A big, comfy chair for your reading area!
A colorful rug and pillows. A bucket of stuffed friends. Shelves of books to invite the students to explore. Plan for at least 20 minutes of reading your favorite books EACH DAY. Teach the children about how to care for books. Talk about the cover. Introduce them to the author and illustrator. Tell them when the book was written. "I like OLD books! This is one of my favorites!" Keep those books back on your teacher shelf UNTIL you read them, then put them into a special bin (to keep separate) and allow students to revisit them.
September through December, I read a variety of picture/story books. I had fall books (welcome to K5, leaves, autumn, apples, number, calendar, letters, time), seasons, character traits,Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I used my Scholastic points to build our already big classroom library.
In January, we would start reading chapter books. I always started with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle because she helped children who had trouble dealing with life. They had to imagine what they looked like. They had to listen. They would giggle unreservedly! When we would get through all three of those books, it would be March and we enjoyed all things Dr. Seuss. One year (April-May), I read Little Pilgrims Progress (it was written using animals with beautiful pencil drawings. Other years, we went back to a variety of picture and story books.
Goodwill was the spot I found this table top puppet stage for $5.99
Read, read, read! Use the silly voices. Cry. Shout. Be expressive. Have special reading times with real friends or stuffed friends. Use purchased hand or finger puppets. Make wooden spoon characters with felt and paint and glue gun. Use stuffed animals. Use recorded books. Invite a Secret Reader to come in for 15-20 minutes! We had a great response with Dads, Moms, grandparents, and siblings.
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