Back to School Books: The Best Part of Me
Can you believe that back to school time is right around the corner. Reading books the first week is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Well actually, I like reading books all year long! Keep reading to find out all about one my favorite back to school books and to find a free activity to go along with it.
The Best Part of Me, by Wendy Ewald is one of my favorite back to school books. I always read this at the beginning of the year to get my students thinking about the best part of themselves. Also, it is a good way for students to learn some of the good things about each other! We then put together this awesome display for our bulletin board or hallways so that others in the school can learn about us too!
I always start any read aloud with introducing vocabulary words. I love how this helps to start building vocabulary skills early on in the year! Having pre-picked vocabulary words is important. I am already prepared and I know the specific meanings that I want my students to know!
As I am going through the story I ask questions about what we are reading. My questions are pre-written as well and I have them on sticky notes through out the book. Do I always stick to these question… NOPE! But, I always ask these and any others I think of that fit my students as I am reading the book.
Finally, we do a writing activity all about the best part of ourselves. First, we fill in a graphic organizer to help us with what we are going to write. Then, we start our writing. I always use my phone to take pictures of the students highlighting their best parts and print them in black and white!
This makes for a great back to school display! You can click here to find the free resource!