Life in Fifth Grade along with some of my other favorite blogs are doing Tidbit Tuesdays about a different topic. It's not Tuesday (yet), but I still wanted to share some of my favorite picture books that I read aloud in my classroom.
To me, using picture books in the classroom is an essential part of teaching. Using picture books not only can build community in your classroom, but can also be used to reinforce the standards you are teaching. I even used picture books when I taught 5th grade. They can be POWERFUL, y'all, if used correctly. My 5th graders loved to sit on the carpet and listen to a quick read aloud. So did my 2nd graders and my 3rd graders!
I know it can be hard to add read alouds to your classroom schedule. Believe me, I know! I make sure to set a 10-15 minute block dedicated to just reading aloud each and every day. If something has to be cut during my day, I try my best to not make it my read aloud time. It's my favorite part of the day! Pictures books also help me to hook my students into becoming readers. We gotta start somewhere!
So, here are my top 10 picture book read alouds. I teach reading through genre studies. I chose my favorite read aloud from each genre.
Biography: The Boy Who Never Gave Up
I am a Steph Curry fan. When I came across this book a couple of years ago, I fell in love. It explains how Steph came through such adversity about his height from such a young age. He was too short to play in high school, too weak in college, and would never make it to the NBA. Such an inspiring book! If you're a Lebron fan, I won't hate on ya. Click here to view his book The Boy Who Became King.
Informational: Creature Features
I think I own almost all of Steve Jenkins books. He writes informational books, and they are phenomenal. His illustrations capture children's attention while learning different facts. This particular book goes through 25 animals while explaining why they look the way they do.
Fairy Tale: Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks
I love your original version of fairy tales. I compare and contrast different versions from around the world. However, some of my students FAVORITES are the fractured versions. You have to check out this series of books. They are hilarious! This one is told my Baby Bear's perspective and it's not what you think.
Tall Tales: Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett
This girl has my heart! She is feisty and my students love her! There is so much exaggeration in this book that is easy for students to pick up on.
Historical Fiction: The Babe and I
Historical fiction is my favorite genre as a reader. There are so many good picture books that are historical fiction that help younger students understand history. The Great Depression is hard for students to understand. This book really helps to understand the money issues during that time, but also give some background on Babe Ruth. As a sports fan, I loved this story.
Realistic Fiction: We're All Wonders
I have read aloud Wonder for the last couple of years. This is our first chapter book read aloud. I love the life lessons that this book teaches. There is a picture book version of Wonder that I also read aloud.
Fantasy: The Bad Seed
I read this book aloud at the beginning of each year. This book helps to teach the power of acceptance and the importance of just being yourself.
Mystery: Grandpa's Teeth
My favorite part of this story is talking like on old man. Seriously! I use this book to help my students to learn to draw conclusions and make inferences. Not a single student of mine has ever figured out who stole grandpa's teeth. This book is hilarious!
Poetry: Parts
The figurative language in this book is off the chain! LOL. This book is my go to when teaching my students about idioms. This little boy takes things a little too seriously and my students roll over laughing because of it.
Favorite Back to School book: You're Finally Here
I love back to school time! Yes, it is stressful trying to get everything together and ready for our new students. But for me, it's a new start each year. No matter what happened the previous year for us or our students, it's a fresh start. This book captures my emotions about being giddy at the beginning of the year. It's adorable!
I have WAY more than ten books that I love, especially in each genre. I could choose ten just from historical fiction! ;-) Click the book titles to check out each book.
I have to ask, what are some of your favorite picture books to read aloud?
No comments:
Post a Comment