The New Kid
Kids who have moved understand what it’s like being the new kid in the class, or in the neighborhood. But even kids who have never moved experience new kid anxieties at the beginning of every school year. They are in a new grade, have new teachers, and they may face new subject areas. Those who move from elementary to middle school, or middle school to high school feel a bit like a fish out of water as they adjust to a new environment. Sharing books is a unifying experience, and may do a lot to relax new kid fears. Allow time on the first day for kids to share a book they’ve read. Then tell them that you are going to introduce them to your favorite book, and begin on the very first day reading the book aloud. Here are some other new kid activities.
- Ask students to pick a character from a favorite book and introduce them to the class as a new kid. Instruct them to tell three interesting things about the character.
- Have students grade 3-up brainstorm the information that should be recorded in a reading journal. Then instruct students to pick a character from a book that they have read and write an entry in a reading journal that reveals that character’s favorite subject. Ask them to make specific references to the book to support their thoughts. For example, Brandan Buckley from Brendan Buckley’s Sixth-Grade Experiment (middle grade) by Sundee Frazier would really like science.
- Then use books to introduce students to the subjects they will be studying. Suggestions from Random House include:
READING
R is for Rocket: An ABC Book (picture book) by Tad Hills
How Rocket Learned to Read (picture book) by Tad Hills
Eleven (middle grade) by Patricia Reilly Giff
MATH
Tyrannosaurus Math (picture book) by Michelle Markel
Piece = Part = Portion (elementary) by Scott Gifford
G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book (elementary/middle) by David M. Schwartz
SCIENCE
I, Galileo (picture book) by Bonnie Christensen
Dangerous Planet (elementary) by Bryn Barnard
Frozen in Time (middle grade) by Mark Kurlansky
The Great Trouble (middle grade) by Deborah Hopkinson
Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History (young adult) by Bryn Barnard
Ringside, 1925 (young adult) by Jen Bryant
Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives (young adult) by Albert Marrin
SOCIAL STUDIES
I Pledge Allegiance (picture book) by Pat Mora & Libby Martinez & illus. by Patrice Barton
The Ballot Box Battle (picture book) by Emily Arnold McCully
Me on the Map (picture book) by Joan Sweeney & illus. by Annette Cable
The American Story (elementary) by Jennifer Armstrong & illus. by Roger Roth
The Hope Chest (middle grade) by Karen Schwabach
The Century for Young People (all ages) by Peter Jennings & Todd Brewster
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia (young adult) by Candace Fleming
ART
The Noisy Paint Box (picture book) by Barb Rosenstock
The Chalk Box Kid (early reader) by Clyde Robert Bulla
Pictures of Hollis Woods (middle grade) by Patricia Reilly Giff
Pieces of Georgia (middle grade) by Jen Bryant
DRAMA
Theater Shoes (middle grade) by Noel Streatfeild
MUSIC
Junie B. Jones #22: One-Man Band (early reader) by Barbara Park and illus. by Denise Brunkus
Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century (picture book) by Carole Boston Weatherford & illus. by Raul Colon
Harlem’s Little Blackbird (picture book) by Renee Watson & illus. by Christian Robinson
Physical Education
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (young adult) by Mick Cochrane
Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer (young adult) by Thatcher Heldring
Good Sports (picture book) by Jack Prelutsky & illus. by Chris Raschka
Out of Nowhere (young adult) by Maria Padlan
AND DON’T FORGET THE LIBRARY
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library (elementary school) by Chris Grabenstein
Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don’t) (picture book) by Barbara Bottner & I llus. by Michael Emberley
