#018: Building Community and Teaching Expectations with Picture Books

Classroom teachers have battled behavior issues as long as there have been schools.

Whether you're going to be teaching online or preparing for next year in the classroom, teaching students your expectations is important in creating a smooth running classroom and students who know the boundaries and expectations. That doesn't change no matter where you teach. Your students will be happier and so will you!

Using read alouds is a simple strategy to help you teach all the important norms in your classroom and begin to develop a positive culture. Picture books are an engaging and fun way to open the conversation about expectations.

This episode might be short, but it deals with an important piece to starting your school year.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Before you jump into book selection, make sure you know exactly what you want to teach and check each book to make sure it's not preachy. 

Here's a peek at what's inside this episode:

• Why I use picture books to teach expectations, rules and classroom culture.
• The 4 things you should to address with books.
• How using stories opens students up to hearing the message and internalizing it.
• What makes for a memorable book and lesson.
• Why the conversation you have around the books is even more important than the story itself.

Click here to listen. Don't forget to grab my Back-to-School Booklist below.

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Links from this episode:

You can grab the following resources from my Freebies Vault here. 

• Back-to-School Booklist
• Power Phrase Worksheet 
• Teacher's Guide to Creating Desirable Habits in the Classroom

Here's links to other resources you might find helpful:

• Join the Teach Joyfully Facebook Community
• Purposeful Sponge Activities for the Elementary Classroom
• Parent Email Template System