August & Back to School Teaching Ideas: A Planning Guide for Elementary Teachers

August is the most important month of the school year. The routines you establish, the community you build, and the tone you set in the first two weeks will shape everything that follows. Teachers who plan August intentionally — not just the first day, but the full arc from open house through the end of the month — start the year with momentum instead of scrambling to catch up.

This guide covers every key date and task worth planning in August, community-building activities that double as real academic instruction, and ready-to-use resources for every week of the month.

A colorful graphic titled The Complete Guide to August Teaching Ideas for Elementary Teachers, featuring sections for planning, activities, and resources. Various books, supplies, and encouraging signs are displayed on a teacher’s desk.

Key Dates to Plan for in August

  • Open House / Back to School Night — Usually 1–2 weeks before school starts
  • First day of school — Varies by district
  • Grandparents Day — First Sunday after Labor Day (worth prepping in August)
  • Constitution Day — September 17 (start prepping in August)
  • Patriot Day / 9/11 — September 11 (prep materials in August)

Before School Starts: Easy Summer Prep

The best August starts in July. Having your sub folder ready, your first-week activities printed, and your parent communication templates set before students arrive means your first day is calm rather than chaotic.

Print-&-use resources:

The First Week: Community Before Content

The first week of school is not about content — it’s about community. Students need to feel safe, known, and capable before they can take the academic risks that real learning requires. The best first-week activities are the ones that teach you something about your students while also giving students something to be proud of.

All About Me: Your First Writing Assessment

All About Me activities aren’t just icebreakers… They’re data. The writing samples, drawings, and survey responses you collect in the first week tell you about stamina, confidence, interests, and gaps before you’ve run a single formal assessment. Use them intentionally.

Colorful classroom activity sheets, perfect for an All About Me or Bulletin Board Craft, featuring student favorites and personal facts. Banner reads “Get to know your students in a meaningful way.” Text box: “Includes UK/AUS spelling options.”.

Print & Use All About Me – First Week Resources:

Reading Interest Survey: Know Your Readers from Day One

A reading interest survey in the first week gives you data that informs your whole-year read-aloud choices, novel study selections, and independent reading conferences. It also signals to students that their reading life matters to you… which is worth more than any lesson you’ll teach in August.

A pink clipboard holds an All About Me as a Reader worksheet, perfect for a student reading interest survey. Nearby are colorful folders, a pencil, and a succulent plant in a pot on a white surface.

Back to School Read Alouds & Novel Studies

The right August read-aloud does double duty; it builds community while also establishing your reading instruction routines. Miss Nelson is Missing is a perennial first-week favorite. The Best School Year Ever is a perfect first novel study anchor for upper elementary.

Back to School Bulletin Boards

Your bulletin boards in August set the visual tone of your classroom for the year. The best ones feature student work from the first week, which means planning your first-week activities with the bulletin board in mind.

Grandparents Day — First Sunday After Labor Day

Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day, which means the classroom work happens in the first full week of September, but you should prep for it in August. The World’s Best Grandparent writing craft makes a beautiful bulletin board display and a keepsake grandparents actually treasure.

Grandparents Day Writing Craft - The Third Wheel

Back to School Science

Back-to-school science activities — lab safety, scientific method, and what is a scientist — give you a low-stakes way to establish inquiry routines before the academic pressure ramps up. Running a science unit in the first weeks also gives you time to observe how students work collaboratively, follow directions, and handle materials — all useful information before you launch formal instruction.

A worksheet titled Science Lab Equipment introduces science vocabulary with labeled drawings of a hand lens, goggles, balance, gloves, and beaker. Colored pencils surround the sheet as a hand writes answers for engaging vocabulary activities.

Setting Up Systems — Homework & Morning Work

August is when your classroom systems either get established or don’t. Homework choice boards, morning work routines, and Would You Rather opinion paragraph practice all give you ready-to-go structures that can run independently once students know the routine.

August Sub Plans — Ready Before Day One

Having your August sub folder ready before school starts is one of the highest-ROI things you can do in the summer. August absences — whether for professional development, illness, or unexpected situations — are especially disruptive when routines are just being established.

Tips for Starting the Year Strong

Community before content — always. Students who feel safe and known learn better. Resist the pressure to jump into curriculum on day one. Two weeks of genuine community building pays dividends in engagement and behavior for the entire school year.

Use the first week as a data collection opportunity. All About Me activities, reading interest surveys, and writing crafts give you informal assessment data before you’ve run a single formal test. Pay attention to what students produce — it tells you a lot about where to start instruction.

Establish your sub folder before school starts. It sounds counterintuitive, but having your August sub plan ready before students arrive means you can take a sick day in September without guilt. The sub folder is always the first thing to prep — before lesson plans, before bulletin boards, before anything else.

Your bulletin boards should feature student work, not store-bought decorations. The most powerful back-to-school bulletin boards are the ones that go up in the second week of school and feature what students created in the first week. Plan your first-week activities with the display in mind.

Open House sets the tone for the whole year. Parents form strong impressions at Open House that are hard to change. A well-organized classroom, a clear explanation of your routines, and a personal touch — like a student gift tag on their child’s desk — makes families feel like their child is in good hands before the year even begins.

Looking for ideas across the whole school year? Head back to the Elementary Teacher Planning Calendar for monthly planning guides from August through summer.

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