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In A Jar by Deborah Marcero is so heartwarming and sweet! The message in this book makes it the perfect end of year read aloud. It’s perfect to use when you want your students to do an end of school year reflection, thinking about the memorable moments of the school year.
What is this end of year read aloud book about?
This beautiful picture book is about a rabbit who collected memories in jars with his best friend. One day, his best friend moved away and he was back to collecting memories on his own. He then realized that he could share his experiences with his best friend by sending her some of his jars.
This is such a great picture book that touches on the importance of the memories that your class has created and shared with each other throughout the school year.
It’s perfect for the end of school year read aloud, allowing students to reflect back on the wonderful memories that they shared as a class.
You can make this a stand alone end of year read aloud or pair it with different activities.
I use this book along with some last week of school activities with my 4th graders.
This book is one of the end of year read alouds that I do in my classroom during the last week of school. Check out the links to the other end of year read alouds and activities below.
In A Jar Read Aloud Lesson Plan for End of Year:
My Objective:
To reflect back on the wonderful memories that we shared together during the school year.
Pre-Reading
I love using Turn and Talk strategy during my read alouds. This strategy allows all students to talk and feel heard at the same time. Because of this, you will see me using Turn and Talk strategy throughout the lesson.
Before reading, I ask my 4th graders the questions below.
Looking at the cover of the book, what do you think this story is going to be about?
***I didn’t want to give the story away too much. I just wanted the kids to feel curious about this read aloud book.
You can also do a KWL chart about “Friendship” or “Memories” if you feel that your students might not be able to understand the metaphor of the jar to prompt them.
During Reading
I stop very early on to ask about the representation of the jars. Then again, after Evelyn moved away.
Questions for Turn & Talk discussion:
- What is Llewellyn collecting in the jars?
- What does the jar represent?
- How did Llewellyn deal with Evelyn moving away?
Post Reading
We ended the read aloud with some Turn and Talk questions before we started brainstorming about our favorite memories of the school year.
Questions for Turn & Talk/Class discussion:
- What connections can you make with Llewellyn?
- What Memory Jars do we share together?
I always create an anchor chart when we brainstorm together as a class. It was really interesting to see the students’ reflection of the school year.
End of Year Read Aloud Activity:
As part of the last week of school activities, the students got to pick their favorite memory of the school year and put it in a jar!
I gave my students to draw and/or write. Some students just drew, some only wrote and some did both!
My class truly enjoyed this read aloud and the activities.
To complete the activity, you can get your students to draw out the jar and write on printed stationery paper.
I used a resource that I created to use in my classroom that can be purchased on my TPT store here.
Need to save this for later?
Pin this Blog Post or the In A Jar Read Aloud Lesson Plan for later use!
Need more last week of school ideas? Check out my other end of year read alouds below:
- End of Year Read Aloud: Book #1 – I Wish You More
- End of Year Read Aloud: Book #2 – Say Something
- End of Year Read Aloud: Book #4 – The Invisible Web
- End of Year Read Aloud: Book #5 – Wherever You Go
I hope that you have found this helpful and please let me know if you do decide to read this wonderful book in your classroom.
In A Jar Read Aloud Lesson Plan:
Need End Of Year Gift Ideas for Students? Check out these posts here:
Thank you for reading! Follow me for more teaching ideas 🙂
Bye for now,
Prima from LittleYellowStar
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