Alphabet Books for Children

www.amazon.com

BOOKS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."  I have had this experience and I love this quote.  Here are a few books about friendship.  My all time favorite is "Friends" by Helme Heine.  A great one for all ages!!!  Best suited for ages 4-8

   Craft>>>>

 

www.brighthubeducation.com

 

Here's a cute and simple friendship wreath that could go along with your books.  Draw each child's hand, cut it out have the kids glue their hand into a wreath.  Trade off pictures of the kids in the middle each week or when it their spotlight week.  Make a huge wreath or make them by tables,.....

TEN Great "LIBRARY" Books that Introduce the Library to Students

Here are some of my favorite books about the library:

1.

2.

3.   Very cute!!!

4.

5. 

6. 

7. 

8.    This is a series about a library mouse.

9. 

10.    The kids will love this one.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is the 50th year anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.s speech, "I Have a Dream".  Here are some great books to read to your students all about this remarkable man. 

Library Bulletin Board Themes

A number of months ago I was sitting and waiting for one of my kids and I decided to create a list of themes for my bulletin board.  Today I found the list hidden away in an unused notebook.  Oh well!  Here are some themes to run with.  Use book jackets if needed to show what books are available in your library.

1.  Mystery (Clue)
2. Fairy Tales and Fables
3. Get Caught Reading
4.  "Fall into Reading" with Book Jackets under a tree/leaves
5.  Favorite Author BB, such as Shel Silverstein, Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Patricia Pollacco, Kevin Henkes, Mem Fox (celebrate their birthdays)
6.  The Titanic (101 years on April 12th)
7.  The Big 6 (Research)
8.  Poetry Month
9.  Sept. 11th ("American Heroes")
10.  "Whoooo is Reading What?" with the name of books in owls' tummies.
11.  Biographies/Autobiographies - "Who's Who?"
12.  Ocean Life "Dive into Reading"
13.  Dia de los Ninos/Dia de los Libros - celebrated in April
14.  Pirates - "What Arg You Reading"?
15.  El 5 de Mayo - Hispanic Heritage Month
16.  Dr. Suess Week
17.  Holidays
18.  Children's Book Week (in May now)
19.  Read Across America with a map of the USA
20.  Genres - what are they?
21.  "Owl Be Reading"... this month
22.  Plant Life/Animal Life (use magazine pics)
23.  The Elections
24.  Map of the Library - "Let's Learn the Library"
25.  Book Care with Book Hospital paraphernalia attached (3D)

3D Bulletin Boards for Teachers

I found this adorable BB on Pinterest without an original creator! :(


Pinned from www.flickr.com

Visit www.4thgradefanatic.blogspot.com

What day is it,?" asked Pooh

Pleasure to Me is Wonder

"Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability."
H.P. Lovecraft
August 20, 1890: American horror and sci-fi writer H.P. Lovecraft channeled his frequent childhood nightmares into his work. He was born in Rhode Island, 123 years ago today.
   
When my sis and I go walking every morning, we try and find the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden behind uncharted paths.  This is wonder to me and we have indeed happened upon it many times.  Thank goodness it's not the horror or sci-fi this author writes about. :)

Wordless picture books

This was taken from Vanessa Levin at www.pre-kpages.com.
Thanks Vanessa for this wonderful view into Jim Trelease's thoughts on Wordless Picture Books for early learners!!!!!  Visit this web site for more Q & A from Jim Trelease who wrote "The Read Aloud Handbook", one of my favorites!

Jim Trelease on Wordless Picture Books

 We’re super excited to bring you the first in a series of questions and answers with Jim Trelease, author of this summer’s book study pick, The Read-Aloud Handbook (7th edition). Jim has graciously agreed to answer a series of read-aloud questions which we will be featuring periodically throughout the book study. If you’re just tuning in you can read all about the book study HERE. In anticipation of the first chapter discussion which premieres on Monday, July 8, I thought you might like to hear what Jim has to say about wordless picture books.

Question:
What are your recommendations and thoughts regarding “reading” a book that has no words to a group of young children?
Answer:
Wordless books are a wonderful introduction to books and plotting for children who can’t read yet. Since we become picture-literate before we become print-literate, they can “read” the book if someone helps blaze a trail through the narrative initially. After hearing the book and seeing how the clues for the narrative are all in the pictures/illustrations, the child can pretend to read, though in fact they are taking real steps in reading. Just as pilots “read” the sky ahead of them (no words, just images of clouds), the child is taking a reading on the plot from the illustrations.

Jim makes some great points and I love his analogy of pilots- so true! As a teacher of young children I can’t stress the importance of wordless picture books enough in both preschool and kindergarten. Often, this vital step in the early literacy process is skipped in a rush to teach letters and words. True reading isn’t just about decoding the printed words on a page; it is about gaining meaning from both words and pictures.
Some of the skills that wordless picture books support are:

• Comprehension
• Vocabulary
• Oral Language
• Inferring
• Predicting

If you’re a Common Core person then you will recognize that all of the skills listed above are components of the Common Core State Standards for kindergarten- just sayin.
Of course, we can’t just throw a wordless picture book their way and expect children to know what to do with them, it takes time and modeling. When sharing a wordless picture book with young children it is crucial that you ask questions along the way and model how to “tell the story.”
When reading a wordless picture book, ask questions such as:

• What do you think is happening here? (comprehension)
• What makes you think that? (inferring)
• What do you think will happen next? (predicting)
• Why? (vocabulary and oral language)

Wordless picture books can also be a great motivational tool. Even those students who struggle with letter recognition or other academic skills can feel like successful readers when given a wordless picture book.
I have compiled a list of my favorite wordless picture books for you below.
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann (although not completely wordless it still supports all the skills listed above)
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Truck by Donald Crews
Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day (nearly wordless)
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Deep in the Forest by Brinton Turkle
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

I just finished reading Edenbrooke, a "quick read"  romance that I really enjoyed.  I would say that it's audience is more of the older teen, young adult group, but I keep hearing and seeing friends of mine on Facebook who have read it and really love it as well.  My 17 year old introduced it to me and she adored it, but she hasn't read too many romances.  I found it to be very simple, to the point and perfectly romantic!!!  I liked not having to sift through all kinds of flowery descriptions to get to the main plot of the story.  I enjoyed the characters and setting and found myself crying a number of times during the reading.  I would recommend this book to the romantic at heart.

100 Must-Reads for Kids 9-14 from NPR

Hey all you moms and dads out there who can't get their kids to read once they hit middle school.  Well here's some great ideas:
100 Must-Reads for Kids 9-14 from NPR

Doing What I Love...

I love children and I love reading.  I love reading to children.  With my job that I had as a librarian, I had the opportunity to read to students every day and make books come alive and this was such a source of joy for me.  I felt successful there. 
Well.... I gave up my wonderful librarian job for a more important job - that of making sure that all my bases are covered on the home front.  You see, I have a BIG life.  I have a wonderful husband and a large home.  I have 7 children, three are married and two more are grown and gone.  My three married daughters are all expecting babies, (boys) in the next few months.  That means I'll have eight grandkids.  (Yay!)  That leaves my two older children at home.  They are both in high school, but I want to make sure that these two have all the benefits that my other five had.  I want to be available and energetic when they get home from school.  I want to have the patience to help with homework.  I want to be focused on helping my younger son get through high school, since it's tough for him.  I want to be here.

When I work, I get obsessed with what I am doing at school and tend to lose sight of the bigger picture.  So I quit my job.  I am going to miss doing library displays and bulletin boards and  reading to these kids.  I am NOT going to miss cataloging books though, so that's a plus.  I'm going to miss teaching lessons and "book talking" and buying new books and discussing poetry, autobiographies, mysteries, Caldecotts...and listening to kids gush about what they are reading.  I'm going to miss the reason I started this blog - to create a place to store and discuss all kinds of "library ideas". 

I am going to work with the children at my Preschool, Ready-Set-Grow and start a reading program for them.  I like to be connected in some way with teaching.  (I don't run the Preschool /Child Care center we own, we have a director and numerous teachers.)

I will be adding tidbits now and then to this site and maybe it will morph into a whole new blog..., but for now I am a bit perplexed about what to do with it, other than leave it up for others and for my own future reference.  So for now, enjoy the collection of sites, posts, and pictures and if I have added something and not referenced it back to it's owner, let me know.  I apologize.  I've done the best I could.

Ciao for now.
Laura

Book Series for Tweens and Teens

(from About.com Children's Books)

Here you'll find information about some of the book series fiction that is so popular with 8-12 year old children, tweens and teens.
The Origami Yoda Books by Tom Angleberger
The Origami Yoda book by Tom Angleberger, include a humorous series for middle grade readers, set in a middle school humor, as well as a related activity book.
The Chronicles of Prydain
Find out all about The Chronicles of Prydain series, including the recommended ageof readers, an overview of the series, and publication information for each of the books, plus information about the author, Lloyd Alexander.

 

The Hunger Games Trilogy
The Hunger Games Trilogy, three dystopian novels for teens by Suzanne Collins, have proven enormously popular with kids in middle school, teens and adults.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
Learn all about The Book of Three, which is the first book in the fantasy series The Chronicle of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The middle grade series Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series is an enormously popular fantasy series about a middle school student and his adventures when he finds out that he is a demigod - the son of a Greek god and a mortal.
The Kane Chronicles
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan is full of adventure and Egyptian Mythology. This article provides an overview of the middle grade book series.
The 39 Clues
The 39 Clues book series has proven popular with kids ages 8-12. Author Rick Riordan wrote the story arc for the entire series and the first book in the series. Other authors of books in the ten-book mystery, history and adventure series include: Jude Watson, Gordon Korman, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Linda Sue Park, among others.
The 39 Clues Book Series
The 39 Clues book series for kids, which is full of mystery and adventure, is popular with ages 8-12.
All About the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books
If you are looking for a humorous series that will engage middle grade readers, from kids who love reading to reluctant readers, I recommend the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the other Wimpy Kid books, all written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan is a lively mixture of fantasy, adventure and Greek mythology, with touches of humor thrown in. The story is told from the perspective of a middle school student with problems, Percy Jackson.

The Chronicles of Narnia FAQs
Learn about C. S. Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia, a series of classic fantasy novels for children. Learn about the movie versions of following books by C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspain and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Scientists in the Field Series
The Scientists in the Field series is recommended for ages 9-14. The Scientists in the Field is a nonfiction series that focuses on the work of scientists and scientific investigations in the field.
Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
Crank, Glass, and Fallout are the three books in the popular Crank trilogy of young adult books. It's a realistic series about the effects of drug addiction by Ellen Hopkins.
The Twilight Saga
Read this overview to find out more about the Twilight Saga, the popular series of fantasy novels for teens by Stephanie Meyer.
The Heroes of Olympus
The first book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan was published in 2010. There are a projected total of five books in the series, with a new book to be published annually. While you don't have to have read the enormously popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series to enjoy this lively fantasy adventure, Percy Jackson fans will enjoy returning to Camp Half-Blood, and finding some familiar characters from the Percy Jackson series. I recommend the series foe ages 10-15, grades 5-9.
Parent's Guide to the Twilight Series
Learn all about the Twilight series with this parent’s guide to the Twilight series. Read this parent’s guide to the Twilight series to find out more about the dark fantasy romance teens and tweens are reading.
The Hunger Games Trilogy
The Hunger Games series consists of three dystopian novels: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. The Hunger Games trilogy will appeal to teens, ages 13 and up. The 384-400 page books contains violence and strong emotions so younger tweens may find them disturbing.
The Mortal Instruments
Learn about the Mortal Instrument series, an urban fantasy series of young adult books for teens by Cassandra Clare.
The Little House Series
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the story of a pioneer girl's childhood that is based on the life of the author, will appeal to ages 8-12..
Maximum Ride Series
Here is an overview of the Maximum Ride series, a blockbuster fantasy series for teens by James Patterson. Refer to this overview for the science fiction and fantasy series for teens and adults.
The Maze of Bones: 39 Clues
The first book in the 39 Clues book series is The Maze of Bones. In addition to writing book 1 of the series, Rick Riordan also created the story arc for the entire series.
The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
Author Rick Riordan has done it again with The Heroes of Olympus, created another excellent series for kids and teens The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Riordan is an enormously popular series of fantasy novels and The Heroes of Olympus includes some of the same characters.

"Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites" by Chris Heimerdinger

Sam and I are currently reading "Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites" together, a book written by an LDS author, Chris Heimerdinger.  (BTW, I'm glad this is NOT my last name.)  It's a great read for a 14 year old who, because it's about 2 teens who wander into the land of the Lamanites, by some odd twist of fate.  One of the boys has a bad attitude about everything, including attending church and one of the boys is over gregarious about all things having to do with church and the Book of Mormon.  They soon become close friends.
My two older boys read all 9 books and loved them. I'm hoping Sam will enjoy them as much.  (I'm not sure I'll make it through all 9 though. :)

Taking a Break from Reading Books

You know, sometimes my brain just needs a break from all the reading I do.  Not very often do I "not feel like reading a book", but right now I don't have many recommendations and so I am taking a break.  If anyone wants to give me some recommendations of great books to read for myself or with a 14 year old boy who is a "STRUGGLING" reader, please let me know.  I would welcome any ideas.

I Just Finished "Wonderstruck" with Sam! A Great Read!

Book Description

Sam and I just finished reading "Wonderstruck" together.  It's such a great book for ages about 8 and up, but when I say "UP", I mean it.  I think many adults would enjoy this book.  It's a very simple read and thus great for the struggling reader.  Half of the story is drawn in sketch form, similar to "Hugo" and the other half is in words.  The two stories finally collide as time goes by.  Both children are looking for something they are missing in life and both find it in the end.  I like stories with happy endings.

 

 

About.com Children's Books: 2013 Summer Reading List for Students Entering Grades K-6

Ever wondered where the best place in the world is to find ideas on children's reading.  My all time favorite spot is About.com Children's Books.  Just "google" this title in and you are there.
My second favorite place to go for reading info is www.readingrockets.com.  I honestly don't think they have missed anything on this site having to do with reading in any form.  :)

2013 Summer Reading List for Students Entering Grades K-6
The list, which is organized by grade level, includes cover art, a brief summary, the copyright date and the genre/themes of recommended books for children entering kindergarten through sixth grade. This 2013 summer reading list comes from the Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Missouri.

4th of July Paper Lanterns Kid's Craft in Red, White and Blue

Stories to share:
Hurray for the Fourth of July by Wendy Watson
Mouse's Birthday by Jane Yolen
Phoebe's Parade by Claudia Mills

Songs: "Way up in the Sky" sung to Row, Row, Row your Boat
Wave, wave, wave the flag.
Hold it very high.
Watch the colors gently wave, Way up in the sky.
March, march, march around,
Hold the flag up high, Wave, wave, wave the flag.
Way up in the sky.
(from Perry Public Library Story time)

Yankee Doodle


Thanks Jamie, from www.thecraftingchicks.com.  These are adorable and perfect for my Pre-K class this week!

{Paper Lantern Kid’s Craft***4th of July Style}

by Jamie on June 26, 2011

 

Here is a fun Kid’s Craft for your upcoming 4th of July Festivities-Summer Paper Lanterns, 4th of July Style.

Supplies You will need to make the Paper Lanterns:
-Cardstock in Red, White and Blue
-A ruler
-Scissors
-Star punch or Star Stickers
-A pencil
-Glue Sticks
-Festive Ribbon
-Stapler
Step One:
Fold your cardstock in Half Lengthwise.  Then take your ruler and draw lines from the fold, leaving an inch from the end of your line and the edge.  Leave about .75 inch on each side. Step 2: Have the kids cut on the line, stopping when the line ends, not through to the edge:)  (This is great cutting practice)
*Little brother had to join…this photo is so funny because he has been wearing that monster hat (we have a green and pink one) for days…he refuses to take it off, even during nap time!
Step 3:  Unfold your paper and then with the folded bumps on the outside, tun inward and attach at the top and bottom.  Then staple both the top and bottom a couple of times. You should now have a paper lantern to decorate!  I was thinking you could make these look Hawaiian by using bright colors and adding flowers, or if you are throwing a birthday party you could easily match these lanterns to your theme. We added stars by using punched out star shapes in red, white, blue, and silver.  The kids just glued on the stars with gluesticks, but you could even purchase some star stickers.
We also added some festive ribbon on the top and bottom with a stapler and attached a 1 inch strip of cardstock for the handle.
And there you have it, a very easy kid’s craft for the summer…that you can even display in your home:)

Story Time at Ready-Set-Grow Preschool and Child Care

My husband and I have owned a wonderful child care center for almost 10 years in Bountiful, Utah.  I've spent many, many hours there teaching preschool at the beginning when we first owned it, and this summer I am taking a couple of hours a week to do story time, music and an art project.  I thought some of you preschool/Pre-K would benefit from what I have been up to.  So here goes:

At the beginning of the summer we just oriented the kids to the summer "way of doing things".

June 17th was Transportation Week:  Here is what I did.

Stories:  "Freight Train" by Donald Crew, "The Wheels on the Bus" by Raffi and "Trucks" by Donald Crew

Songs:  "Down by the Station Early in the Morning", "The Wheels on the Bus", (we moved the chairs so the kids felt like they were sitting on a bus), "Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck".  (Just google any of these titles and I'm sure a you tube video will pop up to teach you how to sing them."  I played the guitar on some of then and gave a triangle, the instrument, to a student for the ding, ding, ding, ding, ding part of the last song.  Next time I'll give one to all the kids.  We used a spoon to hit the triangle with.

The lyrics to the first song go like this:
Down by the station early in the morning
See the little pufferbellies all in a row.
See the station master turn the little handle.
Puff, puff, toot, toot, off we go.

AIR, LAND, OR SEA:  Then I gave a different vehicle to each child and drew on a while board 3 simple lines to divide the air, land and sea from each other.  Each child came up and named their vehicle and put it in the correct place.

Art:  Last of all we made trains using squares, rectangles and triangles cut from construction paper.  We used cotton for the clouds, straight pretzel sticks for the "Logs" each car was hauling and uncooked "wagon wheel" pasta for the wheels.  They turned out darling.

June 24th:  Today, the theme was "On the Farm"

Stories:  "Pigs" by Robert Munsch; "Ruby in Her Own Time" by Jonathan Emmett; and "To Market, To Market" by Anne Miranda






 I chose 2 to read and then we sang these songs:
Songs:  "Old McDonald" and "Down by Grandpa's Farm".
I changed the words to Down by Grandpa's Farm to say:

Down by grandpa's farm there is a big fat pig, (repeat)
The pig, he spells his name like this: P-I-G  (repeat)
Oh, we're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to grandpa's farm. 
We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's farm. 
(We practiced spelling the words and I had this paper up.)

 

The kids were able to read it, sing it and follow my modeling.  This is a great literacy activity.  As you can see, we also graphed everyone's favorite farm animal, which is a great math visual.  The kids could clearly see which animal won the highest number of votes. 

 

Craft Activity:  We make clothes pin horses using a body of a horse, without the legs, copied onto cardstock.  The legs are the clothes pins, which make the horse stand up.  Go to busybeekidscrafts.com to get a copy of the horse. 

 

The kids colored the horses, cut them out, added the legs and yarn for the mane and tail.  They turned out really cute and the kids loved them.  Sorry, no finished copy to show you.

Summer Picture Books

Summer Picture Books

Here is a great list of summer books from Pam at PBS.  Click on the link above.

I have been "doing librarian" at a charter school in North Salt Lake all year, but for the summer will switch gears a bit.  Since my husband and I own a child care center, Ready-Set-Grow, I will spend a few hours each week working with the kindergarteners on different themes, mostly having fun.  I needed a great list of summer books to fill in the gaps.  My all time favorite summer book is "The Relatives Came".  It perfectly describes what it feels like as a child to be on a long road trip, leaving early in the morning, car packed to the brim and driving for hours, or days to finally arrive at the relatives.  When you get there, all kinds of festivities happen and there is plenty of love and hugs to go around for everyone.  It is a MUST OWN book!
The author and illustrator are a perfect match!
Laura