Must Have Read Alouds for Back to School!

We've shared our favorite books for the first week of school and paired activities for each book!  Hope you find some good book picks and great ideas for your classroom!
https://amzn.to/2xLmhca
These books are fun to use to compare the kiddos' previous school year/grade with their new school year/grade.  We've use this activity at the Beginning of the Year and at the End of the Year.  It's a great way to open a discussion about different activities and expectations in each grade.  It also helps inform kiddos about a new grade if they don't know what to expect!  In 1st grade, we like using the book First Grade Stinks! to make our chart.  It's a silly book and uses a good perspective to tell about how First Grade isn't so bad!  

https://amzn.to/2lkYgFS
Grab First Day Jitters on Amazon (affiliate link)
This favorite back to school book has a really fun twist and shows kiddos that students and teachers have 'jitters' about the first day of school and starting something new!  Pair this book with our FREE class book, The Way We Feel!  Making a class book together is a SUPER way to start a new school year!  Click the picture below to grab the class book!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Class-Book-Feelings-and-Emotions-Back-to-School-Activities-Characters-971164



https://amzn.to/2lif9B1
Grab We Don't Eat Our Classmates on Amazon (affiliate link)
This book is SO fun and silly for introducing a discussion on classroom rules and expectations!  Below is the chart we create together with our kiddos on the first day of school

https://amzn.to/2Y2asx0
Grab Chrysanthemum on Amazon (affiliate link)
This is a classic favorite for back to school!  A great way to start talking about being kind to each other as kiddos come together in a new class!  We love to play with name puzzles after reading this book!  We make the puzzles by typing each kiddo's name and cutting it into individual letters.  Then, all kiddos walk around the room and put each others name puzzles together.  

 https://amzn.to/30sNrRq
A great book about working together and not arguing!  We love the activity of having the kiddos draw a picture with just one color, then reading the book, and having the kiddos draw the SAME picture with many colors!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12IxC-0E7pECGuZ9s_yLdujsmAo7u6M0Z/view?usp=sharing

Grab a FREE activity sheet to pair with this book!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12IxC-0E7pECGuZ9s_yLdujsmAo7u6M0Z/view?usp=sharing
And here's a chart you can make with this book!


https://amzn.to/2LOwFbt
This book will tug at your proud teacher heartstrings!  It's a sweet tale of a teacher's careful work helping student's grow told through a gardener's eyes.  We love to have the kiddos make their own flowers using only construction paper, scissors, and glue!

https://amzn.to/2YPbvNV
Grab Rainbow Fish on Amazon (affiliate link)
A great book to talk about kind actions towards each other!  We have 2 favorite activities for this book!  First, we make a chart of nice 'Rainbow Fish' actions towards others and not nice 'Stinky Fish' actions towards other. 

https://amzn.to/2jXcL2e
Grab Lacey Walker, Nonstop Talker on Amazon (affiliate link)
This is a great book to talk about classroom expectations in regards to respecting other classmates' ability to learn and work in class.  We like to talk about why it is important to be good listeners!

https://amzn.to/2lqv6W3
 Grab The Pigeon HAS to GO to School on Amazon (affiliate link)
A NEW PIGEON BOOK!  This one is super fun if the kiddos already know a bit about the pigeon and how he loves the bus!  Pair this book with our FREE All About Me iPad activity and find out a bit about your new kiddos!  Click the pic below to grab the FREE All About Me iPad.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-iPad-1420911

https://amzn.to/2lAUl87
Grab The Day You Begin on Amazon (affiliate link)
Celebrate how special and unique each kiddo is in your class with this sweet book!  And make a your class's first book featuring each kiddo in class!  Click the picture below to grab the FREE file!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Class-Book-Feelings-and-Emotions-Back-to-School-Activities-Characters-971164



Grab Our Class is a Family on Amazon (affiliate link)
This is such a sweet book to start the year!  We all spend so much time together in the classroom during the school year...we do seem like family!  And here's the way we like to keep up with how our kiddos learn and grow during the school year...our At the Moment memory sheets!  Each month we have the kiddos fill out these sheets and we collect them through the year to share with parents at the end of the year.  Click the pic below to grab the FREE At the Moment file below!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Activities-Memory-Book-All-About-Me-879998


https://amzn.to/2lCk28k
First Grade, Here I Come on Amazon (affiliate link)
Yay!  It's a new school year! Celebrate your grade level and your new students by capturing a 'selfie' in their first week of school!  This would be a fun sheet to save and give to parents at the end of the year!  Grab the FREE file by clicking the pic below!  It has sheets for Pre K-5th!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beginning-of-the-Year-Selfie-Freebie-2119911

And find a good book for your grade level!  Here are more options!
https://amzn.to/2lAZYTN 
 Grab Kindergarten, Here I Come on Amazon (affiliate link)
        https://amzn.to/2lAZnl1            
Grab Second Grade, Here I Come on Amazon (affiliate link)


Grab this graphic as a shopping list to take to a local library or use to build a wish list on Amazon!