Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They love to share lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Berls’s Top Ten Back to School Reads
For me, back to school means the arrival of 22 kindergartners, who are mostly pretty nervous and super excited about starting this grand adventure called school. And one of my main arsenals for helping them get settled in that first week is books. There’s books to help them feel better about being in Kindergarten, there’s books about rules, and there’s books just to practice listening to a story being read to you at school (as opposed to at home where there are often no rules to how you listen). Here’s my top ten Back to School Reads for the Kinders!
The Behavior Books
I think most teachers will tell you, one of the first things you want to do is establish your expectations for behavior. No David!, David Goes to School, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, How do Dinosaurs Go to School? and How Full is your Bucket? are all great for reinforcing behavior expectations and how we will treat each other in our classroom.
The Books for the Jitters
Of course, the first day of school is nerve-wracking for all of us – but especially kinders who’ve NEVER been in school before. So another thing I’m trying to do is make them feel safe and understand that 1-they’re going to love school and 2-it’s okay to be nervous. Finally, I want to teach them how to deal with their fears a bit. The Night Before Kindergarten, The Kissing Hand, Kindergarten Rocks! and First Day Jitters are all really good for making new kinders feel comfortable.
The fun, just because books
We’ll have lots of fun “just because” books throughout the year and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a favorite. Technically it does teach them about the alphabet, but they just have so much fun with it, it’s a favorite long after letters have been mastered.
I loved Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Great list!
That’s a favorite 🙂 Thanks!
I think it is great that you’re using books to help teach these things to kids. So much more fun than listening to an adult try to explain it to you. So glad that you found so many books for this purpose.
Oh there’s a slew if children’s books that teach such important things to kids – and you’re so right – kids enjoy it (and get it) much better than if I were to just talk at them.
I love how you use books for different purposes in your classroom! Books to feel comfortable in Kindergarten, books about following rules… so perfect! It’s so great that you’re able to use your love of books and reading even in your workplace. 🙂
Thanks Tanya! It’s one of my favorite things about teaching Kinder – the kids still LOVE being read to and I can teach them so much with books 🙂
What fun looking books – they look like so much fun! Hope your school year starts off wonderfully!
Thanks Barb! Fingers crossed 🙂
Ooh nice picks! Not familiar with all of these, likely just Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and possibly the Kissing Hand!
Old Follower 🙂
Yeah those are quite popular 🙂
Nice that you have it broken out like that, books for certain situations! The Kissing Hand looks familiar, maybe I’ve seen it somewhere- and How Do Dinosaurs Go To School looks fun and cute!
The kissing hand is really popular, I think most read it to their Kinder kids. And they love dinosaurs, so that’s a go to 🙂
This is a great list, Berls! I don’t think I ever told you how much I appreciate all you did to help me through last year. I don’t know if I would have survived otherwise!
I’m so glad to have been of assistance 🙂 I hope Mouse is off to a great start this year!