Have you been wondering what back to school read alouds to focus on in the month of August or September? Well, these back to school books are perfect for the first month of kindergarten!
I also created teaching resources to go along with these four books. The August reading unit contains EVERYTHING you need for your whole group literacy block!
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Back to School Picture Books
The Pigeon HAS To Go To School
The Pigeon HAS To Go To School was a new release last year and it quickly because one of my favorite back to school read alouds! In this story, the pigeon is so anxious about starting school (how relatable is that?) and he run’s through every possible thing that could go wrong. In the end, he realizes school is the place to be.
For my reading lesson plans, I decided to focus on activities that would introduce students to our whole group lesson expectations and begin to slowly introduce story elements.
In this unit, students will learn what a character is. They will also learn how to identify the character’s emotions using the illustrations. Students will make their own connections to how the pigeon was feeling about school and how they felt on the first day.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a kindergarten classic! In this story, each letter of the alphabet playfully goes up the coconut tree. When all the letters get to the top, however, the tree gets too heavy and they all tumble out. The story leaves off on a sort of cliff-hanger as little letter a comes out at night to climb the tree again.
The Chicka Chicka Boom Boom read aloud activities focus on inferring, story retell, and concepts of print. These reading lesson plans also contain editable name activities to help your students practice their names.
In the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom unit, students will learn how to retell the story and make the coconut tree retell craft! They will review what a character is and identify the characters in the story. Since the characters in this story were letters, I thought it was the perfect place to practice sorting letters vs. numbers!
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates is one of my favorite back to school read alouds! In this adorable story, Penelope the dinosaur starts at a new school. She is surprised to learn that her new classmates are delicious children! When she realizes that her habit of gulping down her classmates is making them afraid of her, she has to learn how to be a good friend.
The theme for this week’s reading lesson plans is being a good friend. I included activities for identifying the main character in the story. Students will also learn what a problem and solution is.
Each week in the August reading unit contains the most adorable crafts and directed drawings! They also have poems and books for shared reading, basic skills activities, and vocabulary lessons to compliment each picture book.
Tiny T.Rex and the Impossible Hug
Tiny T.Rex and the Impossible Hug is another great story about friendship. In this story, Tiny the T.Rex has a problem – his friend is sad, but Tiny’s arms are too short to give him a hug! He then spends the story practicing and practicing until he can give his friend a perfectly not-so-perfect hug.
For this week’s reading lesson plans, students will review what a main character, problem, and solution is. They will then read a nonfiction text about dinosaurs and learn how to retell key details.
This week contains an original nonfiction book about Dinosaurs perfect for your dino research! Students will learn all about dinosaurs and then make a ferocious dinosaur craft.
Even if you don’t use the Little Readers Kindergarten Reading Curriculum, I highly suggest these back to school read alouds for August! They would be the perfect back to school picture books to add to your classroom library.
You can also grab these FREE digital name activities! The themes match the august read alouds featured in this post:
