#IMWAYR - Kristi's Back to School Picks

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It’s Monday, and we are excited to participate in a weekly event with a group of bloogers who love books as much as we do. 

With school start up around the corner (we hope!), we have been revisiting some of our favorite books for setting the stage for learning in our classroom.  Since our classroom happens to be Literacy classroom that the majority of our school visits we look for books that will appeal to a wide variety of grades.

It’s Hard to be a Verb - Written by Julia Cook

Definitely one of my new favorite finds (really anything by Julia Cook).  Her messages are easy for kids to relate to and often have teachable moments at  the back which are kid friendly.  In It’s Hard to Be a Verb, a little boy with some “wiggle” issues learns to understand himself better. This is an excellent book for connecting as so many of our little people deal with the “wiggles”.  My son LOVED that there was a book with a character that dealt with some of the same issues that he does.  When I read this book to my students at the end of the year last year the connections that were made were excellent and the class ended up brainstorming their own ideas for dealing with the wiggles. This will definitely become one of my first reads to my students this school year (and every year). 

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Ish - Writen by Peter H. Reynolds

One of my favorite discoveries last year.  This book is an excellent teacher to students who won’t try if they can’t be perfect. We did a ton of “Ish” drawings ourselves as a class and students who typically tell me they “can’t” were all over drawing ish.  I love this book for teaching transform. In both primary and intermediate grades the students were able to easily grasp how words can impact and how sometimes Ish is a good start!  This book will definitely be one that I gift over and over again as it’s a great must have in your classroom.

The Kissing Hand - Written by Audrey Penn

Definitely a tried and true story for the first days of school. Guaranteed to make parents cry and comfort kids.  This adorable story about a little raccoon’s first day of school is an excellent read for Kindergarten.  My grade one daughter still asks for a kissing hand every once and a while when she’s feeling worried about us leaving. The activities that you can do with this book are endless. A great book for connecting!

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Calm, Alert, and Learning - Written by Stuart Shanker

This professional read is an exceptional one for changing perspectives on what can hinder learning.  The classroom strategies (which can definitely be adapted to at home strategies) are great for any classroom teacher. When so many classrooms are in need of students who can self-regulate this is a great start. Even in the first couple of pages Shanker talks about how the ability to self regulate may be more indicative of academic success than IQ. This idea alone has begun to change the way I see classroom management (and the teaching of my own kids!). 

There are so many amazing reads out there and one of the things I love the most about my job is the discovery of new books. If only I had just a wee bit more time to read them!!