Favorite Book Parade {Freebie}

One of my favorite things to do during Reader’s Workshop is to allow the kiddos to bring their favorite books from home. The connection with reading from home and school is VITAL when it comes to building a strong reading foundation.

Before I let them have their “book parade”, I read them one of my favorite books:

If you are a Kindergarten or 1st grade teacher and you don’t have this book…get it STAT! It is such a great story about a little boy who loves to read. There are also familiar book titles throughout the story that kids recognize and connect with.

After we read the book, I let them take out their favorite books that they brought from home and we have a parade around the classroom. I found this video on YouTube that is kind of awesome to play while they walked around and showed each other their books. It’s a song about reading that is to the tune of “Happy”. It’s really great and kudos to that teacher that created the video…

While they are listening to the song, they walk around with their books and show everyone the front covers. I make comments about their books and learn a lot about them as readers…

When the song is over and they are finished parading, I let them sit with partners on the carpet and share their books with their reading buddy.

Then, everyone {including me} will put their favorite book in a book tub just for the day. We talk about how special the books are to each of us and how important it is to be extra careful “book lovers”. They take it so seriously…and it sort of melts my heart.

We left the books in there for the day and they LOVED it. It got them talking about books and sharing favorite parts and getting excited…about BOOKS! Which is a big huge (mostly main) reason that I love my job as much as I do. I love sharing my love for reading and then watching that fire ignite throughout the classroom.

If you want to do this with your little readers, here is the sign that I used for the front of the basket.