Books to FALL In LOVE With!

My Kinderfriends and I are so excited to bring you our next blog hop! It is filled with some of our most favorite books that we use in the Fall!

Many of us begin the school year as Fall is fast approaching! Much of that time is spent teaching rules, routines and expectations. So, each year I begin the school year with talks of active listening, trustworthiness, personal best, truthfulness and no put downs. These words help me create a sense of community, accountability, and friendships in my classroom. These are known as the Lifelong Guidelines! When you are a teacher of young Kinders and Firsties, you have to teach specifically what these Lifelong Guideline words mean; what they look like, sound like and feel like. In order to teach it in a meaningful way I use 5 books. These books and their characters help the kiddos build a connection with each of these important words!

1. Active Listening - someone who fully concentrates, understands, responds and remembers what is being said. That's a mouthful for 5 and 6 year olds so I LOVE the story A Cat Who Wore a Pot on Her Head.  It is a story of a cat who mixes up her mother's directions...you see, she can't hear what is being said because she is wearing a pot on her head which covers her ears. Listening is important!

2. Trustworthiness - the ability to be relied on to be honest or true. I LOVE the story, Being Trustworthy. This is a story about a little boy who does trustworthy things.  It's great because many of the things he does the children can immediately relate too. The kids recognize many of the things and note they do them at home (and school) too. We celebrate that!

3. Personal Best - the best achievement one has ever had. I LOVE the story, Being Bella. The little girl in this story thinks she is too young to do things right. She has conversations with important people in her life and she realizes that her best is good enough for now. We are ALWAYS learning right?

4. Truthfulness - the fact of being true. I LOVE the story Ruthie and the Not So Tiny Lie. When Ruthie finds something teeny-tiny on the playground she thinks it's okay to put it in her pocket and call it hers but quickly learns that lying doesn't feel right at all. Telling the truth is always the best answer!

5. No Put Downs - a remark intended to criticize or humiliate someone. I LOVE the story Words are NOT For Hurting. There are 26 letters in the alphabet and those letters make up all the words we will every speak. Be careful what you say!

I have a matching poster which features all of the titles of the books we read...I hang it up in the classroom. So, long after the books may have been put away, we are still reminded of our important Lifelong Guidelines! Interested in using these books to teach? Would you like to have a copy of this poster? Just leave me a message below with your email address and I will gladly send this poster to you.

There are lots more books to FALL IN LOVE with! Please hop on over to Mrs. Byrd's Learning Tree to hear about even more!

Enjoy!