I LOVE Daily 5 time and the independence it teaches my students. I get asked a lot about how I introduce my stations and help my students gain independence. Here are my 10 must have read alouds for introducing Daily 5 in the primary grades. 

These books are all used in my Daily 5 unit located in my Teacher's Pay Teachers store. You can find it here. My unit includes 12 complete lesson plans for launching Daily 5, anchor chart examples, and Daily 5 posters to display in your classroom. It is a must have resource for the beginning of the year! 

You can click on any of the book titles below for an Amazon affiliate link, where you can find a full summary and reviews of each book.  If you happen to order a book from the link provided, a I earn a small percentage of that sale, which goes towards the maintenance of my blog.

1. The Best Book to Read by Debbie Bertram & Susan Bloom

This book is great for any teacher or librarian at the beginning of the year. It really opens up the possibilities reading can lead to. It is sure to get students excited about picking out books and becoming better readers. 

2. Flotsam by David Wiesner

I absolutely love this book. The pictures are amazing and it has so many good talking points throughout it. Flotsam has no words so the kids really get to study the pictures and draw conclusions to what the author wants them to see and understand on each page. I love talking to my students about what cameras were like before everyone had one on their cell phones and that we actually had to sit and wait for our film to be developed. 

3. Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

Flora and the Flamingo is another wordless picture book that is great for introducing 3 ways to read a book. The pictures are elegant and the story is one of great friendship between Flora and the Flamingo. It has interactive pages that allow students to make inferences as to what will happen next. My students always love reading this book. 

4. The Best Place to Read by Debbie Bertram & Susan Bloom

This is the PERFECT book to introduce Daily 5 stations and picking the best place around the room to read. This is a book you can revisit anytime your students need a refresher on picking a place to work that they can be successful at. 

5. Dog in Boots by Greg Gormley

I have always struggled to teach my kindergarten students how to pick appropriate books to fill their book boxes with. This book was a complete game changer for me last year. I brought in different shoes of all different sizes and talked about how each shoe has a different purpose and fit just like books do. The connection is perfect for them to understand. 

6. The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

This is hands down one of my favorite books to share with my kiddos. It has so many important lessons in it. The main focus for reading it during daily 5 time is to show the kiddos that sometimes when things are hard, you have to persevere. This fits in perfectly when you are talking about building stamina. It also addresses what they can do when they become frustrated with a task that seems to be too difficult. 

7. How to Read a Story by Kate Messner

This book simply lays out the perfect way to read to someone. Kate Messner hit it out of the park with this one with her easy to follow steps for reading a story. This is a must have addition to your classroom library!

8. A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen

Writing can be a difficult task for students, especially the littles at the beginning of the year. They often feel they can't write because they don't know how to spell any words. This book will give every student from beginning writers to more experienced first and second grade students the inspiration to write fantastic stories. 

9. Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon

Another daunting task for beginning writers is picking a topic. Let's be honest, even experienced writers sometimes struggle to find something to write about. Ralph Tells a Story will help students see that stories are every where! 

10. Max's Words by Kate Banks

Word work is another area that I always struggled to show students value in- because of that, Max's words is the perfect book to use to introduce it. It shows students that collecting words can be fun. It is a great introduction into different word work stations and the importance learning new words holds in their journeys to become better readers.  

​Bonus Book:  Word Collector by Sonja Wimmer 

The title of this book says it all. Luna collects words and gives them out to others. When her words are all gone, she starts to panic. She then realizes that the words she had handed out are being developed into new words. That is why this is another great addition to classroom libraries and for introducing Daily 5's word work. 

Needing more advice or tips about Daily 5? You can check out how I organize Daily 5 here.