Check out LEE & LOW BOOKS’ Building Classroom Community Unit for Kindergarten! The FREE and downloadable unit consists of eight read aloud lesson plans to inspire your best classroom community yet.

The start of the kindergarten year is ripe with opportunities for building long-lasting positive school behaviors and attitudes. Time spent building relationships and establishing social and academic expectations can pay dividends all year long.

Using a rich collection of diverse picture books to support this work lays the foundation for a classroom culture of appreciation and acceptance.

The Building Classroom Community Unit for Kindergarten consists of eight read aloud lesson plans. Each lesson paired with a book is intended for multiple days so that from the beginning students are exposed to close reading and the value of multiple readings. We believe the first eight read alouds, or roughly the first two months of school, are critical to setting the tone of your classroom community, read aloud procedures, and expectations for engagement.

During this unit you will:

• help students connect to one another by discussing things they like and their families
• share goals for the kindergarten year to create a sense of shared purpose
• establish a common vocabulary for discussing emotions, which will support both social and literacy goals
• generate clear, specific expectations for active listening in groups and partnerships, respectful communication, treating one another with kindness, solving problems, and working together as a community of learners.

Each lesson may be used as a stand alone, but we hope that using these books as a broad unit will help lay the foundation for a strong classroom community with strong learning expectations. We designed the unit to spiral. Additionally, each lesson and book can be adapted for other grades (and we hope you will do this!).

Book extension activities provide initial opportunities to practice these crucial behaviors, and the resource materials you create will support ongoing focus on these topics.

Here’s to a meaningful year of reading!

Download the FREE Building Classroom Community Unit for Kindergarten here

• FULL Unit
• Lesson 1 with Gracias~Thanks
• Lesson 2 with Quinito, Day and Night/Quinito, día y noche
• Lesson 3 with Moony Luna/Luna, Lunita Lunera
• Lesson 4 with Cora Cooks Pancit
• Lesson 5 with Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina
• Lesson 6 with David’s Drawings
• Lesson 7 with Juna’s Jar
• Lesson 8 with Rainbow Stew

Further reading on teaching literacy in kindergarten

• What Does Close Reading Look Like In Kindergarten?
• How to Read with Your Rising Kinder This Summer
• Integrating Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening In Grades K-1
• How To Compare And Contrast With The Common Core In Kindergarten
• The Right Read Aloud for the Classroom Community You Want This Year
• How to Read with Your Rising Kinders and First Graders
• Back to School Reading List PREK–2

Guided Reading Collections from Bebop Books

• Guided Reading Level A
• Guided Reading Level B
• Guided Reading Level C
• Guided Reading Level D

Stay tuned for first and second grades!