The Night Before First Grade

08.14.2015
FOR THE WEEKEND, consider sharing this book with your child!

If you have an upcoming first grader that will be starting his or her first day of school on Monday, The Night Before First Grade would be a perfect book to read with them on Sunday night! 

2005, Grosset & Dunlap

Summary:
Prepare for the first day of the new school year with Penny and her family. She’s laid out her clothes, made her own lunch, and gotten off the bus; but find out what happens when she gets to school and is put in a different class than her best friend.

Practice this Phonemic Awareness Strategy-Rhythm and Rhyme:
“The Night Before First Grade” follows the rhythm of “The Night Before Christmas.” Your child will enjoy rhyming along through the story while Penny gets ready for school just like they will be doing. As you read, slow down at the end of each rhyming sentence and encourage your child to guess the rhyming word based on the picture clues in the story.

Discuss this with your child:
This story mirrors your child’s routine as they get ready to enter the new school year. Talk with your child about how they want to get ready for school. Do they want to pick their own clothes? What will they have for lunch? Are they excited to see their friends just like Penny? Talk about what they are seeing in the pictures throughout the story, does their classroom look the same or different. You can also use this story to ask your child how they are feeling about going back to school. Are they excited, nervous, happy?

If you’re interested in sharing The Night Before First Grade with your child you can find it here.

Related Posts

05.08.2026 From the CEO

Three Years, Real Growth: Lessons from Our 2023–2025 Strategic Plan

By Michelle Torgerson, President and CEO, Raising a Reader  Over the past three years, we asked a bold question: What does it take to build a sustainable, data-driven, equity-centered national organization—while expanding impact for children and families?  In 2023, we launched our first strategic plan as a fully independent nonprofit. As we closed that chapter and reflect, I’m proud of what we built, and ...

Read More
04.14.2026 Featured

Beyond the Classroom: Why the Raising a Reader Classic Red Book Bag Program is the Missing Piece in Your Science of Reading Strategy 

Districts across the country are making significant investments in the Science of Reading. From adopting high-quality Tier 1 curricula to intensive teacher training in phonics and phonemic awareness, the focus on the “word recognition” side of the literacy equation has never been stronger.  But as every educator knows, decoding is only half the battle. According to the Simple View of Reading, literacy is ...

Read More