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Friday, July 26, 2013

Rebel Back-to-School Reads

If you know me at all, you know I'm a bit of a rebel. Nothing big like ducking jury duty or parking in reserved spaces or anything. But in the classroom, I am prone to question things. I know there are a ton of great back-to-school titles out there. Chrysanthemum, the Kissing Hand, First Day Jitters-and I have used these books with my kiddos. Particularly because I'm looping, but also because I think they are commonly used and don't like to repeat books/activities others have done, I am going to have a different theme this 1st week. I want the kids to think about themselves-what makes them unique and also stress classroom community and teamwork. I'm going to use:




Both Elmer and Ferdinand are about characters that are themselves-no matter what. I think that will be a great thing to encourage discussion that first week.



Working together saves the day-definitely want a model for the tons of cooperative group activities we are going to attempt this year.


The stuffed animals work together to find a missing blanket. Just look at the illustrations-doesn't it make you want to just cuddle with them!



Classic story about 2 characters who think they have nothing in common and bicker--then of course, everything changes when they begin to spend some time together. 




I just ADORE this book! I just discovered it when I was teaching summer school and going through the stories on Story Online to see if there were any good ones on there that went along with the lesson I was planning. (This is it if you want to listen to it: http://www.storylineonline.net/wilfrid/fullscreen_yt.html). This story is about memories and how important they are. We adopt a nursing home every year and will again this upcoming year, so I really want to do some activities with this story where the kids are recording their best memories!



6 comments :

  1. I love WGMP too! Such a sweet story! I like your list of books. We usually do The Kissing Hand, but your idea for something different is awesome!

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  2. What a great list of books! I get tired of the typical ones, too. I think this would be great for my kiddos. I get to teach a class of 1st and 2nd grade highly gifted kiddos this year! :)

    Colleen Patton
    Mrs. Patton’s Patch

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  3. I might copy you! I love the idea of starting with characters who stay true to themselves. I was also going to do ones about Kindness since that is my theme for the year. Be Kind. Thanks for the great ideas!

    Kimberley
    First in Maine

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  4. It's like you took the words right out of my mouth! I'm looping too this year plus I try not to do the typical things over and over every year. I am so thankful to have found this list from you. I'm going to dig out some of these books now and get some ideas together.

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  5. I understand being a rebel. I'm not one outside of the classroom, but in the classroom is another thing. I love your book choices!
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

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  6. Great book choices. I especially love Wilfrid.

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