This is a real gem for teachers wanting a simple, Canadian book about Thanksgiving. It describes the changes happening outside during October and how one family works together to not only create a special meal, but also to spend some quality time together. It also details how each member of the family is thankful for something special in his/her life.
Our class used the books' text format, "Thanks for..." to create pages for a class book.
This is a simple, clear book with beautiful illustrations. It talks specifically about leaves and the changes that trees go through during autumn.
This is a great companion book to Zoe Hall's "Fall Leaves Fall". It details the growing and harvesting of pumpkins and the role pumpkins play as a symbol for autumn and Halloween.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Read Aloud Books for October 1
This is another classic for children starring the lovable character, Curious George the monkey. Despite the old-fashioned references (like pipe smoking), this is still a tale that captures the interest of children. This was the first book published and, if your child likes this book, there are many Curious George books that follow the little monkey through various adventures. Curious George encounters many challenges but always learns a valuable lesson at the end of the story.
This is a very clever book. The premise is that there is a make-believe world where when a character reads a book about a particular subject, pictures of that subject appear all over the character. For example, when a man read a book about flowers, he became flowers. When a mouse read a book about elephants, pictures of elephants were all over him. The collage-style illustrations are fascinating, with levels of detail that will have you finding something new every time you look at them. I like to talk to the students about how when a reader reads a book the information gets inside them and in this story, the information inside can actually be seen. A lovely, visual treat.
This is a multi-level book that is, on the surface a counting book. On the first reading that is the emphasis. However, it is also about growing vegetables and fruit and also about how one seed can produce multiple fruit and vegetables that, in turn, produce many seeds.
At the end of the book, it talks about how 10 seeds grew 10 corn plants with 100 ears of corn and 1000's of kernels. These kernels in turn, can make delicious popcorn. This is the type of book that will be referred to throughout the school year. It's also a good link to having a "popcorn" party for your class.
This is a very clever book. The premise is that there is a make-believe world where when a character reads a book about a particular subject, pictures of that subject appear all over the character. For example, when a man read a book about flowers, he became flowers. When a mouse read a book about elephants, pictures of elephants were all over him. The collage-style illustrations are fascinating, with levels of detail that will have you finding something new every time you look at them. I like to talk to the students about how when a reader reads a book the information gets inside them and in this story, the information inside can actually be seen. A lovely, visual treat.
This is a multi-level book that is, on the surface a counting book. On the first reading that is the emphasis. However, it is also about growing vegetables and fruit and also about how one seed can produce multiple fruit and vegetables that, in turn, produce many seeds.
At the end of the book, it talks about how 10 seeds grew 10 corn plants with 100 ears of corn and 1000's of kernels. These kernels in turn, can make delicious popcorn. This is the type of book that will be referred to throughout the school year. It's also a good link to having a "popcorn" party for your class.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Read Aloud Books for September 24
These books were written by the students in Room 101. The text was based on the book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" (see the September 17 post). Instead of pictures of animals, there are photographs of the children. This book, with easy, predictable text is perfect for the students to read or "pretend read". This is a wonderful way for all the students to feel good about reading a book on their own (as well as learning the names of the students in the class).
This is a Dr. Seuss classic! The combination of rhyming words and crazy creatures never fails to captivate the attention of the children. This book was a favourite of my own children, and so I have probably read this book at least 100 times. If you are looking for stories to help children develop phonemic awareness (awareness of the individual sounds in words), Dr. Seuss books are some of the best.
Ah, the little red fish...where does it go? This is a wonderfully original book, with beautifully crafted illustrations. JeJe brings his pet fish to the library and the fish escapes to have an adventure inside a book. Some pages are without text and allow for some deep discussions about what is happening in the story.
This book is another classic. I read this book when I was a child. The little boy wishes for duck feet (and other changes) and ultimately realizes that he is happiest just the way he is. This was a good story to talk to the class about what the boy learned in the story.
Ah, the little red fish...where does it go? This is a wonderfully original book, with beautifully crafted illustrations. JeJe brings his pet fish to the library and the fish escapes to have an adventure inside a book. Some pages are without text and allow for some deep discussions about what is happening in the story.
This book is another classic. I read this book when I was a child. The little boy wishes for duck feet (and other changes) and ultimately realizes that he is happiest just the way he is. This was a good story to talk to the class about what the boy learned in the story.
A crazy story that features a crabby pig who is trying to write a book and constantly asks the reader to stop bothering him so he can get back to work. The children always enjoy the funny illustrations and the odd feeling that we are "breaking the rules" by opening the book and turning the pages even though the pig keeps asking us not to...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Read Aloud Books for September 17
We read a book called "My Goldfish" by Christine Butterworth which, unfortunately, is out-of-print. I found a similar book on goldfish on amazon.ca. Our class is doing a unit on fish, so this type of non-fiction story is good for the students to learn facts about fish. This book was used as a launching point for our discussion of the differences between humans (living on land) and fish (living in water).
This is a classic story from Bill Martin, Jr. and the incomparable illustrator, Eric Carle. The combination of beautiful collage pictures and the bouncy, predictable text makes for a wonderful read aloud for the students. After a few pages, the students pick up on the word pattern, take clues from the illustrations and begin to read along. After hearing the story read twice, students were seen in the reading corner, with this book, "reading" the story aloud.
Watch for our class version of this story, "Kindergarten, Kindergarten, What Do You See?", coming next week...
One of my very favourite stories, "Swimmy" by author/illustrator, Leo Leonni, was read to the students twice this week, as a link to our study of fish. I like to call this kind of book a "thinking story" because the depth of the storyline allows for lots of discussion. Swimmy was a brave fish that was not like the others, but he used his differences to ultimately be a hero and save the day. We also learned that great things can be accomplished when we work together.
This is a classic story from Bill Martin, Jr. and the incomparable illustrator, Eric Carle. The combination of beautiful collage pictures and the bouncy, predictable text makes for a wonderful read aloud for the students. After a few pages, the students pick up on the word pattern, take clues from the illustrations and begin to read along. After hearing the story read twice, students were seen in the reading corner, with this book, "reading" the story aloud.
Watch for our class version of this story, "Kindergarten, Kindergarten, What Do You See?", coming next week...
One of my very favourite stories, "Swimmy" by author/illustrator, Leo Leonni, was read to the students twice this week, as a link to our study of fish. I like to call this kind of book a "thinking story" because the depth of the storyline allows for lots of discussion. Swimmy was a brave fish that was not like the others, but he used his differences to ultimately be a hero and save the day. We also learned that great things can be accomplished when we work together.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Read Aloud Books for September 10
During this four-day week, the class listened to 4 books. One was "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn, mentioned in the August 30th posting. Here are the others:
This is a classic story by Robert Munsch (a Canadian author). When we read the story together, the students would read along with the words, "This is kindergarten. In kindergarten we share. We share everything!" A humourous look at sharing.
I chose this book because we could make connections to our class pet fish. It is a very good story to help the students identify the "problem" in the story and then how the problem is solved. A very funny book with simple language that kept the students' interest to the very end. It was also good as a talking point for the "lesson learned" in the story. The children quickly learned the refrain, about feeding the fish "never more than a spot, or something may happen, you never know what!"
I chose this book because it is about friendship and, because it begins in a pet store, it is a good opportunity to make a connection to the book "Fish Out of Water". We talked about how Brian the guinea pig was feeling sad when his best friend Bob went away and how he almost "burst" with happiness when he saw him again.
This is a classic story by Robert Munsch (a Canadian author). When we read the story together, the students would read along with the words, "This is kindergarten. In kindergarten we share. We share everything!" A humourous look at sharing.
I chose this book because we could make connections to our class pet fish. It is a very good story to help the students identify the "problem" in the story and then how the problem is solved. A very funny book with simple language that kept the students' interest to the very end. It was also good as a talking point for the "lesson learned" in the story. The children quickly learned the refrain, about feeding the fish "never more than a spot, or something may happen, you never know what!"
I chose this book because it is about friendship and, because it begins in a pet store, it is a good opportunity to make a connection to the book "Fish Out of Water". We talked about how Brian the guinea pig was feeling sad when his best friend Bob went away and how he almost "burst" with happiness when he saw him again.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wonderful parent reading resource book
This book is amazing! There are thousands of books referenced and the author gives very useful descriptions of all of them. She gives pointers about choosing books for your child and how to inspire them to be life-long readers. Themed activities are also included. Her writing style is so engaging that you will want to read all the books she writes about! I've been teaching for many years and I still use this book to help me find a fiction or non-fiction book on a particular topic.
I learned about Esme Raji Codell through her book, "Educating Esme". This book chronicles her first year of teaching at an elementary school in Chicago. She is very candid about her experiences and writes about them not only with humour, but also with a deep respect for her students and her profession. Teachers will thoroughly enjoy her successes and trials and non-teachers will appreciate all the things that teachers do in the course of a school year! I believe in the power of this book so much that I always give a copy to my student teachers as a gift, to thank them for their help in our classroom.
I learned about Esme Raji Codell through her book, "Educating Esme". This book chronicles her first year of teaching at an elementary school in Chicago. She is very candid about her experiences and writes about them not only with humour, but also with a deep respect for her students and her profession. Teachers will thoroughly enjoy her successes and trials and non-teachers will appreciate all the things that teachers do in the course of a school year! I believe in the power of this book so much that I always give a copy to my student teachers as a gift, to thank them for their help in our classroom.
First Day of School Read Aloud
This is my FAVOURITE book to read on the first day of school. (It was also a favourite read aloud book of my two sons.) It is a lovely story that introduced me to the tradition of placing a kiss in a child's hand as a reminder during the school day of the power of a mother's love. A wonderful heart-warming story with beautiful illustrations.
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