One of the foundational elements of my classroom is the read aloud timeline that was started many years ago (2009 is the first year that hangs on the wall!).  When I moved to first grade, I knew I wanted to at least try to keep the tradition going, but I wasn’t quite sure how that would happen.  Luckily, the class I have took very quickly to the idea of how it worked, and now this year’s addition to the timeline is already 12 books long!

One of the added features of the timeline images (which is decided by a class vote after everyone creates their favorite picture from the story) is a class book that includes all of the rest of the images.  Pretty great, right?  Everyone is involved!  Well, yes, it’s great….as long as the teacher remembers to take all of the pictures out of the turn-in drawer and make them into a book.  Which hadn’t happened yet this year until just the other day (nothing like the pressure of conferences coming up and wanting to have something ready to share with parents, huh?).  And in true first grade form, their excitement over the new bucket of books that THEY HAD CREATED was amazing.  And yes, as a blogging teacher, I had to take pictures of it!

FINALLY have all of our class books put together. And of course, as soon as I get caught up with something, things change and I’m behind again–we have finished two books since I made these and we’re ready to add in two more to our collection! We are READING MACHINES in Rm. 202!

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So like I said, the INSTANT I put the pile of new books out, they were all taken and kiddos were digging in!  It was a great combination of enjoying old favorites we’d read together, and of kids reflecting on how their work has changed since we finished our first book in August.  There’s a lot of growth that happens in almost 6 months of first grade!

What does read aloud look like for you?  Have you ever tried a timeline to document your reading journey?  We’d love to hear from you!