
5 Fantastic February Read-alouds for Kindergarten and First Grade
Groundhog’s Runaway Shadow by David Biedrzycki
With Groundhog’s Day at the beginning of the month we knew we needed to include a groundhog book. We found ‘Groundhog’s Runaway Shadow’ by David Biedrzycki. It is such a fun book! This book puts a fun spin on traditional Groundhog’s Day books. In this story Phil’s shadow doesn’t do what it’s supposed to and it starts to annoy Phil. For the first lesson we discussed the character’s, problem and solution in the story. The second lesson guides students to look at how the shadow made Phil feel. For the third lesson students look at what the illustrations show the shadow doing and compare it to what the text tells them. Finally, for the fourth lesson students write what they would do with their own shadow and complete the groundhog craftivity.
Love is my Favorite Thing by Emma Chickester Clark
The second book we chose was ‘Love is my Favorite Thing’ by Emma Chichester Clark. This darling book is about a dog named Plum who loves so many different things, but love is her favorite. Plum keeps getting in trouble by doing typical things that most dogs do. She starts to worry that her owners won’t love her anymore. For the first lesson students brainstorm all of the things that Plum loves. The second lesson has students think of the different causes (what Plum does that gets her into trouble) and effects (what her owners say to her) throughout the story. Finally for the third lesson students make the craftivity by brainstorming all of the things that they love and write about their favorite thing. So cute!
Love Monster by Rachel Bright

National Geographic Koalas by Laura Marsh

You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown
This book stole our hearts the first time we read it. It is about a bear names Lucy who tries to find a new friend and it turns out to be harder than she expects. She almost gives up, but she perseveres and reaches her goal in the end. This book is a great example for kindergartners and first graders and makes for a great class conversation about making friends. It is the perfect reminder right around Valentine’s Day. The first lesson the students draw and label the characters Lucy tried to make friends with. Then they used the graphic organizer to retell the story with a partner to work on speaking and listening. Check out these other strategies we use to get our kindergartners and first graders talking to each other here. The second lesson students think about how Lucy is feeling as she tries to make a new friend and why she is feeling that way. For the final lesson students wrote ways they can be a good friend and they make a super cute Lucy bear craft with to go with it.
You can purchase each of these Kindergarten and First Grade read-alouds for February from our Teachers Pay Teachers store individually or you can purchase them in a monthly bundle to save money. Your students will love these read-alouds and you will love meeting so many Reading Literature Core Standards. Download our free scope and sequence to see what standards are being taught in each read-aloud.
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