It’s that time of year again! Students all across the country have gone back to school for another school year. If you are an elementary teacher looking for beginning of year read alouds for your students, then you are in the right place.
Students of all ages love stories, and reading aloud to kids is a great way to engage them in discussion about how they understand and interpret the text.
This is a round-up of 15 beginning of year read alouds that you should add to your lesson plans during the first few weeks of school. A handful of these picture books are included in my FREE GUIDE for Teaching Reading Strategies Using Picture Books.
The guide is full of ideas and resources to get your students started off as strong readers and give you the confidence and tools you need to help them be successful readers.
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1. First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
No list of beginning of year read alouds is complete without this book. This story follows Sarah Jane Hartwell as she mentally prepares for the first day of a brand new school year.
It is great for allowing students to make an emotional connection with the character. For those who haven’t read this book – SPOILER ALERT – this story also allows students to connect with the teacher’s emotions, because Sarah Jane Hartwell turns out to be Mrs. Hartwell, the teacher.
This back to school text is great for teaching students that they aren’t the only ones who are nervous on the first day of school.
2. Amelia Bedelia’s First Day of School by Herman Parish
I may be showing my age here, but I LOVED reading Amelia Bedelia when I was a little girl. She is such a fun character who is always mixing up everything she is involved in.
This story is a great beginning of year read aloud as it follows Amelia Bedelia as a child on her first day of school. The character’s mishaps will not only make your students laugh, but will also teach a great lesson in friendship and trust.
3. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
This is a story of kindness and acceptance that is great for the first week of school, but can also be read to students at different times throughout the school year.
The character, Chrysanthemum, endures teasing from her classmates which causes her to question a part of her she has always loved. Students will be able to connect with this book and teachers can use the story to discuss the importance of treating others with kindness.
4. Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen
Teachers looking to build a classroom community will find this book a valuable part of their library collection. Students who hear this story read aloud will feel like part of a special class family where they are safe and loved.
5. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! By Mo Willems
The Pigeon series is continued with this new back to school story that follows the beloved character as he is forced to go to school when he doesn’t think he needs to learn anything new.
6. The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Another great beginning of the year read aloud that can be used year round is about bullying on the playground. This story will spark discussions about bullying and conflict resolution in the classroom and in life.
7. If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff
The If You Give… series is a popular picture book collection that tells stories about how the wants/needs of a mouse change and grow with each new situation he is in.
This time the mouse is going to school and this book a fun and entertaining beginning of year read aloud for the classroom.
8. Decibella and Her 6-Inch Voice by Julia Cook
Decibella is a character who learns a valuable life lesson of communication when she finds that her loud voice is disrupting and upsetting her classmates. This picture book is great for the beginning of the year, but can also be used anytime throughout the school year to reinforce voice level procedures.
9. The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
This story follows a young Korean girl who is self conscious about her name and feels like she doesn’t fit in with her classmates. A friendship teaches her to be courageous and proud of her heritage.
Teachers looking to develop courage and character in their students will find this book helpful either at the start of school or anytime throughout the school year.
10. The Bad Seed by Jory John
The character known as the Bad Seed goes through a positive change in this memorable story. He goes from being bad in everything he does to wanting to be happy and good.
While this beginning of year read aloud is great for back to school, it could also be used by reading teachers to teach about character change later in the year.
11. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud
While the bucket filler trend may not be as prevalent as it has been in years past, this book is still very beneficial for teachers to introduce the belief that kind words can touch a person in a positive way.
The author of this book takes the traditional concept of filling someone’s bucket and translates it into an imaginary tool of collecting kindness, caring, and generosity throughout the day.
12. Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Dad helps his young son turn an enemy into a friend in this beginning of year read aloud as he teaches him how to deal with conflict through the use of a metaphorical pie.
This story will help readers to see that dealing with differences in opinion can be overcome and “enemies” can become true friends.
This book is included in my FREE Lesson Plan Guide: How to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies Using Picture Books.
13. Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
As the title suggests, this story teaches students about kindness. The author’s message is a difficult one to swallow, as it portrays a missed opportunity to be someone’s friend when a friendship is exactly what that person needed. Main character Chloe learns a powerful life lesson of kindness and acceptance.
14. Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy
Lucy is faced with a challenging, yet real world situation as she is forced to make a decision about if she should help the very person who has been mean to her or not.
This story emphasizes courage, bravery, kindness, and sense of self, and is a valuable beginning of year read aloud to spark discussion about these topics. It can also be utilized throughout the school year to reinforce the messages in the story.
This book is included in my FREE Lesson Plan Guide: How to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies Using Picture Books.
15. What If Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick
The final book in this collection of suggested beginning of year read alouds is one that offers teachers the opportunity to develop in students a realization that even little choices they make can affect the world and people around them, whether positively or negatively.
It provides readers with a lesson in dealing with consequences, which as we know, is a great back to school topic.
I hope this list of beginning of year read alouds has been helpful and that you have found a few that you would like to read in your own classroom. I would love to hear which ones you chose or if you have another suggestion that was not on my list. Please comment below or email me at Danna@TeacherTechStudio.com
Remember if you want to grab the FREE GUIDE: How To Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies Using Picture Books, click the image below.
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