Finding new read alouds and books to share with my first graders is one of my favorite things to do!
Have you ever noticed how incredible it is to find another person who has read the same book as you.
I'll be scrolling through instagram and see that another teacher read they same book for me and i'm like… are we friends? It feels like we should be friends.
I mean, the connection is instant and I don't know anything about that person. (Other than they have great taste in books, obviously!) The same can be said for students. When they see a book, they often exclaim (quite loudly) “Hey! I've read that book before!”.
It really is a joyous thing to experience. With that being said, I couldn't wait to share my favorite Winter Holiday Read Alouds with you!
20 Winter Read Alouds and Books for First Grade
Classic Winter Read Alouds and Books
- Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. Shop here.
- Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright. Shop here.
- The Hat by Jan Brett. Shop here.
- The Mitten by Jan Brett. Shop here.
- The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. Shop here.
- The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll. Shop here.
- There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro. Shop here.
- The Story of Snow by John Nelson, PhD. Shop here.
- Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. Shop here.
- Snowmen at Work by Caralyn Buehner. Shop here.
- Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. Shop here.
- Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.Shop here.
- How to Catch a Snowman by Adam Wallace. Shop here.
New Winter Books and Read Alouds
- Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes. Shop here.
- Snowglobe Wishes by Erin Dealey . Shop here.
- Magic of Friendship Snow by Andi Cann. Shop here.
- The Giving Snowman by Julia Zheng. Shop here.
- Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein. Shop here.
- The Luckiest Snowball by Elliot Kreloff. Shop here.
- Wintercake by Lynne Rae Perkins. Shop here.
Winter Book Studies for First Grade
If you are looking for something with more instructional components rather than a simple read aloud, let me introduce you to book studies.
Book studies are beneficial for first grade students for several reasons:
- They allow you to do a deep dive into a book and use one book throughout the week and cover several different reading comprehension strategies such as retell, problem and solution or even comparing and describing characters.
- You could also use several different books to teach a comprehension strategy to mastery. For instance, if you wanted to focus on Story Retell, you could read a different Winter themed book a day and complete the same retell activity with each book so that students get plenty of practice with that skill.
You can find my Winter “Click and Print” Book Bundle here. It includes Tacky the Penguin, Sneezy the Snowman, The Hat and the Mitten!
Easy Ways to Boost Reading Fluency
The first stage of reading is learning how to decode and sound out the words. The second stage of reading is learning how to do that quickly and in a natural sounding way!
There are countless reading activities that can help students become efficient readers.
But the success of reading activities depends on something that most teachers don't talk about… having fun! If students are having fun, they are naturally going to read better and faster!
[Click here to read 10 FUN activities to increase reading fluency]
4 Easy Tips for Improving Reading Fluency
-Model fluent reading : First grade students need to hear what they SHOULD sound like when they are reading and as teachers, we need to model it for them. Put simply, students need to know the expectation for oral reading.
-Book Repetition : Reading the same book multiple times might seem silly, but it is really beneficial for first grade students because it helps them transition between the decoding and fluency stages of reading. During the first read, students are working hard at decoding. But by the second or third reading, students are familiar with the words and can focus more on how fast they are reading or what they sound like.
-Sight Word Phrases : Practicing short phrases or word ladders can be done super quickly and it’s great to send home for parents; this is also a great strategy for learning sight words because it helps students learn them in the same context they will most likely see them in a book
-Go Down Two Reading Levels : You can have students go down two reading levels below their current instructional level a few times a week. This strategy will help students build their words per minute because they are not having to work so hard at decoding; it will also help build student confidence which is KEY for improving reading fluency in first grade.
More First Grade Read Aloud Tips
