Spring is here and that means it is time to unpack all the spring books! I have a list of my top ten favorites for you, as well as a fun way to build comprehension skills with your students!

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Read-aloud time is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love the closeness of the children as they gather around me. I love the interactions we have as we think through the stories together. I love watching their expressions and hearing their reactions as the stories come alive for them, and I love being able to introduce them to new authors and illustrators and genres and characters.

I also love being able to teach them to hold onto what they have heard and what they have read. I am an avid reader myself, and I believe that reading opens up so many doors for us. It takes us on adventures we could never experience on our own. It exposes us to problems and situations that teach us and guide us and humble us. It helps us to develop our dreams in ways we could have never imagined. We need to teach students how to hold onto all that information, so they can tuck it away to be used throughout their life.

One way I like to help students hold onto what they read or what they heard read aloud, is to use interactive retelling bookmarks. So often students do not want to take the time to think about what they have read after the book is done, but interactive retelling bookmarks help them to remember to slow down and give their brains some time to process what they have seen and heard.

I give each student a laminated bookmark and a clothespin. I also give each student a copy of the retelling bookmark questions to keep in their individual reading folders. We start out by spending a good amount of time retelling books together using our bookmarks and clothespins to keep track of the story elements we are reviewing. So for example, if the read aloud was If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, we would all start with our clothespins on setting and we would ask and answer the question “When and where does the story take place?” Once we have come up with the answer, then we would move our clothespins down to characters and ask and answer the question “Who is the story about?” “Who else was important in the story?”

After the students get a good understanding of how to use the bookmarks as a group, we would then start to use them with our “turn and talk partners” after read alouds. So we would all be working on the same story element together, but instead of answering together as a class, students would turn to their partners and answer each question together in partnerships. For example, “turn and talk to your partner about how the main character felt at the beginning of the story”.

Once the students have mastered using the retelling bookmarks with “turn and talk partners”, then I would have the students start using their bookmarks during their independent reading times to self-assess their comprehension and to help them process what they read.

My students LOVE using these retelling bookmarks and I think your students will too! You can get your own set of bookmarks and questions as a FREEBIE by clicking on the picture below or clicking HERE.

I also love having my students respond to read alouds using reading response sheets.

The beauty of these reading response sheets is

1. every child has a voice and is able to get their thoughts down on paper

2. it is a great way to assess comprehension

3. it is a quick and easy way to incorporate a quick writing activity into your daily routine

4. it is a fun way to practice speaking and listening skills by having students share their responses with the class when they are done

   They can be used for independent reading as well, although I caution against making this a requirement after every book read. This takes the joy out of reading and the fun out responding.

   You can see all the different reading response choices and purchase your own set for your classroom HERE.

Now let’s dive into that list of spring books shall we?

1. Five Tough and Tiny Seeds

   Five Tough and Tiny Seeds follows the journey of different seeds through rhyming and repetition. Students love the story line and don’t be surprised if you all end up singing this one the rest of the day! There is a great graphic about the life cycle from seeds to plants in the back of the book which students will love to refer back to!

 

2. And Then It’s Spring

After a winter filled with snow, a boy and his dog decide to build a garden. After digging and planting, they finally see that spring might be right around the corner. My students appreciate the use of the illustrations depicting not only the change of season but also being patient and waiting for things to grow.

 

3. Busy Spring

Follow a family as they explore the many ways nature changes from winter to spring. My students love that they can find the same examples in their own backyard and at school!

 

4. Spring Is Here: A Bear and Mole Story

Mole can already smell that it is spring and does everything he can think of to wake up Bear. However, Bear keeps sleeping. This book is perfect for focusing on seasonal changes, specifically, winter into spring.

 

5. Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

When a boy and his dog take a walk outside, they observe all of the beautiful changes that come with spring. The beautiful and detailed illustrations emphasize the seasonal transitions well. I especially love that this book is written as a conversation between the boy and nature.

 

6. Up In the Garden and Down In the Dirt

This book dives into the world of a garden (both above and below ground). While chickens scratch and seeds are planted, bugs and worms are thriving below. I especially love that while this book originates in the early spring season, it explores the changes in the garden throughout the entire year.

 

7. The Wonder of Thunder

This book is full of whimsical rhymes that focus on the positive aspects of thunderstorms. My students LOVE Sally Storm and the bright and colorful pictures!

 

8. On the Same Day In March

On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World’s Weather focuses on the concept of very different weather happening around the world on the same day. My students are fascinated by this concept and the use of vivid illustrations and poetic language.

 

9. Bently & Egg

During Bently’s time “egg-sitting” for his friend, he decides to paint the shell. When the egg is mistaken for a painted Easter Egg, Bently realizes that he needs to somehow get it back. Kids LOVE the silly adventure this artistic frog embarks to return the egg back to the nest.

 

10. When Spring Comes

The simple and soft illustrations of When Spring Comes are perfect for introducing the concept of seasonal change. This joyful book focuses on plants and animals in nature during the transformation of winter to spring.

 

Hope your students enjoy their retelling bookmarks and these fun spring read alouds! If you are looking for other ELA spring activities to do with your students you may want to try these spring word ladders! They are another favorite in my classroom! You can find them HERE.

Happy Spring! And I would love to hear from you if you try the retelling bookmarks with your students! Let’s chat about it!