February Reads for the Classroom

Now that we have gotten back into the swing of things, February is a great month to celebrate love, honor the achievements of Black Americans and keep students motivated while having fun throughout the long and cold winter months. Here are some book suggestions:

Love Grows Everywhere by Barry Timms and Tisha Lee

This is a brand new title that just came out in January of this year. What I love about this book is that there is a rhyming text that students can keep a steady beat to. The characters in the book are also diverse, which makes this a great addition to your classroom library. Use this book to talk about love and the different ways we can love one another. Pair with song options such as Heart Songs for Kids and Valentine’s Day song by Jack Hartmann, and you have a wonderful lesson about love for your young students. 

Little Blue Truck: Valentine’s Day by Alice Schertle

This is another classic from the Little Blue Truck Series which I love to use with my students around Valentine’s Day. This book is a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a child-appropriate manner since it focuses on the truck delivering cards, which is what most of the students do during this time. Since this is a series that I enjoy so much, I have created a lesson and song specifically for this book. The lesson focuses on practicing solfege by having the students sing to the truck at the end of the story when the animals yell “Surprise!”. In addition, I have created a song that goes with this book so you can sing it after reading to your students. To access the song, please click here.

Since February is also Black History Month, there are many resources including books that celebrate the achievements of Black Americans. Here are a few artists that I choose to focus on in my classroom.

Before John Was a Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford

Jazz is a quintessential American art form which was founded by African American musicians in the late 19th century. John Coltrane (who happens to also be one of my favorite musicians) pioneered the use of modal music as well as the concept of free jazz which was an experimental approach to jazz improvisation. I love to either read this book followed by a video, or show my students the video read along that goes with this book. 

I love to use this book because it is concise, and very accessible for young learners to learn about this great musician. The pictures are very well done. They showcase his instruments and create a sense of constant motion with long lines symbolizing music weaving throughout the book.

A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russel-Brown 

Another icon whom I love to read about and show to my students, is Aretha Franklin. Well known for songs such as “Respect” and her singing of “Amazing Grace”, Aretha has earned her place as the Queen of Soul in the music world. She worked hard to not only entertain and be the best musician she could be, but worked to break barriers that prevented people who looked like her from being treated equally. 

This is an inspiring musician that I love to introduce to my students. I then play videos of Aretha’s music for them to listen to as examples of her work as well. Some of the videos that I play are Climbing Higher Mountains from 1972 and Amazing Grace. 

To conclude the lesson on Aretha, I then do this routine to the song “Respect” with my students. 

Hope that these can help you in the upcoming month!
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Musically yours,

Polina