21 January Read Alouds for the Classroom

2020…what a year! It’s time to leave it in the past and look forward to 2021. January read alouds are a great way to rekindle a love of reading! As a teacher, I strive to consistently read aloud to my class each day, no matter what is on the schedule. I admit that the end of 2020 was a FLOP! I struggled to find chapter books that kept my class engaged and loving our class read aloud time.

Thus, I created this list of 21 books to read aloud to my class! No matter the type of read aloud…mentor text, chapter book, a book for First Chapter Friday…I know these books are bound to please and keep the class engaged!

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Picture Book Read Alouds

January is full of great National Holidays…my students love to hear about these special days and to learn more about these unique holidays of the month! You can use any or all of these book for January read alouds!

January 2nd- Science Fiction Day: Science Fiction is a genre that is somewhat neglected in my classroom library and I am looking for more books in this area. One of the great read alouds for this day is Baloney (Henry P.) by Jon Scieszka! I even have a resource to supplement this book, which can be found here.

January 4th- National Spaghetti Day: YUM! Raise your hand if you love spaghetti! Pause for all hands raised. 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Jodi Barrett

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy

January 8th- Earth’s Rotation Day: Do your students know how the earth rotates? No matter if you answer yes or no, your students will enjoy Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty. 

January 9th- Word Nerd Day: What’s your one word for the year? Who says that you have to choose only one word? The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds teaches readers the love of words and is perfect to supplement any one word activities in your classroom.

January 15th- Hat Day: I am not someone you will see in a hat very often…but my students do love a good hat day at school! You can read I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen to kick off a day of wearing a hat, just for fun!

January 18th- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Words cannot describe the impact that Martin Luther King, Jr. had on the world (and still does). There are so many books to choose from, but these are my favorites to share with students:

Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You by Carole Boston Weatherford

January 18th is also Winnie the Pooh Day and the book Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick is a treasure that your students will love.

January 20th- Inauguration Day: Do your students want/need to learn more about the president and vice-president set to be inaugurated? Joey: The Story of Joe Biden by Dr. Jill Biden and Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes are informative books that will help kids learn more about the people that represent our country.

Chapter Book Read Alouds

Hands down, my favorite read aloud in January is Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea. I read this book to my class every year and they are so entranced during the read aloud and cannot wait to hear what happens next. The chapters are short and told from multiple character perspectives. This book also leads to great discussions as a class. As soon as we finish, my class always wants me to read aloud the next book in the series.

Another emotional, thought-provoking book is Pax by Sara Pennypacker. I read this book aloud to my class last year and they loved it! Depending upon your level of students, you may need to explain some of the events that occur and the background of what is happening during the story.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen is a student favorite book. This book is packed full of adventure and shows how life can mature us in ways we never knew.

What’s the truth? That’s all Zoe wants to know about her incarcerated father. From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks helps students learn about the inequality of the criminal justice system.

If you want to find other books related to the struggles of BIPOC, I suggest reading Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes or Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson.

First Chapter Friday Books to Read Aloud

Are you familiar with First Chapter Friday? If not, you can read all about it in my blog post here! Here are some suggestions for January read alouds:

The Unteachables by Gordon Korman

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Do you have any recommendations for me? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Happy Reading,

April

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