tools and activities for meeting the challenges of each school day /

    Published in 2013, this is a current, comprehensive guide for teachers in K-12 that covers all of your teaching questions. Each chapter focuses on a central theme (i.e. how can I assess my students’ progress throughout the school year?) and offers techniques, suggestions and best practice checklists. An accompanying DVD offers downloadable black-line masters found in the book.

         With information about the adolescent learner as well planning, sample lessons, routines and assessment, this book for the secondary school teacher covers a lot of important ground.

Keys to the secondary classroom : a teacher’s guide to the first months of school /

      With clear guidance and offering practical strategies, Teaching 14-19 : a handbook helps you understand how students learn, the theory that supports this and the role of assessment in this process. There is also an extensive focus on how to manage behavior, as this is the most frequently raised concern.

         The strategic teacher : selecting the right research-based strategy for every lesson by Harvey F. Silver, Richard W. Strong, Matthew J. Perini.

By providing high-impact, research-based strategies to transform students into high-achieving and inspired learners, this resource contain twenty reliable and flexible strategies organized into groups for instruction.