Featured September Teaching Resources
September Teaching Resources for Your Classroom
September marks a fresh start for classrooms and a celebration of the power of literacy. With students settling into new routines, building relationships, and taking on new academic challenges, it’s an ideal time to explore what it means to have courage—whether that means trying something new, speaking up, persevering through a challenge, or believing in yourself.
In recognition of National Literacy Month and International Literacy Day (September 8), Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has curated free September teacher resources to help educators build strong reading communities from the beginning of the school year. Explore engaging reading activities, themed book collections, standards-aligned resources, free teacher printables, and tools from Literacy Central and Skybrary that make it easy to bring meaningful literacy experiences into the classroom.
September 15 also marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, providing opportunities for students to discover stories, cultures, experiences, and voices from Hispanic and Latino communities.
September Teaching Resources and Themes
Monthly Theme: Courage
Courage can take many forms. It can mean standing up for what you believe in, tackling a difficult assignment, asking for help, trying something unfamiliar, or continuing to work toward a goal when success feels far away.
Throughout September, use stories and literacy activities to help students recognize courageous characters, reflect on moments when they have demonstrated courage, and discover how determination and perseverance can help them grow as readers, learners, and individuals.
Suggested Focus Points
Exploring how characters demonstrate courage when facing challenges
Recognizing perseverance and determination as forms of courage
Encouraging students to try new things and learn from mistakes
Discussing how courage can help us advocate for ourselves and others
September Book Collections
Explore RIF's themed book collections and accompanying free reading resources to start the school year.
Back-to-School Book Collection
Welcome students back to the classroom with books that celebrate learning, friendship, new experiences, and the excitement and sometimes uncertainty that comes with a new school year.
Use these stories to spark classroom conversations, establish a positive reading community, and encourage students to approach new experiences with confidence and courage.
Hispanic Heritage Month Book Collection
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, beginning September 15, with stories that highlight Hispanic and Latino voices, experiences, cultures, and traditions. This collection gives students opportunities to discover new perspectives while making meaningful connections through reading.
Use these books to spark classroom conversations about courage, identity, family, community, and perseverance while celebrating the rich contributions and diverse experiences of Hispanic and Latino communities.
Spanish-Language Book Collection
Support multilingual readers and create more opportunities for students to enjoy books in Spanish with RIF’s Spanish-Language Book Collection. Featuring engaging stories across a range of topics and interests, this collection helps educators incorporate Spanish-language literacy experiences into the classroom.
Explore the collection during September and throughout the school year to encourage reading engagement, support language development, and help more students see their languages and experiences represented in the books they read.
Curriculum & Standards Alignment
All RIF teaching resources are designed to support Common Core State Standards, early reading development, and ongoing reading engagement. This September, students can explore the theme of courage while developing important literacy and communication skills:
Identifying key ideas and details in stories featuring characters who demonstrate courage
Analyzing how characters respond to challenges, setbacks, and unfamiliar situations
Comparing different characters' motivations, decisions, and approaches to overcoming obstacles
Building vocabulary related to courage, perseverance, determination, confidence, and resilience
Participating in collaborative discussions about taking risks, overcoming challenges, and advocating for yourself and others
Connecting social-emotional learning (SEL) skills to courage, goal-setting, and perseverance
Whether you use Wit & Wisdom, EL Education, Amplify CKLA, or other similar curricula, RIF resources help enrich learning with adaptable units and flexible tools for your students.
Skybrary Book Feature: Carmen Learns English
September's featured Skybrary book, Carmen Learns English, offers educators an opportunity to explore courage through the experience of navigating a new language, classroom, and community.
Use Carmen's story to encourage conversations about what it feels like to encounter unfamiliar situations, why trying something new can require courage, and how classmates and communities can help one another feel welcome.
What Students Will Learn
- Identifying how characters respond to unfamiliar situations and challenges
- Recognizing courage and perseverance in everyday experiences
- Building empathy for classmates whose experiences may be different from their own
- Discussing how language and communication help people build connections
- Connecting a character's experiences to themes of belonging, confidence, and community
Support Materials
Access the full suite of activities, guides, and resources for Carmen Learns English.
The book is available on Skybrary, RIF's trusted kids' reading app. Visit the Skybrary website or download the Skybrary app from the Apple App Store to explore this story and hundreds of additional books.
Literacy Central Teaching Resources
RIF’s Literacy Central is a thoughtfully curated online platform offering free reading resources for educators, families, and students. With lessons, activities, and book-based tools in one convenient place, it makes it easy to foster engaging, meaningful literacy experiences throughout the month.
Support literacy instruction throughout September with classroom-ready materials:
Vocabulary builders and reading passages
Writing prompts that encourage reflection and critical thinking
Book-based activities and discussion prompts
Standards-aligned lesson plans
Printable worksheets and extension materials
Teaching Resource Feature: Lesson Planning Resources
Kick off the school year with RIF's Lesson Planning Resources, designed to make it easier for educators to connect engaging children's literature with meaningful literacy instruction.
Explore classroom-ready resources that can help you plan lessons, extend reading experiences, introduce new books, and reinforce important literacy skills. Whether you're building a full lesson or looking for an activity to complement your existing curriculum, RIF's free resources offer flexible ways to support your students.
Use these lesson planning resources throughout September and beyond to help create engaging, book-rich learning experiences.
Read with RIF Book Club Pick: Raise the Bar: A Graphic Novel
Written and Illustrated by Fernanda Frick H.
September's Read with RIF Book Club selection is Raise the Bar: A Graphic Novel, an inspiring story about big dreams, hard work, perseverance, and discovering just how much you're capable of achieving.
Sam Sanchez dreams of becoming Chile's first weightlifting gold medalist. She doesn't have a coach or proper equipment, but that doesn't stop her from believing in her goal. When an opportunity arises to train at a high-performance center alongside her weightlifting hero, Olympic gold medalist Eva Dos Santos, Sam is determined not to let it pass, even if pursuing that opportunity means making some difficult choices.
As Sam trains, develops friendships and a rivalry, and works toward qualifying for the Pan American Games, readers see how courage isn't simply about being fearless. It can also mean putting in the work, persevering through setbacks, making difficult decisions, and continuing to pursue an ambitious goal.
Use Raise the Bar to start conversations about:
Setting goals and working toward them
Persevering when success doesn't come easily
Finding the courage to pursue a dream
Navigating competition, friendship, and rivalry
Considering how our choices can affect ourselves and the people around us
The graphic novel format also provides an engaging opportunity for upper elementary and middle school readers to examine how illustrations, dialogue, expressions, and visual storytelling work together to develop characters and move a story forward.
Free Printable Teacher Resource: Hispanic Heritage Month Calendar
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with RIF's Hispanic Heritage Month Calendar, featuring literacy activities that educators can incorporate throughout the celebration.
Use the calendar to discover timely reading activities and free teacher printables that introduce students to books, people, cultures, and stories while making it simple to add meaningful literacy moments to your classroom routine.
Pair calendar activities with RIF's Hispanic Heritage and Spanish-language book collections to extend learning through reading, writing, discussion, and reflection.
Enhance Classroom Reading with Read-Aloud Videos
Hearing books read aloud strengthens vocabulary, deepens comprehension, and sparks a love of reading. RIF's library of read-aloud videos makes it simple for teachers to share captivating stories, introduce authors, and connect ideas to classroom lessons and monthly themes.
Use read-alouds throughout September to build your classroom reading community and invite students to discuss courageous characters, important choices, challenges, and moments of perseverance.
September Webinars & Professional Learning
Throughout the year, RIF offers dynamic webinars that equip educators and families with innovative strategies and practical tips to support young readers. Sessions feature RIF team members along with special guests, including authors, researchers, educators, and university experts, who provide insights on reading engagement and effective literacy practices.
- September 22, 2026 | 3-4pm ET The Missing Piece: Motivation in the Science of Reading | Register now
Check our schedule for all future webinars and watch past recordings in our archive.
Reading Inspires! Podcast: Teaching Resource for Educators and Families
RIF's Reading Inspires podcast is created for everyone who believes in the power of literacy to change lives.
Conversations feature passionate voices from across the literacy community—including authors, educators, advocates, and thought leaders—who explore fresh ideas, real-world impact, and powerful ways to help children develop a lifelong love of books.
Listeners can expect meaningful dialogue, practical takeaways, and inspiring stories from the field highlighting how literacy opens doors for children everywhere.
Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Tips for Social & Classroom Engagement
Classroom Ideas
Create a Courage Wall: Invite students to write or illustrate an example of courage they discover in a book, observe in their community, or experience themselves. Add examples throughout the month to demonstrate the many different ways courage can appear.
Start a Courageous Characters Book Talk: After reading a story, ask students to identify a moment when a character demonstrated courage. Have students support their choice with evidence from the text and discuss whether they would have made the same decision.
Invite children to explore stories about courage, leadership, and independence, then discuss how characters' choices shaped their journeys
Set a Brave Reader Goal: At the beginning of the school year, encourage each student to choose one reading goal that stretches them beyond their comfort zone—from trying a new genre to reading aloud or learning new vocabulary. Revisit the goals at the end of September to celebrate progress.
Celebrate Courage Through Culture and Story: During Hispanic Heritage Month, invite students to explore books featuring Hispanic and Latino individuals and characters. Discuss the challenges they encounter, examples of courage or perseverance in their stories, and what students can learn from their experiences.