Books for teaching kids to “Read the Pictures” Part 2

I think this long weekend is supposed to help me rest up and feel more prepared for the kids that are coming oh so soon – but instead I kind of feel like it is prolonging my anxiety and making me bite my nails more and making me feel like maybe I should go into school the whole 3 days because there is so much to do and it will never be done and the kids will come in and tie me up and I will be on the nightly news as the teacher with the crazy kinders that escaped….. can anyone relate?

These long weekends make me appreciate this quote – which is definitely relatable… I have quite the number of things that are going back and forth from school to home!

The long weekend does give me some added, much needed time to plan and prepare for my little dears, especially in regards to read alouds for the start of school. In my last post about my favorite books for teaching the strategy of “Read the Pictures” I showed you an awesome story that students love, and today I bring you two more!

First up….  an all time favorite that you probably already own, Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

This nearly wordless book is so fun and the kids are always participating actively and laughing at the gorilla’s antics as he becomes an accomplice in the escapes of the other animals at the zoo. I always love when the kids engage with the story by talking to the characters or making little gasps or sounds – so fun to see all of their learning and excitement on their faces!

I have a jungle theme classroom which in turn leads into safari, zoo, pretty much anything animal themed so this is a fun story for us to start the year as well!

Next up is The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

I LOVE this cover. No title or any information, but notice how his eyes are looking to the side? If you turn over the book, you can see what he is looking at!

Learning how to read the stories that pictures tell is such a key strategy in Kindergarten to build that early confidence as a reader. They CAN read, even if they don’t read printed words yet! Teaching this strategy with great, engaging books will help your young readers build stamina as they practice read to self. Do you use Daily 5? Stay tuned for more posts about how I use it in my classroom, and more of my favorite books!