This has to be my favorite day of our Unwrapping Holiday Classroom Ideas Series! Using great books for read alouds in my classroom is always the highlight of my day. There are so many great books for the Christmas season that it is hard to fit them all in....but that doesn't stop me from trying! Today I am sharing one of my student's favorites with you.
I love all things about Christmas and the holiday season! One of my favorite things of the season is sharing great literature with my students. Auntie Claus has been a student favorite for several years.
WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?
WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?
Auntie Claus is a delightful story about a young girl named Sophie who is spoiled by her wealthy parents. In this story, Sophie gets a lesson about the true spirit of Christmas and learns that it is better to give than to receive. This story does a great job of illustrating that there is more to Christmas than the number of gifts you get under the tree.
SHARE A READ ALOUD THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
By third grade, many teachers have stopped reading aloud picture books to their students because they don't see a benefit to it. My third graders participated in a picture book read aloud on a daily basis. Where is the benefit you ask? Making traditional read alouds more interactive is a great way for teachers to model thinking about the text. When students are able to hear their teacher's thought process while reading, they are better equips to become critical thinkers as they read independently.
Interactive read aloud is also a great way to teach the comprehension strategies that you want the students to be practicing when they are reading independently. During an interactive read aloud, the teacher will stop to model their thinking (Think Aloud).
The students are also given the opportunity to talk about the book with their peers (Turn and Talk). Interactive read aloud is a great way strengthen students' listening and speaking skills along with their comprehension.
USING AUNTIE CLAUS IN THE CLASSROOM
When planning for an interactive read aloud, it is important to preread the text, so that you can have your questions prepared before you begin the read aloud. This allows you to maximize the effectiveness of the read aloud.
With everything planned for you, all you need to do is grab a copy of the book from your school or public library and enjoy reading it with your students.
The teacher lesson guide outlines stopping points throughout the text where you can model how good readers think about the text they are reading.
The lesson guide also provides suggestions for students to turn and talk with their partner about the text.
Students can further demonstrate their learning by completing a thinking map in response to the story. The FREEBIE includes a thinking map/graphic organizer for students to record their observations about how Sophie changes from the beginning of the story to the end of the story.
If you don't use read alouds in your classroom, I encourage you to give it a try this month. Everything you need for Auntie Claus is available as a FOREVER FREEBIE by clicking on the image above.
A special thanks to Brandi at Focused on Fifth for hosting this great series....I have found so many great ideas that I have been able to use this year and pin for next year. Thanks for stopping by my blog and be sure to check out all the other great ideas for holiday books in the links below.
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