12 Compelling Community Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!}

Jessica — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +0000

Are you teaching a community theme in your classroom? You’ll love this list of related books!

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1. Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do By Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook: Use the clothing clues on each page to guess each job in this fun interactive book.

2. Whose Hands Are These? By Miranda Paul: This is another great guessing book about community helpers. I really like that this one has some different jobs that aren’t usually included in many books on the topic such as scientists and potters. This book is also helpful for building vocabulary as it uses words like “physicians” and “architects.”

3. When I Grow Up By Al Yankovic: Little ones will totally relate to the main character in this story as he describes what he wants to be when he grows up. His dreams range from snail trainer to pickle inspector and everything in between. Love that this book pushes kids to dream big and that they don’t have to pick the same old career as everyone else (i.e. doctor, lawyer, police officer, etc.)

4. A Day in the Life of… (series) By Heather Adamson: This series is my favorite for introducing the jobs of 14 different community helpers (police officer, firefighter, farmer, nurse, dentist, doctor, EMT, veterinarian, teacher, zookeeper, construction worker, child care worker, librarian, and garbage collector. Each book describes the job and all that it requires in simple easy to understand language perfect for beginning readers.

5. Career Day By Anne Rockwell: Another great book for introducing some different jobs to your students. The class is this book is having a career day and all of their family members come to share their jobs which include a judge, crossing guard, paleontologist, and more!

6. ABC Jobs By Roger Priddy: This book is PACKED with information about 26 different jobs. From an airline pilot to zoo keeper, each page is written from the perspective of the person describing what their job is about, the skills they need and the the people they help. I especially love all of the labels for teh uniforms, tools, and vehicles that each job requires.

7. Whose Hat is This? By Sharon Cooper: If your kids loved Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do and Whose Hands Are These? then you definitely have to check out these next two books. In this book learn all about the different hats worn by construction workers, police officers, firefighters, and more.

8. Whose Tools are These? By Sharon Cooper: And in this book learn all about the different tools used by doctors, hair stylists, lifeguards, and more.

9. Helpers in my Community By Bobbie Kalman: This is a nice short and to the point book with great real photos to introduce different community helpers.

10. Community Helpers from A to Z By Bobby Kalman: Here is another ABC book introducing 26 different jobs that you may want to check out, there is some overlap with ABC Jobs, but lots of new and unusual jobs too like, agricultural workers, recycling workers, and more!

11. Let’s Meet a… (series) By Bridget Heos: The fun cartoon characters in this 8 book set make it a fun way to learn about construction workers, librarians, veterinarians, teachers, police officers, firefighters, dentists, and doctors.

12. Delivering Your Mail By Ann Owen: This book is great for young readers with short sentences, and simple illustrations. Learn the different jobs of mailmen, their routes, about safety around mail trucks, and more.

If you are still a little overwhelmed trying to decide which books to use and what skills to practice, I am taking all the guesswork out of that for you!

I created this Community: Read & Respond resource to go along with 5 of my favorite fall books above. It is the perfect way to strengthen comprehension and writing skills along with some fun craftivities to keep your kids engaged! And all of the activities are differentiated for K-2 and Common Core aligned.

Make connections and practice opinion writing with Career Day By Anne Rockwell.

Then make one or all 10 of these adorable community helper crafts!

Infer meaning and write informational text with Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do By Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook.

Learn new vocabulary and write an acrostic poem with Whose Hands Are These? By Miranda Paul.

Describe character traits and practice narrative writing with When I Grow Up By Al Yankovic.

Compare and contrast texts with the A Day in the Life of… (series) By Heather Adamson.

Then write an all about book describing a job in the community.

You can grab all of these activities here Community: Read & Respond:

The post 12 Compelling Community Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!} first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

12 Nocturnal Animal Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!}

Jessica — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 12:30:00 +0000

Whether you are studying owls, bats, wolves, or even racoons, night animals are always fascinating These are my favorite books to build background knowledge about nocturnal animals.

**This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.**

1. Where Are the Night Animals? By Mary Ann Fraser: Learn all about coyotes, skunks, owls, opossums and more in this overview of night animal behavior.

2. Night Animals By Gianna Marino: Possum and his friends are afraid of night animals in this cute fiction story. A simple story for young listeners.

3. Owl Moon By Jane Yolen: A girl and her dad go on a magical owling adventure in this fiction story perfect for older readers.

4. National Geographic Readers: Wolves By Laura Marsh: In this nonfiction book specifically about wolves, readers will learn how they run in packs, stalk their prey and more. The beautiful photographs will capture the interest of kids young and old.

5. Nocturnal Animals By Kelli L. Hicks: This nonfiction book is packed full of information about all the things nocturnal animals do at night. A great book for comparing with Where Are the Night Animals? By Mary Ann Fraser

6. Moonlit Animals: This book is a really interesting and engaging way to learn about night animals. The animals are hidden in the night on the pages and you use a “flashlight” (piece of white cardstock, between vellum pages) to find the animals. The text is interesting and informative, but the real magic is in the special flashlight used to highlight each animal in the night.

7. Out of Sight Till Tonight By Tish Rabe: For kids who are familiar with The Cat in the Hat this science book is sure to be a hit. The rhyming text and whimsical illustrations invite students in while providing quality information and defining important vocabulary.

8. Little Owl’s Night By Divya Srinivasan: In this book, little owl enjoys watching all of the animals interesting activities during the night, but he is curious about what animals do during the day. His mom tries to describe to him what it is like, but he falls asleep as the sun rises.

9. Owl Babies By Martin Waddell: Three sweet owlets wake up to find their mommy owl gone. They worry and wonder where she has gone. The illustrations are gorgeous and make this simple story come to life

10. Owl Sees Owl By Laura Godwin: Owl sets out on an adventure in this simple poetry book, which reverses mid story when “Owl sees Owl.” He sees his own reflection and which startles him into returning home.

11. Secret Pizza Party By Adam Rubin: Everyone love pizza, even the poor raccoon. All he wants in life is pizza, but unfortunately he can’t just ask for a slice. So of course he plans a secret pizza party! If you loved Dragons Love Tacos you’ll love this book from the same author.

12. Owls By Gail Gibbons: Take an in depth look into the life of an owl with this non fiction book. Learn about owl habitats, life styles, birth and development and environmental hazards that are threatening owl species

If you are still a little overwhelmed trying to decide which books to use and what skills to practice, I am taking all the guesswork out of that for you!

I created this Nocturnal Animals: Read & Respond resource to go along with 5 of my favorite fall books above. It is the perfect way to strengthen comprehension and writing skills along with some fun craftivities to keep your kids engaged! And all of the activities are differentiated for K-2 and Common Core aligned.

Learn new vocabulary and practice opinion writing with Where Are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser.

Identify story elements and write/infer with Night Animals by Gianna Marino.

Identify point of view and practice narrative writing with Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.

Then make this adorable owl craft.

Use text features with National Geographic Readers: Wolves by Laura Marsh.

Then write an acrostic poem and create a cute wolf craft to go with it.

Use illustrations to gain information with Nocturnal Animals by Kelli L. Hicks.

Then write a nonfiction book summarizing new learning about nocturnal animals.

You can grab all of these activities here Nocturnal Animals: Read & Respond:

The post 12 Nocturnal Animal Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!} first appeared on Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten.

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12 Compelling Community Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!}

12 Nocturnal Animal Books for Kids {with teaching ideas!}