First Day Jitters Read Aloud Activities

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Read The First Day Jitters and pair it with these fun read-aloud activities to welcome kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students to the classroom at the start of the school year.

First Day Jitters Book Activities and Lesson Ideas for K-2

The first day of school brings a mix of emotions for everyone. Some students walk into the classroom full of excitement, while others feel nervous, uncertain, or even a little scared. That’s exactly why First Day Jitters has become such a favorite back-to-school read-aloud for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classrooms. The surprise ending always gets a laugh, but the story also opens the door to meaningful conversations about feelings that many children have trouble putting into words.

First Day Jitters follows Sarah Jane Hartwell as she prepares for the first day of school. She’s filled with worries, fears, and plenty of excuses for why she doesn’t want to go. As the story unfolds, students will quickly relate to the nervous feelings that often come with new experiences.

With a memorable ending and an encouraging message, this beloved back-to-school read-aloud reminds students that first-day jitters are completely normal and helps start important conversations about emotions, courage, and new beginnings.

Reading this book helps students realize that it’s completely normal to have butterflies before something new. Whether they’re worried about making friends, meeting their teacher, or simply being away from home, the story reminds them that they’re not alone. It provides a safe space to discuss both nervous and excited feelings while helping students build confidence as they begin the school year.

If you’re looking for engaging First Day Jitters activities, you’re in the right place. Below you’ll find some of our favorite extension ideas that build social-emotional learning, strengthen literacy skills, and help create a positive classroom community from day one. If you’d like ready-to-use printable and digital lessons, student activities, teacher guidance, and everything you need to bring these ideas to life, you’ll find them all inside the complete book companion resource.

Why Read First Day Jitters During the First Week of School?

The first week of school is all about helping students feel safe, welcomed, and ready to learn. First Day Jitters is the perfect read-aloud because it shows children that nervous feelings are something everyone experiences. As students listen to the story, they often recognize their own emotions and begin to realize they aren’t the only ones feeling a little unsure.

This story naturally opens the door to meaningful conversations about emotions. Students can talk about times they’ve felt excited, worried, brave, or even a mix of all three. Those discussions help build empathy as children discover that many of their classmates are feeling the same way.

It’s also a wonderful way to start creating a caring classroom community. Sharing feelings, listening to one another, and finding common experiences helps students begin building friendships and trust right from the start. Those connections can make a big difference as everyone settles into new routines.

From a teaching perspective, this book is incredibly versatile. It easily connects to social-emotional learning while also providing opportunities for reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, sequencing, and class discussions. One simple story can support several important skills without feeling overwhelming during those busy first days.

Whether you’re planning your first week of school or searching for engaging First Day Jitters lesson ideas, this book provides a strong foundation for meaningful activities that students will remember long after the first day is over.

Questions to Ask Before, During, and After Reading

One of the easiest ways to make a read-aloud more meaningful is to stop and have authentic conversations along the way. Asking thoughtful questions encourages students to think more deeply about the story, make personal connections, and practice sharing their ideas with others. You don’t need a long discussion after every page. Even a few simple questions can spark wonderful conversations.

If you’d like ready-to-use discussion prompts, the First Day Jitters book companion includes printable Book Chat Cards that help guide meaningful conversations before, during, and after reading. They’re a simple way to keep students engaged while building comprehension and social-emotional learning skills.

Before Reading

Before opening the book, encourage students to become reading detectives by looking closely at the cover.

Here are a few questions to get the conversation started:

What do you notice on the cover?
What do you think the word “jitters” means?
What do you think this story might be about?
Have you ever felt nervous before trying something new?

These predictions help activate background knowledge while getting students excited to discover what happens in the story.

During Reading

As you read, pause occasionally to check for understanding and help students think about how the characters are feeling.

Try asking questions like:

How do you think Sarah is feeling right now?
What clues tell you she’s worried?
Have her feelings changed since the beginning of the story?
What could you say to encourage Sarah if you were with her?

These discussions help students practice using evidence from the story while also building empathy.

After Reading

The ending of First Day Jitters is always a classroom favorite and creates the perfect opportunity for reflection.

Continue the conversation with questions such as:

Why was the ending so surprising?
Were your predictions correct?
Why do you think teachers sometimes feel nervous on the first day of school, too?
What are some things we can do when we feel worried or nervous?

Ending with these kinds of questions reminds students that everyone experiences big feelings sometimes and helps them begin thinking about healthy ways to handle them throughout the school year.

First Day Jitters Activities Your Students Will Love

Create a “My Jitters” Anchor Chart

Before reading First Day Jitters, create a class anchor chart to help students talk about their own feelings about starting school. Invite students to share things they might feel nervous about and things they are excited for. Their answers may include making new friends, learning classroom routines, meeting their teacher, or trying new activities.

This simple conversation helps students see that having worries before a new experience is completely normal. It also gives classmates a chance to discover that they may have similar feelings.

After reading the story, return to the anchor chart and compare your students’ ideas with Sarah’s experience. Ask students which feelings were similar, what surprised them, and what they noticed about Sarah’s first day.

This activity is a great way to build classroom community while naturally connecting to social-emotional learning during the first week of school.

Explore Feelings with a Worries vs. Excitement Sort

Students often think feelings have to fit into one category: happy or sad, excited or nervous. This activity helps them discover that it’s possible to feel more than one emotion at the same time.

Create a simple sorting activity where students think about different first-day-of-school situations and decide whether each one might make someone feel worried, excited, or both. For example, meeting a new teacher might feel exciting because you get to learn something new, but it might also feel a little scary because you don’t know what to expect yet.

As students share their thinking, encourage them to explain why they chose each feeling. These conversations help children build emotional vocabulary and understand that everyone’s feelings can look different.

This is a great activity to use after reading the classic story because students can connect the situations to Sarah’s feelings and reflect on times they have experienced similar emotions.

Practice Cause and Effect

This book is a great story for helping students understand how a character’s feelings can influence their actions. As you read, encourage students to consider Sarah’s emotions and how they affect her actions throughout the story.

Discuss questions like: What is Sarah feeling? How do her feelings impact her choices? Have you ever experienced this because of how you were feeling?

A cause-and-effect activity is a great way to extend this conversation while building reading comprehension skills. Students can think more deeply about why characters act the way they do and how events in a story are connected.

This literacy connection helps students move beyond simply retelling what happened and start thinking about the reasons behind a character’s actions. It also provides another opportunity to connect the story to their own experiences with big feelings.

Respond Through Writing

Writing is a simple way for students to reflect on their own experiences while making connections to First Day Jitters. After reading the story, invite students to share their thoughts through a short writing response.

Students can write about questions like:

How did you feel on your first day of school?
What is something that made you feel nervous or excited?
What is one thing you are looking forward to this school year?
What advice would you give someone who feels worried about the first day?

These writing prompts give students a chance to practice putting their feelings into words while building confidence as writers. For younger students, drawings and shared writing can also be a helpful way to support their ideas.

A simple reflection activity like this helps create a classroom where students feel comfortable sharing their experiences and reminds them that their feelings matter.

Retell the Story

Retelling a story helps students strengthen comprehension while practicing important sequencing skills. After reading First Day Jitters, students can revisit the key events and think about what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Using picture cards or their own drawings, students can organize the events in order and discuss how the story unfolds. This activity encourages them to remember important details, use transition words, and share their thinking with classmates.

Story retelling is a great way to help young learners move beyond simply remembering what happened and begin understanding how events connect throughout a story.

Draw a School Calendar

A school calendar drawing activity helps students look ahead to special events, fun activities, and everything they’re excited to learn during the school year.

A directed drawing activity is a fun way to help students practice listening skills while following step-by-step directions. It also allows them to strengthen fine motor skills as they draw, add details, and personalize their work.

After completing their calendars, students can share what they are most looking forward to. Their answers may include making friends, celebrating holidays, learning new skills, or participating in favorite classroom activities.

This activity pairs well with First Day Jitters by helping students shift their focus from first-day worries to the exciting experiences ahead.

Make a Jitter Juice Craft

A fun way to wrap up a back-to-school lesson is with a creative craft that helps students think about the qualities that can help them feel confident during new experiences.

Students can create their own “Jitter Juice” by choosing ingredients that represent positive traits like courage, kindness, patience, and confidence. As they add their ideas, encourage them to talk about how these qualities can help them handle nervous feelings and try new things.

This activity provides a playful way to discuss coping strategies while reinforcing the idea that everyone experiences jitters sometimes. It also gives students a chance to reflect on their strengths and how they can support themselves and their classmates throughout the school year.

A Jitter Juice craft makes a great classroom display during the first week of school and serves as a reminder that students have the tools they need to face new challenges.

Create a Feelings Flipbook

The first days of school bring a wide range of emotions. Helping students identify those feelings is an important part of building a supportive classroom environment. A feelings flipbook gives students a chance to explore different emotions they may experience as they adjust to new routines and experiences.

Students can reflect on feelings like nervousness, excitement, happiness, and even uncertainty. They can think about what causes those feelings, when they might experience them, and ways they can respond when big emotions come up.

This activity encourages self-awareness while helping students build the vocabulary they need to talk about their emotions. It also creates a meaningful keepsake that students can look back on as they become more comfortable and confident in the classroom.

Skills Students Practice

These activities provide opportunities for students to build important academic and social-emotional skills during the first week of school. While students are talking, writing, creating, and reflecting, they are practicing:

Emotional awareness: Identifying feelings, recognizing emotions in others, and learning that nervous feelings are normal.
Speaking and listening: Sharing ideas, responding to classmates, and participating in meaningful discussions.
Reading comprehension: Making predictions, answering questions, and thinking more deeply about the story.
Cause and effect: Understanding how feelings and events can influence a character’s actions.
Writing: Reflecting on personal experiences and expressing ideas through written responses.
Fine motor skills: Strengthening hand muscles through drawing, writing, and craft activities.
Classroom community: Building connections, practicing empathy, and creating a welcoming environment where students feel supported.

Save Time with Ready-to-Use First Day Jitters Activities

The first week of school is busy enough without spending hours searching for activities that are engaging, meaningful, and easy to prep. A ready-to-use First Day Jitters companion resource gives you everything you need to bring the story to life while helping students build confidence, practice literacy skills, and talk about their feelings.

If you’d like all of these activities ready to print and teach, the First Day Jitters Book Companion includes complete lesson plans, printable student pages, digital slides, discussion prompts, crafts, writing activities, and literacy lessons that save planning time during the busy first week of school.

Inside the resource, you’ll find:

Ready-to-use lesson plans and discussion prompts to guide your read-aloud
Book chat questions to support comprehension and conversation
SEL activities that help students explore emotions and build confidence
Literacy response activities that encourage deeper thinking about the story
Writing prompts that help students reflect on their own experiences
Directed drawing activities that support listening and fine motor skills
A creative craft activity perfect for a first-week-of-school display

Whether you are planning your first day, first week, or a back-to-school reading unit, these activities help you save time while creating meaningful learning experiences for your students.

Ready to make your First Day Jitters read-aloud even more engaging? Grab the complete First Day Jitters companion resource on Teachers Pay Teachers and have your lessons planned and ready to go.

First Day Jitters Read Aloud Activities for Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade

First Day Jitters Book Activities and Lesson Ideas for K-2

Table of Contents

Why Read First Day Jitters During the First Week of School?