Back to School season is just a couple of weeks away for some of us! One of the most important things to accomplish in the first few weeks is a sense of family and friendship amongst the students and YOU! Creating an atmosphere where your students feel welcome and open to meeting their new classmates is a must, but of course, it isn’t always easy. I like to think a good book can go a long way in driving the momentum in the classroom and paired with a fun activity to help them connect, you can truly work towards building trust. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging with what to do with that information! Today, I am sharing my favorite picture books for back to school AND I have included a FREEBIE directed drawing plus writing activity. I’m also giving you a sneak peek inside some of the directed drawings included in my NEW Monthly Directed Drawings Growing bundle!
But first, let’s talk books!
A little humor along with a beautiful message provides the perfect balance in a classroom of littles and these book selections do not disappoint. From the humorous tale of a T-Rex in a class full of humans in the book We Don’t Eat Our Classmates to owning who you are in the sweet story Becoming Vanessa, here are my top picks for Back to School.
One of my favorite ways to introduce a new story in the classroom is by accompanying it with a related directed drawing and a writing activity that brings out the theme. So, I want to introduce…
I created my newest directed drawing resource for that purpose! This is a GROWING bundle which means that it is not finished yet, rather 5 directed drawings will be released each month through July that will be automatically added to the bundle for your use. You can also grab them on a month-to-month basis! The August Directed Drawings bundle has already been released and you guessed it… it includes 5 directed drawings that are perfect for back to school! There are picture directions, writing sheets, and drawing sheets with each step, plus a space to draw. Best of all? It is digital too, preloaded into Seesaw and Google slides!
Here’s a look at how I’ve paired a couple of the drawings with the back-to-school picture books mentioned above.
This school building drawing is the cutest and pairs so well with the book The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade or any book of your choice!
Students can write about what it means to be a good friend after creating a cute friendly duo! The classroom will be where they gain the most friends, so start them off on a good foot. To help, you can check out my top picks for picture books about friendship right HERE!
Becoming Vanessa is about a girl leaning into her true self when it’s time to start school! Your students can customize their own backpacks to show their personal style with this directed drawing!
As promised, you can grab your freebie right here! To give you an idea of what to expect inside the monthly directed drawing pack, I have a free Back to School directed drawing for students to “Swing into the New Year”. In the image below, I paired this drawing with the book Rulers of the Playground, where students can write about their expectations for the new year and/or what recess will look like! Of course, this can work with any of the picture books for back-to-school mentioned above.
Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
3 Responses
I wold love the directed drawings
In 1st grade RIR, September, Honey,,,Honey,,,Lion you give the suggestion to retell with Pom Poms. How do you do that? I am your most loyal and devoted fan/admirer/follower. Thanks! Jill Wood, Sherman TX
Hi there! Here’s a quick idea.
Pretend each of the poms is a character. Students use them like they would finger puppets… retell the story by acting out the story with the poms. Have the students move the poms around and talk like the characters in the sequence of the story.
Hope this helps! -Amy