It's been a long time since I had any first graders and now I have 2. Both really low reading level, still struggling with CVCs but have a handful of sight words down pat. Would love suggestions of what's good for this grade/reading level both for their own reading (based on the level I'm thinking some sad boring decodable books... RAZ and Bob and such...anything else I should know about?!) and to read aloud to them. So far I did Flat Stanley as a read-aloud which they loved but was maybe even a little above their level, they needed some help with comprehension but it was good enough that I'm going to get the others in the series. Looking for more suggestions around that grade/interest level. Preferably something that the classroom teachers aren't already using (I do extra support; Flat Stanley may not have been the best choice because I'm almost certain next year's classroom teacher reads it with everyone... too bad)
Nothing at all wrong with this. They'll have a chance to be the experts in the room. No good book recommendations outside of Dr. Seuss
Well, I try not to encroach on other teachers' territory. It's not nice to kill their chance to get kids excited about learning something new. I don't go way out to find out everything that will ever happen in class but if there's something that I happen to know is a big thing coming up I try not to do it.
Mo Willems' "Elephant and Piggie" books are awesome for first graders, along with his Pigeon books ("Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!") I'm not sure about the reading levels for a 1st grader to read them, but they're definitely high-interest for that age. Seconding Dr. Seuss. Also "Pete the Cat" was really popular with my 2nd graders last year -- those are very simple and would work with younger kids I think.
I second Elephant and Piggie and the Pigeon books! Those are fabulous for first grade. Pete the Cat is great for 1st as well. There are the original books and also easy readers with Pete the Cat. Any easy readers are great for the lowest readers. My kids used to LOVE Biscuit books.
Flat Stanley is level M ...definitely high for struggling first graders. They may enjoy it as a read aloud, but in resource you could be having them read at their own levels and you teach comprehension skills and strategies for them to use in independent reading. Have you done running records and miscues on your kiddos? Great suggestions....wonderful for inferring character traits!:thumb:
My firsties love the No David books. They have very few words, so they make them feel successful, but they also feel like a real book (a real picture book anyway.) They also like the Froggy and Fly Guy books.
Thank you for the suggestions! I'm remembering all the good books now I have been in middle school/jr high for about 5 years now and I feel old! One of my firsts is still reading too poorly to do much of a running record or story reading... has a long way to go but we're on the right road I think. The other I just met so we'll have to see, seems to be ahead of the first one.
I could live in Dr. Seuss at that age! Many of the others here also bring back some fond memories. Have high hope, realistic expectations, and a really good time along the way, and you will be remembered as a favorite teacher for years to come.
Also, I just remembered -- if you wanted to work on comprehension skills (maybe in between word practice or decoding practice), wordless books are really good for younger kids to just practice telling stories and inferring from pictures (not sure if that's something you would work on with them or if that would be more of a whole-class thing for the classroom teacher). It's a good way to get them some practice understanding the story without the stress of too many words they don't know (or just a fun break if reading just gets way too frustrating for the lower ones). One off the top of my head is called "Chalk," which has FANTASTIC illustrations and is really easy to follow. "The Lion and the Mouse" by Jerry Pinkney also has awesome illustrations. There are others that I can't remember but if you google them they'd show up. >_< Not sure if you'd use wordless ones or not though since you're working on CVCs and sight words and whatnot. (In which case just ignore this post haha)
Any books by Robert Munsch the students will love. The favorites are Stephanie's Ponytail, Alligator Baby, and Purple, Green, and Yellow. These are often readily available at the public libraries. Otherwise, they are available in paperback and the cost is very reasonable. These books are read by the author online and he is one of the best at being animated in his read alouds. His website is: http://robertmunsch.com/
