We are thrilled to introduce our book companion lessons with back to school books for first grade and kindergarten. Using interactive read aloud lesson plans in our classrooms was one of our favorite things as teachers, so we wanted to make sure teachers of the youngest grades have access to these amazing resources as well!
Interactive Read Alouds to help first grades back to school
Each read aloud includes:
- rigorous text dependent questions
- differentiated graphic organizers
- response to text writing activities
- a craft template
- detailed lesson plans
to help you meet several core standards while maintaining your tradition of reading aloud for pleasure. Teachers guide students to use evidence from the the text to deepen their understanding of the story and respond in meaningful ways.
Below are some highlights of the perfect back-to-school books for kindergarten, which we have included in our September back to school read aloud bundle.
Interactive Read Alouds for Kindergarten + 1st Graders with Lesson Plans to meet Your Core Standards
Each read-aloud includes rigorous text dependent questions, differentiated graphic organizers, response to text writing activities, a craftivity, and detailed lesson plans to help you meet several core standards while maintaining your tradition of reading aloud for pleasure. You will guide students to use evidence from the text to deepen their understanding of the story and respond in meaningful ways. Below are some highlights of the perfect back-to-school books for Kindergarten, which we have included in our September back-to-school read-aloud bundle.
Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry
You’ll fall in love with Stick and Stone. This book can’t help but make you smile. Stick and Stone become life-long friends when Stick stands up for Stone as the bully, Pinecone taunts him.
This book is a great springboard to talk to students about friendship. Students complete a story map, analyze phrases, study character feelings by studying the text and illustrations, and write ways to “stick” with their friends. It is definitely one of our favorite back to school books for first grade!
The Crayon Box that talked by shane derolf
This colorful story is another of our favorite back to school read aloud stories. At first the crayons are annoyed with one another’s differences, but they finally learn the amazing things they can do when they all work together.
This story provides a great way to promote classroom community with your students. With these book companion lesson plans students summarize the sequence of events, discover characters’ feelings, and explore how their class is like a box of crayons. A must-read at the beginning of the school year!
Splat the cat by Rob scotton
Help your nervous kitties…er, kiddos, make the transition back to school 1st grade with this purrrrfect story. Splat the cat tries everything to avoid going to school but in the end learns that nervous jitters are okay and asking questions can lead to great things.
Students will love expanding on this story as they ask and answer questions about the story. They’ll compare Splat’s first day of school feelings with their first day of school feelings, look in-depth at vocabulary from the story, and decide what they would bring in their lunchbox to calm their nerves.
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
This encouraging back to school picture book shares how a loveable little tiger named Leo blooms just a little slower than expected. But Leo’s mom never worries, knowing he will do amazing things when he is ready. It creates a wonderful base into conversations with students about the power of yet as they build their growth mindsets.
Students distinguish Leo’s problem and the solution, look more in-depth at vocabulary from the story, and focus on what they can already do and how they still want to bloom.
Peanut Butter and Cupcake by Terry Border
Last but certainly not least is another favorite book for back to school. Sometimes friends are hard to come by as Peanut Butter knows all to well. Welcome your class back to school as they explore the process of making friends and overcoming loneliness through this cute tale filled with funny phrases, like when Egg says, “You’re cracking me up!”
After reading, students will love creating a map of the story, dig deeper into the meaning of the funny phrases, and explore the ways they can make new friends.
You can purchase each of these read aloud book companion lessons for back to school books as individual lessons or as a bundle from our shop. Teaching with this bundle will help you meet So many core literacy standards during your read aloud time. You’ll also have meaningful conversations about your classroom community, which will benefit you & your first grade back to school and all year long.
