Our Class is a Family

I read Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen to my students on the first day of school, and it was the perfect way to start the year. The message about creating a caring, supportive classroom community really hit home—for me and for my kids. The illustrations are sweet and engaging, and the language is simple but meaningful.

It opened the door to great discussions about kindness, respect, and what it means to be part of a classroom "family." Several students referred back to it later in the week, which told me it truly stuck with them.

This is a book I’ll read every first day from now on. A must-have for elementary teachers!

Our Class is a Family: Shannon Olsen
This book is great to remind children that a family can be seen in many different ways and doesn't only have to be the people you are related to. It is helpful to have children better understand that not all children live with the same people or have the same lifestyles. It helps children see that the students in their class can be family to them. Also that the students and classroom can be a safe place for them. This book shows that it is important to treat everyone equally, with kindness, and have respect for your classmates. I think this book would be great to read to children of all ages because every age group would understand it and have different views on it.

This book shows that family doesn’t have to be just at home. It can be in places like school and in the classroom. Many people in school like teachers, office workers, janitors, etc, can contribute to the school family. This book is inclusive of disabilities, skin color, gender, etc. I think books like these are very important to show in a classroom setting so students can learn to be diverse and learn about their classmates as well. I think this book would be a powerful read aloud to elementary level students to teach diversity and how they should treat people in schools.

A great book to read to your classroom on the first day of school and a great way to lead into classroom rules and what we all expect from each other throughout the year. I think my only critique is that in the beginning, it only shows typical family dynamics. I wish that it would be a little more diverse in that aspect.

This is such a great book that emphasizes how a classroom should be a supportive place that celebrates every student, their differences, and their personalities. We learn from this book about a teacher who acts as a guide for her students and creates a welcoming space of community.
This is a great book for 2nd and 3rd grade
I would use this book when talking about classroom norms and teaching kids about supporting their classmates.

A multicultral book I love!! This book shines a light on the lives other people live and how we can be more inclusive of our classmates.

This book discusses what it is like to be joined together, despite our differences and becoming a classroom family. This book teaches acceptance, diversity and how important it is to respect, value, and be there for one another. Together we all share the classroom space, and we all respect one another which creates a better, enjoyable learning and safe school environment for all. The book portrays the class as a family. This is the first book I have bought for my future classroom. I want to use it as an opener to my class at the beginning of the year to make it known we will become a family and always respect one another. I want the students to recognize that even with our differences we are all unique and special in our own ways and we show more can share that with each other. Uniqueness is important. show less