For some students back-to-school is an exciting time; for others, it can be a time stressful time. The following picture books are all great to use in those first several weeks where building and establishing classroom community is key.
Up first, First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg. I love this book! If you haven’t read it, I won’t spoil it, but it is so cute! I was the kid who was plagued by the First Day Jitters every single year. It didn’t matter that I had known all the kids and most of the teachers since I began my schooling days! We have a tradition of eating out for breakfast every year on the first day of school, and I never was able to eat my breakfast. I was so nervous that I became physically sick. This is a really great book for the first day of school. It’s a good reminder for teachers that some kids are next to terrified on the first day no matter how well they hide it, and it’s also great for kids to know that they aren’t alone. First Day Jitters provides a great opportunity for some ice breaking discussions about being nervous and getting ready for a new year.
Picture books and read alouds are a great way to set the tone for your classroom at the beginning of the year. Choose books that will allow you to have conversations with your students about the kind of environment you expect them to create in your classroom. We all want our students to become well rounded, compassionate, educated members of society. We must not forget that the standards aren’t the only thing we should be teaching in the classroom. Each of these next five books will lead to rich conversations about how we treat people and what kind of lasting effects our actions and words can have- both positive and negative.
“Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum.” This has always been one of my favorite books. I can remember having it read to me and, later on, reading it to myself. Anything by Kevin Henkes is good, but Chrysanthemum is a great book for the beginning of the year. Chrysanthemum provides a great opportunity to talk about the chances we have to help make bad situations better for others. It also lends itself well to discussions on self-confidence, building others up rather than tearing them down, and being your uniquely-you self. Chrysanthemum has always loved her name. Until, that is, she begins school. She was so excited to begin school, but on her first day she was made fun of for her name. A name she was so proud of was suddenly something she was so ashamed of, and a place she was excited to go to and learn was now a place she dreaded going. Academically, Chrysanthemum provides several teaching opportunities. Kevin Henkes fills the story with rich vocabulary. This is also a grammar rich book with good examples of affixes and the use of adverbs. Chrysanthemum is a good character to use to discuss and teach characterization as well.
Another great book for the beginning of the year is Yangsook Choi’s The Name Jar. This is another well written book revolving around names and identity. Unhei is new to the United States and isn’t sure how the students will respond to her Korean name, so when she is introduced to the class and asked her name, she tells the class she hasn’t picked a name yet. You can imagine how confused the students were when she shares this. This is a heart-warming story about students not only accepting but encouraging Unhei’s Korean heritage. All classrooms, regardless of location or age, should strive to be as welcoming and encouraging as Mr. Cocotos’ class in The Name Jar. Not only is this another great book to further support students in embracing their own unique identity, but it is a wonderful book to use as a springboard for discussions with your students on not only accepting but offering genuine interest and friendship to others regardless of differences.
Jaqueline Woodson is a wonderful author. I don’t know that I’ve ever read something of hers that I didn’t like. Her book Each Kindness is another great book for the first few weeks of school. To me, this book is really convicting and serves as a beautiful reminder that you won’t always get a second chance to extend kindness to someone. This book is an excellent read aloud to spur class conversations around showing kindness, being welcoming and accepting of anyone new or different, and how our actions can have a lasting ripple effect. Not only will this book stimulate a rich discussion with your students, but it is also full of academic teaching lessons as well. This is an excellent book for teaching prepositions and prepositional phrases as they pages are full of sentences with well written prepositional phrases. This is also a wonderful book to use for teaching, reviewing, or introducing theme because there are multiple different themes that could be identified, and all of them are important life lessons for students to keep in mind.
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig is another book that can serve as a springboard for a great discussion on how we treat and interact with people. Not only is The Invisible Boy well written with a good message, but I also love the illustrations! The illustrations will remind you of past imaginative and creative artists you’ve had in your own classroom. Brian is a quiet boy who tends to blend in; he follows the rules, he doesn’t need a lot of extra attention from the teacher, and he doesn’t have any friends. Brian just moves through the school day alone until discovers another boy who may also need a friend.
And finally, another great read aloud option for back-to-school is Maria Dismondy’s Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. This story highlights the fact that we get to choose how we respond to people and situations. It’s much harder to help someone who hasn’t treated you well in the past. Lucy has had her fair share of negative encounters with her classmate Ralph, and when he is finally in a vulnerable situation himself, Lucy has to choose whether to seize this opportunity to show him how it feels or to extend a helping hand and extend him kindness.
If you’re looking for pre-planned, ready to go, 4th grade ELA lesson plans, check out our Reading is Golden ELA Bundle. The August/September edition includes First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson, The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi, The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, and Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy. Each book is accompanied by a variety of vocabulary activities, games, and assessments, interactive notebook entries, reading comprehension and discussion questions, a reading mini-lesson, writing activities, a nonfiction companion text, and grammar lessons and activities. Each includes a pacing guide and is fully aligned with the 4th grade Common Core State Standards and could easily be adapted for 3rd grade as well.
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