Say WHAT? First Grade Rooted in Reading is on the Way!

If you read anything of mine, I am pretty sure you know my LOVE of books oozes out of every part of me.  I have been dying to share this secret so here we go: 

ROOTED IN READING FOR FIRST GRADE IS COMING YOUR WAY!!! WOOHOO!

Okay, now let's get back to where I should have started had I not been busting at the seams to share the news. Amy and I both taught first grade for several years. I taught first grade for seven years and Amy taught first grade for three years. When we say we GET the trials and tribulations and JOYS of first grade... we mean it! So, with that... we are heading back to our roots! Now that we have tackled 2nd Grade Reading and 3rd Grade Reading, we are sooooooo very ready to do the same with 1st Grade Reading!

Let me back up even further and tell you how the process began. After being asked nearly every single day for over two years if we would be releasing a first grade unit, we decided to give it a go. We wanted to choose the very best books for a year of reading in first grade. When I tell you that I've ordered more than 200 books just to find the right ones, I am not exaggerating (husband is not happy, but we won't get into that, ha!). What do we look for? Let me explain...

-Books that are age-appropriate but will challenge 6-7 year olds. Now, these books are not meant for a first grader to read on their own. These books are meant to be read aloud to your students so that you can model fluent reading and deeper-level thinking. These books will anchor your learning each week.

-Books that are DIVERSE. We want to see different cultures represented in the books.

-Books from different genres: fiction, nonfiction, folktales, biographies, poetry, etc.

-Books that support the very popular First Grade teaching themes such as apples, pumpkins, penguins, frogs, weather, fairy tales, etc. so that they can fit seamlessly into your current instruction.

And most importantly... Books that your students and YOU will LOVE. And we believe wholeheartedly you will LOVE every single one of the books we have chosen!

Without further adieu, we bring you the Book List for 1st Grade!

Please Note: We have provided Amazon links below. They may not be the best price, so it is certainly a good idea to look around! We suggest looking on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Thrift Books, Half Price Books, and Scholastic. {Amazon Aff. Links below}

August Books:

School's First Day of School, Nerdy Birdy, The Bad Seed, Sylvie

September Books:

Make Way for Ducklings, Real Cowboys, How to Make Apple Pie and See the World, Honey...Honey...Lion!

October Books:

Hoot and Peep, The Girl Who Thought in Pictures, Pumpkin Soup, If Your Monster Won't Go To Bed

November Books

A Plump and Perky Turkey, The Scarecrow's Hat, Maddi's Fridge, Amazing Grace

December Books:

Oskar and the Eight Blessings, Over and Under the Snow, The Animal's Santa, The Great Spruce

January Books:

Ida, Always, Penguin in Peril, Chameleons are Cool, The Darkest Dark

February Books:

The Koala Who Could, Radiant Child, The Big Bed, Cloudette

March Books:

Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion, The Mermaid, The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig, After the Fall

April Books:

Thunder Underground, I Don't Want to Be a Frog, Wangari's Trees of Peace, Farfallina and Marcel

May Books:

Jabari Jumps, Naughty Mabel, Alligators and Crocodiles, Chicks and Salsa

What about the actual units?

-The units will NOT be bundled until April of 2019. That means there will be NO GROWING BUNDLE. You may ask, KATIE WHY????? Y'all. They are too stressful. We work so hard on these units. Each month takes over 120-150 hours to create. If we are 10 minutes late to uploading a month people are ready to have our heads. So, if I'm being honest. I just can't handle the stress!

-Each month will be uploaded with PLENTY of time to prep it for the next month. Our August unit will be available on or near April 19th! That means you have several months to get ready for the next school year.

-What standards and skills will be addressed with each book? Oh, I'm so glad you've asked! We have already mapped out the ENTIRE YEAR! You can find that HERE. Now, please know that we may have to change things along the way. We may have to switch skills around, but this will be what we try to go by for the entire year.

-What subjects will be covered with each unit? We will include comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and grammar each week. We will also have respond to reading through writing with directed drawings and crafts. They will be very similar to our 2nd and 3rd grade units, but we will make some changes to ensure they are appropriate for first grade. We will also continue to create a Nonfiction Reader to go along with each book.

-Have any other questions? Please download the overview first and look through all of it. Then, if you have any questions you can leave those ON THIS POST! We will respond to all questions below!