I am a huge fan of using read alouds to teach skills and strategies. And I also love using specific read alouds at the beginning of the school year to build community and set expectations. In this post, I want to share six of my favorite back to school read alouds (with free printables and digital activities) for upper elementary grades.
This post includes affiliate links if you wish to purchase the read alouds mentioned in this post.
Each Kindness
Each Kindness 
is the perfect book for building community from the very first week of school. The book tells the story of a young girl and her friends who are not nice to a new girl, who they view as different and weird. Throughout the book, the main character learns the importance of showing kindness, but it is too late to show kindness to the new girl who recently moved away.
This book is perfect for the upper grades because it is not too cutesy or youngish looking, which books with this theme sometimes are. I like to use this book to highlight the importance of being kind.
One activity that we do with this book is to look at an important quote from the book and discuss the meaning as it relates to our lives. You can write this quote on an anchor chart or marker board and have the students write their thoughts on a post-note. You could also use the printable/digital slide included in the free download at the end of the post.
I also like students to make a list of a few ways they can show kindness at home, at school, and in public places. I like to have them share their ideas and add other students’ ideas to their lists. Free printable and digital slide for this activity is included in the free download as well.
More Than Anything Else
I have used More Than Anything Else
for several years now. It is not a traditional back-to-school read aloud that most teachers use or gravitate toward. However, I love the powerful message it sends. The book is a fictionalized account of Booker T. Washington’s childhood where he struggled to overcome obstacles and learn to read.
Before we read the book, I ask students to write down what they want at this moment, more than anything else. You will have some students write thoughtful responses, but many will write video games or gaming systems.
Next, read the book and discover that the main character wanted to read more than anything else. It leads to a powerful discussion about how fortunate we are to have access to education. It also sets the tone for the year that learning and reading is important in life and should not be taken for granted.
I have included a free teacher guide printable and digital slide to help guide your discussion as you read the book in the free downloads included in this post.
The Important Book
The Important Book
is perfect to get students talking and writing about themselves and what makes them special. The book is full of creative poems about ordinary objects and what makes them special.
These poems each follow a predictable pattern, making it easy for the students to replicate. I like to have my students brainstorm, draft, and then publish their poems with illustrations. These make a great hallway display. They are also great to have out for a Back-to-School Open House night to show parents.
It’s Back to School We Go!: First Day Stories from Around The World
My students are always fascinated by how people live their lives in other parts of the world. It’s Back To School We Go!: First Day Stories from Around The World
shares one-page stories (with an accompanying list of facts) of children on their first day of school from areas all over the world.
I like to read a few of these stories and then discuss similarities and differences. I also like to use this book as a springboard for students to write about their own back to school day, including any family or community traditions. This is a common writing prompt to give after the first day of school, but I have found that using this book usually gets much more detailed (and interesting) writing from the students.
Decibella and Her Six-Inch Voice
Decibella and Her 6-Inch Voice
is a cute book about a girl with a very loud voice. I like reading this book at the beginning of the year because I always have some very loud fifth graders and some very quiet fifth graders. This book is perfect for setting the expectations for voice levels throughout the various school day activities.
You can use this book to make a voice level chart that you and your students can refer to as needed. Students can also complete a chart while you read the book to them. Free printable and digital chart included in the free download.
I Didn’t Do My Homework Because…
I Didn’t Do My Homework Because…
is a silly book full of ridiculous excuses for not having homework. Students will enjoy the silliness, and this is a great “break” during the busy first week of school.
I also like to use this book to introduce my homework expectations. After going over the expectations, my students write the main points on a printable (included in the free printables on this post) to keep in their homework folder. I know I could give my students a typed copy of my expectations, but I find they remember and pay attention better when we discuss them and write them together.
Download the Free Printables for the Back to School Read Alouds Here
Want More Back to School Activities and Resources?
If you are interested in more back-to-school activities for grades 4-5, check out these resources from my TpT store.
Other Back to School Activities, Freebies, and Blog Posts
Click on the links below to check out more activities and resources that are perfect for back to school.
Free Back-to-School Reflection Activity
Free First Day of School Morning Work Printables
Free Reading Interest Survey Activity
Free Reading Centers and Games for Launching Reading Centers
Free Math Centers Starter Packs
First 20 Days of Reading Instruction – Printable Pacing Guide with Notes
Wonderful ideas! I love reading to me students and they love it too! Thank you so much for the handouts!
You are so welcome!
I always read Mr. Peabody’s Apples (I have a version written by Madonna) it’s an old story. It’s about spreading rumors and that what you see isn’t always the full story. It discusses how spreading rumors hurts people and after mean things are spread you can never really take back what you’ve done even by saying sorry.
I love that for 5th graders! I just added that to my wish list. Thanks for the recommendation!
The Honest-to-Goodness Truth, by Patricia McKissack, is one of my favorites. I find that many of my 5th graders don’t filter their thoughts before they become words and end up hurting the feelings of or angering their classmates. This great book opens the door for discussion about considering the feelings of others before blurting out those thoughts that pop into their heads. And, when they do blurt out words that are received as unkind or hurtful, we have common ground to fall back on as we have discussion to re-establish the safe climate of our classroom.
I am definitely checking that out! Thanks so much for the recommendation!
I cannot thank you enough for sharing books that work in a fifth grade classroom, along with fabulous activities! Moving from third to fifth is a bit scary for me, but this certainly makes it easier! When I was in third, I loved reading Jeremiah Learns to Read. This book is also about someone (an older man in his 60s) that learns how to read, since he never learned as a child. Although he cannot read, he can do many other things well. It is an amazing book and the kids always love it.
You are so welcome! I moved from 3rd to 5th after my first year so I definitely understand being scared! I love the sound of that book and added it to my wish list! Thanks so much for the recommendation!
After 30 yrs in teaching, I will be teaching 4th grade for the first time having spent my career in PK-3. I quickly become your biggest fan and can’t wait to use your resources in my classroom this year. I plan on using Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt as my back-to-school read aloud and first novel study. I want my students to know they can be free to be themselves in my classroom –abd how to make the impossible possible.
This is awesome. Thank you for sharing!
I’m creating a round up post for my blog and I’d love to use this post in it. I’d include a link back to it. Is that OK?
Jennifer,
I love these ideas! Thanks so much for sharing. I was curious as to what are your homework expectations? What do you give for homework especially now with the push for ‘no homework’ floating around? I do not punish those who do not do their h/w and do not give a grade, however I do reward those that do it w/a lunch and movie on Fridays for those that completed all of their h/w for the week. I also use an economy system in my classroom and ‘pay’ students for doing their h/w and give bonuses as well. Then, I hold an auction twice a year and they spend their money on items donated by parents.
Awesome Back to School read aloud choices. Thank you so much. Going back to 5th gr in a few wks after being a Reading Interventionist for 3 yrs. This is very helpful
After 30 yrs in teaching, I will be teaching 4th grade for the first time having spent my career in PK-3. I quickly become your biggest fan and can’t wait to use your resources in my classroom this year. I plan on using Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt as my back-to-school read aloud and first novel study. I want my students to know they can be free to be themselves in my classroom –abd how to make the impossible possible.
Where can I find the printables that go along with the stories? I can’t seem to locate a link to them. Thanks.
I’m looking for the printables that go with Enemy Pie and Each Kindness. They were mentioned in a facebook post and now I am struggling to find them. Please help!
Love this! I always use these at the beginning of the school year in the classroom. However, we are starting the year with distance learning. Would you happen to have digital copies of these?
A book I always read is “A Very Ugly Bug” by Liz Pichon. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/the-very-ugly-bug-by-liz-pichon/
It is about a bug who wants to be beautiful like all her other bug friends, so she makes herself a disguise to look like her friends. However, this draws the attention of a bird who wants to eat her. Something strange happens and she learns that she has to be herself to be the bug she was meant to be. I love the theme of self-acceptance. My students always think it is too little kiddish when I first pull it out, but as I read it, they fall in love and laugh along the entire time. I really enjoy the discussions around this book every year. I read it to my personal kids (ranging from 9th grade to KDG) the night BEFORE school starts and talk about how they are loved by us and that we love them because they are unique and we don’t want anyone at school to convince them to change to fit in.
Thank you! I was struggling to find books for my 4th graders. These will work wonderfully 🙂
I absolutely love your recommendations for books that tie in with our 4th and 5th grade Language Arts. I was starting to make a spreadsheet that has the books aligned to the topics. I wanted to ask if you already have something that you could share?