What a fantastic (Coretta Scott King Award Winning) poetry book for students! This can serve as a great IR or PR assignment. This book is a collection of poems for children to read. It honors and celebrates poets of all backgrounds. What a great way to get your students interested in poetry. I think a great idea for a lesson plan would be to pair students up and have them choose one poem to annotate or write about. We love choice in the classroom!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! A great storytelling, Science Fiction picture book for the classroom! This is a story about an inventor who invents a machine that can turn water into food. When it rained, it rained FOOD! All types of weather now just brought in food. What a life!
Again, I found a great YouTube Read Aloud video you can adapt in your lesson plan.
https://youtu.be/q5uXp4694sE

This RA, poetry picture book is one for your shelves. The author takes you on a trip of old Harlem and present-day Harlem. You learn about the best and the worst of it. *Fun fact: his son is who illustrated the cover!* This poem is great for grades 5-8 to dive into and dissect.

This RF, RA, Caldecott Award winning picture book is written and illustrated by John Rocco. This children's book focuses on a family that is always too busy to stop and spend time with each other. Until, one night when the power on the block goes out: blackout. The family is forced to stop what they're doing and just be with each other. This book really teaches us the importance of family and communication.
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Wow! What a great SR/RA, Animal Fantasy (fiction) picture book. On National Rodent Day, Jenny decides to throw a party. After some discussion, every rodent decides it's finally time to try and escape the sewers. The book then takes us on a wild adventure of Jenny and the rodents across the narrow seas. When they finally hit land, they discover the Island of the Skog, but they soon realize that they are not alone. They band together to defeat the

Jump into Science with Steve Tomecek's picture book “Dirt.“ What a great IR/RA, nonfiction book for your classroom. This book takes a deep dive into what dirt is. We learn where it comes from, what it is made of, what different kinds of dirt there are, and much much more. It's the perfect choice to accompany a science lesson on soil or the Earth. I suggest using it for 3rd-5th grade students. The following cpalms link takes you to a ELA lesson

Caldecott Winner, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. This Modern Fantasy book is great for storytelling or read alouds in your elementary classes!! The story revolves around a young donkey, Sylvester Duncan, who collects rocks. One day he finds a rather unique rock and decides to add it to his collection. Strangely, Sylvester finds himself making wishes throughout the day, with the rock in his pocket, and all those wishes come TRUE!

Caldecott winner, When I Was Young in the Mountains is a must read IR, F picture book. In this book, the readers get a glimpse of a simple country life in the mountains. We learn that sometimes a person can have very little, but that very little means a great deal to them. The author describes a wonderful life of routine, sacrifice, family, and love. The pictures do such a great job of representing the story that you could almost learn the story

Caldecott Winner, Mirette on the High Wire is a great RF, S book for your primary students! Mirette has lived most of her life at a boarding house with her mom. One day a famous tight rope walker comes by to preform for the people at the boarding house. Mirette, who immediately falls in love with the sport, asks the Great Billini to teach her. He agrees and begins to teach her. Through their time together, Mirette helps him overcome his fears

In this B, storytelling picture book, we learn about the Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Her story is one of integrity, grit, and brilliance. She saw her homeland, Kenya, slowly withering away. Trees and forests were being cut down, crops were growing slower, and families became unhealthy. Her solution: plant more trees. We read about Wangari's 30+ year movement in planting vegetation all throughout Kenya.

This HF picture book dives into the different tribes that create the very first Americans! Long before Christopher Columbus discovered the land that is now America, there were multitudes of people living here. The author teaches us about what the tribes did, where they lived, how they ate, and what they did for fun. I'd say this is a great Read Aloud book, as it provides the teacher with opportunities to stop and ask questions.

In this Caldecott Winning, Fiction book, Little Wolf finds convinces himself that he must go and search for his enemies before they come and surprise attack his people. Early one morning, Little Wolf rides out in search of the Assiniboines. Before he can conquer his enemies, he's stuck a lake, waiting for the ancient buffalo to appear out of the water. When Little Wolf sees the buffalo, his instincts take over.

Fiona's Luck is a wonderfully fun MF picture book. With the disappearance of luck in Ireland, Fiona finds she may be the only person left to fix it. Fiona sets on a mission to trap the leprechauns. She has to convince them to return the luck to her country! Through many games and tricks, Fiona using her wits to trick the King into returning all the luck to Ireland. Eventually, the lands produce good crop again, and her people are saved.

This wonderful IR, NF, NYT Best Selling picture book talks about the story of a real little girl named Beatrice. She lives in Uganda with her mom and many siblings. One day, her family is gifted a goat, named Mugisa. Mugisa brings so many blessing to the family: milk, extra income, love, and companionship. Beatrice takes care of Mugisa the best she can, eventually earning enough money to attend school for the first time!

Wow! This book is amazing. This is definitely one you want to sit down with your students and read. “All Families Are Special“ is a great RA for your students. This book discusses all different types of families, and it presents it in a way that shows it's okay to not have just a mom, dad, and sibling at home. Families are what you make it. Norma Simon makes a point to explain that no matter who's at home, they love you and it's your family.

Stone Fox is a wonderful LC novel for your older elementary school kids! With his grandfather sick, Little Willy searches far and wide for a solution to their family's soon to be downfall. He goes on a long journey to keep his family's potatoes farm standing. When he discovers a race that just might save him, Little Willy does anything and everything he can to win. With the help of a new friend, Stone Fox, Little Willy saves the farm.

This TL, SR, Caldecott Award winning book is one for each primary classroom. This informative picture book dives deep into a variety of animals and their physical descriptions. The author has provided many an opportunity for the teacher to ask students questions and engage in conversations about animals. In the following link, you'll find a lesson plan idea that accompanies this book well: https://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewStandard/Preview/5681

The Good Egg by Jory John! This MF, PR New York Times Best Selling book is a wonderful story that teaches it's readers the importance of self-care. Our main character, the Good Egg, goes on a journey of self discovery. Each page, he learns something new about what he can and cannot handle. In the end, our Good Egg learns what he needs in life to be successful, leaving all his stress behind. I chose this book as a Partner Read because it pairs well

Wow, this book! This New York Times Best Selling, RF novel is one I will never forget. Our main character, Izzy, stars in a coming of age novel as she tries to navigate how she fits into the world. With a black dad and a white mom, Izzy finds herself struggling with her identity. With the help of her two best friends, Izzy dives into what it means to be yourself and eventually finds out exactly who she'd like to be.
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I'd recommend this RF book to any primary school teacher. The reader is taken on a journey with the main character, Jerome. As he begins collecting new words, he starts to understand more about the world around him, and more importantly, himself. This New York Times Best Seller is best used as a RA in the classroom. Reading aloud provides an opportunity to discuss the specific vocabulary your students need to review or learn.

This book reminds me of me! I was a word wizard in Elementary school. I loved learning new words and showing people I understood them! I even came to school once with a pad of paper to write down all the new words I heard!