I’ve shared before about my love of project-based learning as one way to make learning more engaging and authentic. Teaching with units of study based on beautiful picture books is another one of my engagement hacks! My husband might also consider it a hobby because I can spend HOURS at bookstores scouring their book collections to find connections between books and building new units.

Why do I love using picture books to create units so much?/ When you organize lessons around a central theme or topic, students have a chance to make deeper connections with their learning. When we pair units of study with rich picture books, we create meaningful opportunities for cross-curricular learning and engagement.

Picture books are not just for younger students! They’re versatile tools that can bring subjects like history, science, social-emotional learning (SEL), and even math to life. Beautiful illustrations and vivid language can make even the most complex topics more accessible and memorable for our students. When we create units of study around these rich texts, we unlock more meaningful lessons.

Within this post, you’ll find curated book lists, practical teaching tips, and resources that will make teaching your next unit so much easier to plan. The best part? Your students will be inspired and eager for each new lesson!

If you need even more authentic text recommendations, enter your email below to receive an entire year’s worth of book lists!

Inventors

Learning about inventors and their creations is always a hit and is my FAVORITE unit to teach year after year! This unit of study is a chance to show students how everyday items like stoplights or crayons began as imaginative ideas. Studying inventors not only sparks curiosity but also inspires students to think creatively as they problem solve. Your students will leave this unit inspired that their very own ideas have the potential to shape the future.

First, browse my favorite inventor picture books here (Amazon affiliate link).

You can use this Famous Inventors Biography Reading and Research Unit that combines nonfiction biography texts, whole-class lessons, vocabulary practice, and independent research in a creative format that will inspire your students as they learn more about inventors and their inventions. It’s the perfect way to create a rich unit of study about inventors! 

Using a combination of whole-class lessons and independent (or partner) research, students will explore four essential questions as they research an inventor of their choosing. Then, they’ll create a final product to synthesize and showcase their new knowledge.

I ALWAYS start the unit out by having them read the picture book that was written about their inventor. They have immediate buy-in using these stories, and then I give them multiple other research resources to complete their study. This resource includes 14 different inventors and their inventions. There is a comprehensive research component for each person, including brochures, magazines, newspaper articles, encyclopedia entries, and mini-books. 

While you are welcome to research any inventor or invention and can use the notetaking sheets with it, this unit includes fourteen printable nonfiction texts about unique inventors. Each of the texts is available in TWO levels. Choose to use the ‘beginner’ or ‘advanced’ versions of each text to differentiate for your class. Each text also has the perfect picture book companion (Amazon affiliate link) to find in your local library and add as a research component!

This unit of study about inventors is more than just a history lesson… It’s a way to inspire students to dream big through a variety of engaging, hands-on lessons. Your students will finish this unit with more historical and scientific knowledge while also being ready to dream big and tackle everyday problems with creative solutions.

Biographies

You could also teach biographies using famous women in history as another unit of study. In this approach to biographies, students can explore perseverance, leadership, and courage through diverse experiences and perspectives. Your students will leave this unit with a new understanding of how women contributed to science, arts, sports, and more.

You can browse my favorite female biography picture books here (Amazon affiliate link). This collection of picture books features women who embody courage, perseverance, and empowerment. The stories introduce students to trailblazers, advocates, and role models who have made a lasting impact on the world. Whether you’re looking to teach lessons on leadership, resilience, or the power of using one’s voice, these titles offer a unique opportunity to inspire and empower the next generation. 

Then you can pair the picture books with Six Thinking Hats, an amazing collaborative discussion and thinking strategy that I have been working on with my students for the past three years, to create even more meaningful Women’s History month activities. Visit this post to see all of the unit details!

I also use this Mini-Set of 11 Biographies Task Cards for fluency practice during our unit. The set includes eleven VERY brief biographies of famous historical figures. You can use the cards in a variety of ways, but I use them in our fluency reading center. I have students read the cards orally with a partner. Then they use my Free Fluency Rubric to rate themselves. They EACH read each card a total of three times (six times between the three of them). The goal by the last reading is to be completely fluent.

Regions

Exploring the regions of the USA is a great way for students to learn more about places outside of their immediate community, and it’s a perfect transdisciplinary unit. You can literally dedicate an entire week of school to learning about regions. During our study on Regions of the United States, we spent several weeks becoming tourists and learning all about regions in literacy, math, social studies, and science, too!

Here are all the ways I incorporate regions studies into my entire day.

• Math: Students practice their budgeting and operation skills by planning a trip across the United States! See project below!
• Reading: Integrate informational picture books to learn about text structures and text features while collecting information about different parts of the United States to synthesize later! See project below!
• Writing: Create a Scrapbook full of all the information that students have learned. A template is included in the project below. 
• Social Studies: Take this opportunity to integrate your map skills and/or geography standards! Build maps based on the research and utilize all the maps in the pictures books to become more familiar with parts of maps.
• Science: This is your time to integrate earth sciences into your curriculum! Learn about erosion in different parts of the country, Earth’s systems, regional weather, etc.

I have created a HUGE unit for you that can help get started! 

This region’s unit of study will help students appreciate the diversity and unique traits that define each part of our country. By exploring landscapes, traditions, and more, students will learn more about each region and its history. Your students will love discovering what makes each state and region unique!

First, browse this list of picture books about the USA (Amazon affiliate link). I have curated a collection that is FULL of text features and structures and facts and information for students to learn about our country.

You can also use this Regions of the United States Math and Literacy Bundle to make it easier to plan your unit. The bundle helps you infuse literacy and math instruction into your social studies content with two rigorous, engaging, and informative projects!

This is the PERFECT unit for a mini room transformation with tiny suitcases, compasses, and travel signs. You can also encourage authentic learning with guest speakers, postcard exchanges, etc. If you’re working in a team, immerse students in regions with collaborative presentations where they “travel” from classroom to classroom. You can visit this post for an in-depth look at how I teach the regions unit in our classroom. 

The regions literacy project will help your students explore the regions of the United States and synthesize informational text. Students will embark on the trip of a lifetime as they explore the regions of the United States in a variety of ways. As they examine each set of resources, they will take notes on the different regions and compile them into a final Regions Scrapbook Project. Instead of only focusing on each broad region, students will also have the opportunity to dive deep into major cities and states within the regions to learn more about what makes each region unique.

The real-world regions math project sends students on a trip across the USA as students practice adding and subtracting whole numbers or decimals while planning a trip across the United States. Students will plan and ‘visit’ 9 cities across the five regions of the United States with a $2,500 budget. They must carefully spend their money and keep close track of their budget so they don’t go over.

More Authentic Text Lessons

If your students love units of study, but you’re short on time, here are more rich picture book lessons that can be completed in less time. They’re perfect for adding depth and variety to your lessons all year.  

• School supply-themed back-to-school reading lesson
• Brain and growth mindset lessons
• Fall character education and topic/theme
• Rockefeller Christmas tree and perspective
• Winter solstice and comparing sources
• Trees and Earth Day for science and social studies

More Authentic Text Support

When you (and your students!) fall in love with authentic texts, you’ll need even more. These posts have you covered.

In this post, I share specifically about what authentic texts are, how they are beneficial, and how you can add them to your existing curriculum.

In this post, I share 12 of my favorite picture books and related literacy activities for each month so you’ll have a list of literacy read-alouds and activities guaranteed to engage and inspire all year long!

You can view ALL of my book recommendations here.