September Read Alouds: Everyday Animals

I read aloud to my reading intervention students every Thursday. My main instructional goals for these read alouds is to build students' background knowledge/schema, teach new vocabulary, and to build students' fluency. I strategically focus on building schema and vocabulary because many of my students are English Language Learners whom can benefit greatly from being exposed to new vocabulary through natural language experiences.

 

This year I decided to have a theme to my read alouds, so we are building a store of knowledge though out the year. This year we'll be reading about animals of the world. Each month we'll cover a different region of the world with its respective animals. I tried to find a topic that is appealing to students in grades 1-4. I also work with 4th-5th graders, but I have a different read aloud focus with them.

 

Here are the books we read in September. We started first learning about animals close to home. Before I read each book, kids shared what they knew about insects, ducks, or bees. During the reading they asked questions or fixed misconceptions about prior knowledge. After reading, they shared out what they learned. I only have about 20 minutes for the read aloud, so we move quickly.

 

Insect Detective, by Steve Voake, illustrated by Charlotte Voake

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• dragonfly
• moth
• wasps
• earwigs
• scuttle

Facts learned:

• Insects have 6 legs
• wasps are different than bees
• wasps make their own paper nests
• insects use camouflage protect themselves

Ducks Don't Get Wet, by Augusta Goldin and Helen K. Davie

 

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• oil glands
• preening/to preen
• bill
• waterproof

Facts learned:

• Ducks have feathers (not fur)
• Ducks migrate to warmer places in the winter
• Some ducks eat fish, other ducks eat dragonflies or other insects
• Ducks can be different colors
• Duck have bills, not beaks

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive, by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruse Degen

Students enjoyed learning these new words:

• pollen
• nectar
• beekeeper
• beehive
• guard bees

Facts learned:

• There are guard bees outside of the hive, that do not let in bees that don't belong to the hive
• The queen bee mates with the worker bees
• Bees communicate to each other by "dancing"

All in all the students enjoyed the Magic School Bus book a lot. They thought it was silly!! But each week a student brings up a connections they had to one of these read alouds, outside of the read aloud time. This month we'll be learning more about the animals of Africa!!

 

I'm linking up at Hope is the Word. Visit the link to check out other awesome read aloud posts!

Be well! Read on!