Four Great Read-Aloud Books for the First Month of School

One of my favorite parts of the school day is read-aloud time.  Luckily, my fifth graders also love read-aloud time.  I usually do read-aloud after recess and it provides a great calm transition back into the classroom for the afternoon.

Today I am sharing four of my favorite read-aloud book choices for the first month of the school year.  These are all books I personally love.  They are also books my students have loved and begged me to “keep reading!”.

Wonder

Auggie, the main character in this story, was born with a facial deformity and is attending school for the first time at the age of 10.  The book teaches the lesson “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  I started reading this novel to my class when it was first published.  Once it became well known many of my students had already read it by the time they got to my 5th grade class so I stopped using it as a read-aloud for a while.  Now that the book is a few years old, not everyone has read it so I plan to add it back into my read-aloud rotation.  I love this book because it really puts the reader into the world of Auggie and the kids really feel empathy towards him and frustration towards the other characters in the book who treat him badly.

Rules

12 year old Catherine wants to have a “normal” life, but that is hard when her brother David has autism and her family seems to revolve around his needs.  She feels ignored and gets frustrated.

This is another book that gives the reader a chance to see everyday life from another persons point of view and think about people who are “different” in a new light.  My students always love this book and really make a connection with David and helps them learn more about autism.

Out of My Mind

Eleven-year-old Melody is unlike most of her classmates. She can’t walk, talk or write.   She has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, but no one knows she is also incredibly smart and has a photographic memory.  

So much of Melody is just like every other eleven year old, but most people only see her wheelchair and disability.  This is another great book about not judging a book by its cover- there is A LOT more to Melody than you see on the outside!

Fish in a Tree

“Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.”

This is the quote that this whole book is centered on.  The main character, Ally, has dyslexia and has spent most of her time in school believing she was dumb.  When a new teacher comes into her life she learns that there are many different ways of being smart, and that anyone can learn if given the right tools.  

I love this book because in the beginning my students always think Ally is just a class clown, or a trouble maker because she uses those behaviors to hide her disability.  When they learn the real reason behind Ally’s actions in the classroom their assumptions about her are challenged.

This book challenges my students to think deeper about what is behind peoples behaviors and to not always make assumptions about what is going on in other peoples lives.

All four of these books challenge my students to see people from a different point of view, to learn more about people who have a variety of disabilities and help them to understand that we all have more things in common than we have differences.

What are some of your favorite read aloud books?