The Day you Begin by Jacqueline Woodson is an excellent book! We love it. Teachers love it. Parents love it. Children love it. However, before we jump into explaining all the ways this book is the perfect book for a read aloud, we want to answer a question: does reading aloud really matter?
As a first or second grade teacher, we know that you may automatically answer “yes!” Which we love! We also know that in recent years you may have started to wonder if it is a priority in the classroom every week. That is a totally normal way to feel and we get it!
In a world of education where it seems like students are less engaged, it may feel like more time needs to be focused on classroom management and less on reading aloud. Moreover, it may feel like there is simply not enough time each week to read aloud.
While classroom management strategies will always be needed (some years more than others), so will reading aloud. In fact, we would even say that more time reading aloud (with proper procedures in place) can naturally help manage classroom behavior.
Beyond helping with classroom management, reading aloud really matters in many more ways. Reading aloud is essential for language development. This is especially important for students who do not have parents or siblings who read with them at home.
Moreover, reading aloud provides opportunities for discussion between the teacher and students and even students to students. This not only helps with language development and comprehension but social development. Students gain opportunities to engage with the teacher and to speak to one another.
One of the most important benefits of reading aloud though is that it creates a love of reading!
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How to Select a Read Aloud?
Knowing that reading aloud is just the first step of creating regular read alouds in your classroom. The next part is choosing what books to read.
Our favorite way to select read aloud books is by themes. Like with the book The Day You Begin. Two main themes in this book are inclusion and mutual respect.
Knowing these are two key themes of the book, we know it is a good back to school read aloud book. Moreover, we know it could also be used anytime during the year that we need to reteach about inclusion.
Back to School Themed Read Alouds
In addition to The Day You Begin, Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen, and All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold are great books on inclusion. They are books that would also be great for back to school.
Another great theme for beginning the school year is Growth Mindset. Moreover, there are so many great read aloud books to teach about a growth mindset!
- The Things Lou Couldn’t Do by Ashley Spires
- After the Fall by Dan Santat
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Beyond using a theme to select a read aloud book, consider the interests of your students. This will vary from year to year. It will take time to get to know your students each year as well.
Once you have learned more about your students though you can start to incorporate read alouds that reflect their interests. This helps with student engagement and to grow your reading library each year!
Even though we are no longer in the classroom we still love finding new books to add to our libraries! Like one of our newest favorites The Day You Begin.
The Day You Begin Story
The first sentence of The Day You Begin makes it a book to remember: “There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you.”
This is one of the most honest sentences you will find in a children’s book – maybe even in any book. What a powerful statement for children to read and hear. To know that it is normal for them to feel different! Moreover, that it is normal to not be quite like everyone else!
That’s why we love the book The Day you Begin. It begins with this statement that acknowledges a feeling many children have – especially on the first day of school. Then it progresses to explore the beauty of each person’s individuality.
The Day You Begin Lesson Plan
Choosing a new book to read in your classroom is always exciting! Except that it can create more work. We want you to keep focusing on the excitement of the book though! So, we put together a full week of lesson plan for The Day You Begin!
The Day You Begin lesson plan follows our tried and true structure for read alouds. It is comprised of activities that cover several core reading and writing standards. Moreover, it is fun and interactive!
This read aloud for The Day You Begin also provides lessons for up to 5 days! That means you have a full week’s worth of lessons already planned for you and ready to teach. All you need to focus on is reading the book and engaging with your students.
Beyond providing you with several lessons for the week this model also is best for the students. Spreading out the lessons over 3-5 days invites students to dive deeper into the text. They have more time to focus on one element of the story at a time and make connections.
Included in The Day You Begin Read Aloud:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Comprehension questions
- Whole group response to text activities
- Response to text worksheets
- Writing pages
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Quiz
- Retelling puppets
- Craftivity template
If you want to save time planning for the month you can use The Day You Begin alongside other books in our Back to School Read Aloud Bundle. 1 book a week = 1 month of lessons!
