We Are Book Lovers!

What books do you read to your class during the first week back? Share us pictures of your classroom library!

A wise teacher meme once said: “For teachers, August is like one long Sunday night”. 

Most teachers would agree. What are Sundays for? Planning of course! Teachers around the country spend summer planning meaningful learning experiences for the year ahead. Books are a teachers’ most powerful tool. Books can take you to places that are far away, and teach you things you hadn’t even questioned. As a teacher, books are my go-to when I’m struggling on how to teach just about anything. 

When planning for the first week of school, choose books that reflect how you want the year to go. Here are some all time teacher favorites: 

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

This book is about Gerald the Giraffe- a giraffe who can’t quite figure out how to dance. The other animals that he lives around make fun of his inability to dance. Gerald encounters a cricket at night and realizes that sometimes you have to find the right music. This book does a wonderful job celebrating and illustrating overcoming struggle and self advocacy. Engage your class in a discussion and take that opportunity to list things that they can do *now*, and what they can’t do *YET*. 

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

After being displaced my second year teaching, I continued to teacher Kindergarten at a new school. One of the first things that was gifted to me by my new colleagues was this book. Our entire school read this book during the first week and it really helps set the tone for understanding and empathy through the school year. As a bonus, students understand and can explain how to be a bucket filler. As an incentive, our school recognized students who go above and beyond by reading their names over the loudspeaker along with their bucket filling actions. 

Chrysanthemum

A timeless classic about a young girl with the most unique name. When Chrysanthemum starts school, she loves her name; but her classmates don’t quite agree from the start. After some time being teased, Chrysanthemum no longer wants to go to school. With some careful guidance and kind words from her teacher, Chrysanthemum realizes that being herself is really a wonderful thing. 

Do Unto Otters

My first school adopted this book as our school-wide mentor text. The characters, friendly woodland creatures, teach youngsters about how to be a good friend. We all know the golden rule, treat others how you would like to be treated. The book’s adorable innovation is: do unto otters as you would like otters to do unto you!

All Are Welcome

This story has bright illustrations of people with different cultural backgrounds and races, cohabitating peacefully. The message: “All are welcome here” is repeated throughout the book and teaches readers about acceptance and diversity. This text is one that all of my students love to come back to again and again, and it is bound to be a favorite with your class this year. 

Creating this list was incredibly difficult- there are SO many books I would love to have added onto this list- but it would quickly turn into a library. Speaking of libraries: share pictures of your classroom libraries with us on Facebook, Instagram: @classtagme, or Twitter: @Classtag. 

What are some books that you read to your class during the first week of school? Why do you read them? Let us know in a comment and we may update this article to include your suggestion!