Page 39 of 146

2017: The Year of The Picture Book Read Aloud

Colby Sharp 3 Comments

There is nothing like reading a picture book aloud to children. Each day with my third graders ends with me reading them a picture book on the carpet. It is the perfect way to end a school day.

Friday afternoons Margie Culver visits my classroom and reads aloud to my students. My students adore her, and LOVE listening to her read aloud. I knew that she would be a huge hit with my students. What I didn’t anticipate was how much I would love her read alouds. I rarely have the opportunity to sit in a classroom with a bunch of kids while a Read Aloud Master shares a book with kids. Margie is crazy good at reading aloud.

I feel like 2017 is filled with tons of great picture books to read aloud to kids. I can’t tell if 2017 is a really strong year, or if I am just noticing more great read alouds because I’m getting a chance to be on the receiving end of read alouds more this year.

Here are some 2017 picture books that are great for read alouds.

Rodzilla

Written by: Rob Sanders

Art by: Dan Santat

rodzilla.jpg

I read this book to 3 of my kids on Saturday. It was a hoot. They were flipping out. If you read this one aloud to kids, don’t do it cuddled up in a chair. You’ll need to stand up, and get really into it. Rodzilla reminded me of the first Lego Movie. I’m really looking forward to reading it aloud to my third graders.

The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors

Written by: Drew Daywalt

Art by: Adam Rex

legend.jpg

Margie read this one to my third graders on Friday. They were all about it. Rock, Paper, and Scissors demand that you read their characters to life with charisma. I can’t think about this book without smiling.

By Quiet!

Words and Art by: Ryan T. Higgins

be quiet.jpg

If you haven’t read this book, this is what you need to do.

  1. Pick up two friends
  2. Drive to your favorite independent bookshop. (I recommend Bookbug)
  3. Find the book Be Quiet!
  4. Each of you select a mouse
  5. Perform a reader’s theater for everyone in the bookshop

Tony

Word by

Art by: Erin Stead

tony.jpg

Thirty years ago people would have thought that this book was gorgeous. Today people think this book is gorgeous. Thirty years from now people will think this book is gorgeous.

Animal Ark

Words by: Kwame Alexander

Photographs by: Joel Satore

animal.jpg

 

It feels a little bit like Kwame Alexander is taking over the world.

Can an Aardvark Bark?

Words by: Melissa Stewart

Art by: Steve Jenkins

aardvark.jpg

Beautifully written text: Check

Amazing illustrations: Check

Outstanding design: Check

***************************************

I asked my pals on Twitter to share some of their favorite 2017 picture book read alouds. You’ll find their responses below.

The Best Part of My Day Volume 2

Colby Sharp Leave a comment

goat!.jpg

Yesterday was pretty special. We had the opportunity to attend a field trip at our county fairgrounds where the focus was agriculture. I LOVE when my students have the opportunity to learn together outside of our classroom. My favorite station was the one about goats. Goats are so interesting!

IMG_0998.JPG

subscribe.jpg

I’d love to know the best part of your day. Share it on Twitter using the hashtag #BestPartofMyDay, leave a comment or send me an email (colbysharp@gmail.com).

 

The Best Part of My Day Volume 1

Colby Sharp Leave a comment

My third graders seem to always be talking about YouTube channels. They are obsessed with DanTDM. One of them even went to an event with Dan himself. Crazy. A handful of them have even started their own YouTube channels.

IMG_0985

My new students book box. The kids were so excited to share their favorite titles with him.

I’m always trying to find ways to understand and relate to the world that they are living in, so I decided to dust off my YouTube account. I’m going to try and regularly vlog about the best part of my school day.

subscribe.jpg

15 Second Book Talks Take 1

Colby Sharp 4 Comments

I am really digging the Stories feature on Instagram. It seemed like a good idea to see how I could use this feature to work on my book talking skills.

What I have to work with:

  • 15 seconds of video
  • Instagram Stickers, Emojis, and Text
  • My Voice
  • 140 Twitter Characters (I don’t have these when I post to Instagram, but I can use them when I post the video to Twitter)

Creating a good book talk using all of my tools in such a short amount of time is way harder than I anticipated. I had to reshoot the video a bunch of times for each book talk. Hopefully, I’ll get better with a little practice.