foreign
ever students in today's classrooms need
support in developing life skills while
keeping up with the Core Curriculum
teach your students Minds while taking
care of their hearts with tcm's building
connections a book collection curated by
our imprint free spirit publishing this
new literacy-based resource explores
important topics and cultivates reading
and writing skills through read aloud
picture books and research-based
activities
this series focuses on strengthening
essential social skills including
self-awareness self-management social
awareness relationship skills and
responsible decision making to support
the whole child
building connections helps teachers
translate these social skills into
actionable learning experiences for
students with easy to implement 15 to 20
minute meaningful learning sessions each
kit comes with 12 captivating and
beautifully Illustrated picture books
that activate students love of reading
through a focus on shared experiences
the valuable teacher's guide offers
research-based approaches to literacy
instruction including best practices for
creating interactive and engaging
read-aloud experiences partnering
strategies and thought-provoking
activities to maximize learning time
developed by experts each teacher-led
activity presents opportunities to
promote students critical and creative
thinking while helping them form
meaningful connections to the texts
there are numerous learning activities
for each book including activities for
the five essential social skills
standards-based reading comprehension
activities and literacy-based student
pages that are also available as
fillable PDFs and can be used with any
of the books in each grade level kit all
components from the kit are provided
digitally plus additional digital
resources are included to make planning
and instruction more flexible and
accessible building connections gives
teachers the tools they need to nurture
the hearts and minds of their students
through purposeful read-alouds engaging
activities and time to collaborate with
peers seamlessly integrate literacy and
essential life skills in a way that
creatively and effectively reaches
students