Today we’re sharing our favorite back to school read alouds because, well people, it’s that time of year. Target has filled the Dollar Spot with school goodies. Everyone is pinning all of these amazing back to school ideas. Teachers are cramming in the last few naps and real meals that don’t have to be inhaled in 10 minutes. Teachers are going to the bathroom whenever they want.
We asked for favorite read alouds on our Facebook page and got a huge response. There are so many amazing books and ideas. I am listing all of the suggestions that were made. I’m also including ideas that were shared for the books. If you have ideas for these books or suggestions for other books, please leave them in the comments! Help a teacher out!
Also, you can click on each picture to snag the book at Amazon. I ordered all of these that I didn’t have! Thank you Amazon Prime!
UPDATE: We’ve added several new books that will be used in our classroom this year and beyond. We are working to continue to increase the diversity of our classroom library. We are also including books that will open up conversations about topics such as race, racism, gender, and more.
Back To School Read Alouds
These next three books are going to be used to address the conversation that happens every year and it goes something like this: “that is for boys only.” “girls can’t wear that.” This year we’re going to be doing more explicit teaching on gender stereotypes and gender identities. These books will be great starting points!
We end each of our days with a dance party so this year we’re using this book to introduce our dance party! Why? Because this book is all about dancing and having fun and celebrating who you are so it’s the perfect book!
In my class, we use Big Plans to set BIG PLANS for kindergarten. This is when we introduce our hopes and dreams for kindergarten. We share what we hope to learn. Then we make a large circle map of all of the hopes and dreams of our class. And we make a class predictable chart where each child shares their biggest goal for kindergarten. I send home a letter asking for parents to share their hopes and dreams for their child in kindergarten. Then I write the child’s hope on a puzzle piece and the parent’s hope on a puzzle piece and create a display to remind us all of what we’re working for. It’s a great way to connect our learning to home!
Click the picture to see a post with more about the hopes and dreams activity!
Any book that encourages us to be ourself and to accept others is a must have! And I LOVE Todd Parr!
This is a great book for talking about teamwork and tolerance. After we read the book, I give my ‘staches a piece of paper and 1 crayon. Just 1. I ask them to draw me a picture of a rainbow. Then we discuss. Then I give them all of the colors and have them do the same picture again. We talk about which is better and why. This is a great visual to help students understand that we must work together if we’re going to make beautiful learning in kindergarten!
I read this book at the beginning of the year and we talk about the behavior of the kids. We discuss what happens if we make bad choices (Miss Swamp shows up…and that ain’t no good people!). We make a simple Miss Swamp project and for the rest of the year if the class acts up, someone always says Miss Swamp is coming! Great behavior management book!
My friend Darilynn shared this book and this idea:
After reading the book each child turns to their shoulder buddy and gives them a compliment. Then each child takes a turn throwing a pebble into a clear container of water so they can see the ripple effect of the pebble. This is the ripple effect of kindness. POWERFUL STUFF FOLKS!!!
We read this book and do a predictable chart. I felt ___________ on the first day of kindergarten!
After we read this back to school read alouds, we make a T chart. On one side we list all of things that they do in the book to get ready for kindergarten. On the other side, we list all of the things WE did to get ready for kindergarten. It’s a fun way to talk out some of the jitters!
We list all the things David SHOULD be doing at school!
For more back to school resources, check out these creations:
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