Here’s a creative and engaging first-day-of-school story tailored for 6th to 8th graders. It blends humor, light fantasy, and a subtle message about teamwork, identity, and navigating middle school. Feel free to adapt it into a read-aloud, short skit, or part of a classroom activity: Title: "The Locker That Roared" It was the first day of school at Maple Ridge Middle, and everyone was buzzing about two things: 1. The new principal who reportedly rode a motorcycle and had a pet hawk named Principal Feathers. 2. Locker 328 — the one that no student had ever successfully opened. Ever. Jasmine, a curious and confident 7th grader, had just moved to town. She was assigned—you guessed it—Locker 328. “Try not to wake it up,” whispered a boy named Felix, wide-eyed, as Jasmine approached her locker. “Last year it growled at my cousin. He switched schools.” “It’s a locker,” Jasmine said. “Not a dragon.” But as she inserted her combo—38-12-42—the locker shuddered. Then roared. Everyone froze. Someone dropped a granola bar. A teacher fainted (dramatically). Jasmine, determined not to look scared, peeked inside. Instead of books and stray gym socks, there was a glowing staircase spiraling downward, lined with sticky notes and floating pencils. A small sign blinked:“Welcome, Chosen One. Please mind the time portals.” “Well, that’s… not on the supply list,” she muttered. Felix and a few other brave students leaned in. “We have math in ten minutes, but this seems more important.” They descended the staircase into a secret part of the school — The Department of Extraordinary Education (D.E.E.) — where enchanted lockers, sentient textbooks, and mischievous school supplies helped train young minds to think creatively, work as a team, and always—always—carry extra socks. Jasmine and her new crew were recruited by a talking stapler named Stanley and assigned their first mission:“Prevent the Cafeteria Pudding from Gaining Sentience and Taking Over the School.” Together, they learned that the “weird” kids were actually the bravest, the quiet ones had secret super-skills, and the locker that roared was just lonely (and allergic to peanut butter).

🎓 The First Day of School: Integrated Curriculum Grade Level: 3rd (adaptable for 2nd–5th) Timeframe: 1–3 days Theme: The First Day of School (past, present, and future) Focus: Community, routines, identity, and learning across disciplinesAligned to Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) 🔤 English Language Arts (ELA) / Reading Objective: Students will read and comprehend narrative and informational texts related to the first day of school, identify character traits, and make text-to-self connections. Standards: - OAS-ELA 3.3.R.3 – Describe character traits. - OAS-ELA 3.3.R.1 – Read and comprehend grade-level texts. - OAS-ELA 3.2.W.1 – Write narratives using sequence and key details. Activities: - Read-Aloud: First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg - Discussion Prompt: "How do you feel on the first day of school? How is that similar or different from the character?" - Text Connection Chart: Text-to-self activity with side-by-side comparisons. - Character Trait Web: Identify and describe character traits from the text. ✍️ Writing Objective: Students will write a personal narrative about their own first day of school or imagine a futuristic school experience. Standards: - OAS-ELA 3.2.W.2 – Write narratives with a beginning, middle, and end. - OAS-ELA 3.5.W.2 – Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Activities: - Prompt 1: “Write about your first day of school this year.” - Prompt 2 (Extension): “Imagine the first day of school 100 years from now.” - Peer Review Checklist: Focus on story structure, grammar, and detail. 🧠 Math Objective: Students will collect, organize, and interpret data related to first day experiences. Standards: - OAS-MATH 3.D.1.1 – Represent and interpret data using bar graphs and pictographs. - OAS-MATH 3.N.1.1 – Read and write numbers up to 10,000. Activities: - Survey: “How do you feel today?” (happy, nervous, excited, etc.) - Graphing: Create a bar graph with the results. - Math Prompt: "How many more students felt excited than nervous?" - Extension: Write numbers from graph in standard and expanded form.