A family isn’t only about who you are related to or live with. A family can be created with anyone you form a connection with, spend time with, and support. Just like in your classroom!
As the teacher, you probably already look at your class as your school family. You may even refer to your students as your kids. It’s also possible that at least one student has accidentally call you “mom” or “dad.”
While you probably aren’t looking to be “mom” or “dad” to your 20+ children after school, you recognize the importance of creating a school family for your students. Just like author Shannon Olsen did!
Our Class is a Family Summary
Shannon Olsen is the author of “Our Class is a Family”. This children’s book is one of our favorites for building a positive classroom community!
Olsen teaches children that families are not only about the people we live with. Beyond our parents and siblings, families are made up of anyone you are close to or spend time with. Throughout the book, she shows students how their class at school (YOUR class!) is a family.
More importantly, this Olsen teaches students that family is about accepting one another and respecting each other. Moreover, letting students know that being part of a family means being able to express yourself and be accepted for who you are.
If you are not already reading this in your classroom, it is the perfect addition to your back to school read aloud books. It is also a wonderful book to use during the year to reinforce the idea of community.
The Benefits of a Read Aloud
Like with any book, teaching the concepts the author presents goes beyond just reading the book. It includes taking time to discuss the book and interact with it over time.
Enter, read aloud activities!
There are many benefits to read-alouds. Therefore, we encourage elementary teachers to include one read-aloud each week. Beyond the academic benefits of diving into a book each week, incorporating a weekly read-aloud helps establish routines & procedures that help manage positive classroom behavior.
Helping to establish a routine is just one of the ways our read-aloud activities are created to support teachers. As the head of the family, you deserve all the support! This means having access to activities that are ready to teach and easy to implement.
Moreover, activities that engage AND challenge your students! All of the activities included in the Our Class is a Family read aloud do just that!
Our Class is a Family Read Aloud Activities
Young children can only focus for so long. Therefore, it is essential that read aloud activities be broken up throughout the week. Creating shorter lessons not only keeps students engaged, but also helps explore the text in more detail.
Spreading out these activities over the course of 3-5 days helps students dive deeper into the text by only focusing on one or two areas a day. Moreover, it gives them time to make connections to the characters and events.
In addition to the academic benefits of taking time to explore the book, it also helps students fall in love with the book!
Each day they are invited back to the story gives them time to explore each character more fully and make personal connections. The more personal connections a student can make with a book, the better! Personal connections allow students to understand and appreciate a book more fully.
Read Aloud Activities for Our Class is a Family
In this read aloud, each lesson provides students a different purpose for revisiting the text, talking about it, and responding to it. These activities are interactive and can be done by hand or digitally.
Here is an outline of the activities included in the Our Class is a Family read-aloud packet:
- Comprehension questions
- Whole group response to text activities
- Response to text worksheets
- Writing pages
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Quiz
- Retelling puppets
- Craftivity template
In addition to the activities, we also provide detailed lesson plans for each day. Therefore, making it even easier for you! As the teacher, you have plenty going on and not always a lot of time.
We made this read aloud (along with all of our read alouds) with the busy teacher in mind. Moreover, with the students in mind! Each of these activities addresses several common core standards. Meaning that, while they are fun and engaging, they are also rigorous.
When you use a read-aloud by The Core Coaches, you know your students are getting the same amazing learning experience that you provide in the lessons you create!
Other Back to School Read Aloud Activities
This book is a great choice for creating a classroom community from the first week of school. Establishing an effective learning environment goes beyond one book though. It takes a library!
In addition to “Our Class is a Family,” these are our favorite back to school read aloud books.
- The Most Magnificent Thing
- Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon and I Like Myself
- The Invisible Boy
- Ish
- Do Unto Otters
- We’re All Wonders
These six books cover important topics like growth mindset, friendship, and including others. While these are important themes that help establish an effective learning environment from day one, they are important themes all year long. Therefore, don’t feel overwhelmed trying to pick just a few. Pick your favorites to begin the year with, then incorporate (at least) one of the others each month.
These lessons can be easily included alongside any other theme or topic during the year. Once you have selected the books you want to use during the first month of school, look at the leftover titles. Choose one book that you can use each month for the rest of the school year.
Each of these titles have their own week long read-aloud packet. Making it even easier to implement them throughout the year.
If you need additional ideas for books, we have A Year of Interactive Read- Alouds that are ready to teach! This bundle includes over 50 Core Coaches read-alouds for 1st and 2nd grade. It takes the guesswork out of what to read each week and gives you more time to enjoy teaching!
