Starting the Year with Picture Books

            Now that we're officially a week into summer, I along with many other teachers are beginning to think about going back to school.  Yes, I know it's still a couple of months away, but it will be here before we know it!  I know many people are jealous of our two months 'off' but in reality, teachers across the country are thinking back over what went well, and dreaming about what we'd like to do differently.  
             For one thing, I'd like to be more organized at the beginning of the year.  This won't be hard.  I just started at a new school last year, and with all the new routines, curriculum and procedures, it was all I could do to keep up!  This year, however, will be different!  (Check back with me in October, I may have changed my tune by then...)
             One staple for back to school are books.  Every teacher has their favorite books to read to their class at the beginning of the year (and on throughout).  There is a picture book for everything it seems!  I love using books to introduce class activities because it gets kids starting making connections with characters, and also helps with comprehension and listening skills.  What I don't love however is scrambling at the last minute trying to find the picture book I am looking for.  So, this week I created a calendar for the first 6 weeks of school.  On it I've listed all the picture books I'll read, color coded for which ones I already own, which ones to get from the public library, and which ones I will check out from my school library. I am most excited by the fact that now that I have already planned this out, I can go to my local branch of the library early enough that I can have the books I need from other branches delivered to mine.  This will save me from having to drive all over town to get them at each specific library at the last minute!

            Over the next couple of days I will be posting about a few books that I'll be using this fall.  What books are you going to use?

First Day of School



How Not to Start Third Grade by Cathy Hapka Will is starting third grade, and he should be excited, except that he is too worried about the fact that his little brother, Steve, is starting kindergarten.  A great way to help students start making connections to characters and how they feel.  It can also be referred back to when you start talking about rules and why you need them.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg This read aloud has been a perennial favorite of mine for years.   Students can relate to the way the character is feeling throughout the story, and they always get a kick out of the surprise ending--the person that's been so nervous this whole time was actually the teacher!

Introducing Hopes and Dreams

 

Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell  Uncle Jed has always dreamed of opening his own barbershop, despite the fact that most people told him it would be impossible.  Financial setbacks, including the depression delayed, but didn't stop him, from achieving his dream on his 79th birthday.  This is a great story for many reasons.  One it teaches the reader to never give up on their dreams, but at the same time, to not be so focused on achieving their dream that they push family and friends aside.  It also provides lots of opportunities to make inferences as you go, and also learn a little about what life was like in America in the 20's and 30s.

Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy     Though unintentionally, this book takes place at the same time as Uncle Jed's Barbershop begins--the late 1920s, so if you read them together older students can compare the settings.   This is the true story about how bubble gum was invented.  After everyone else gave up trying, Walter Diemer created Double Bubble, the first gum that you could blow bubbles with.   Though it never made him personally much money, Diemer was proud to have created something that so delighted children and saved his company from closing for another 70 years.  This book provides a great introduction to talk about what motivates our hopes and dreams, and how we determine success. 

Introducing Consequences

David Goes to School by David Shannon I use this book to not only introduce the need for take a break, but also to talk about where authors get ideas for books.  The author's note about how the David series came to be is written on each book.  When the author was young he wrote a story where the only words were "No David!" because those were the only words he knew how to spell.  He accompanied the text with pictures of a boy doing things he knew he wasn't supposed to do.  As we are reading the very basic text, we talk about what David probably feels like being shouted 'no!' at so often, and that there could have been a different approach to stop David's behavior.  This leads us into our discussion about "Take a Break." (aka Time Out)

Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes   This is a perfect book to introduce the idea of 'apology of action' or what to  do when a simple 'I'm sorry' isn't enough.  In the book, Lily is very excited about her new plastic purse that she brought to school to show off.  However when her teacher took it away from her because it was such a distraction, Lily goes and draws a very mean picture of him and puts it in his bag.  To apologize Lily draws a new picture, this time with nice notes, and includes an apology note and a treat from her parents.