Wow, I can't believe we already completed our 10th week of school! Here is what we were up to in the Lower School Library.
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Read to CDC and Pre-K
Skills/Theme: Feline Friends and discuss words that rhyme
We decided to have a theme for our story time this week and it was Feline Friends! We read the two books above and talked about our own feline friends. I learned that not many of our kiddos have pet cats. Many said they had dogs, other types of pets, or that they were not yet old enough to have a pet. Good to know! We still had a good time reading these two stories and we wondered what it would be like to have our own library cat in our library? After reading, we recited and sang two poems called, Five Little Kittens and The Kitten and had a fun time finding words that rhymed.
Read to Kindergarten and Primer
Skills: Making Predictions
In Kindergarten we read the book, Chalk and discussed what readers do when they make predictions. Chalk is a perfect book for practicing this skill because it is wordless. This means the children get to use the pictures to tell what they think is happening in the story and practice making predictions of what will happen next. This story is a must if you have never seen it before. The kids quickly picked up on the clues from the pictures and we had fun guessing what would happen next. This story would also lend itself well to a writing unit if older readers wanted to write a new ending to the story or to continue the story. The possibilities are endless!
Read to 2nd Grade
Skills: Tall Tales
In second grade during flexible library time we began their unit on Texas. So during their library time, the teachers asked if I could share some tall tales with the students. We first learned what a tall tale is and then we read this great book! It is a humorous twist on the classic tale, but the twist is that Paul and Babe love pancakes. Throughout the story they travel all around in search of a pancake treasure. While they travel they not only shape the American landscape, but they also come to understand that they can't only eat pancakes and that it is important to eat a balanced diet. The kids loved it and quickly caught on to why this was a tall tale (Paul and Babe weren't really taller than the mountains and they didn't really shape the American landscape etc ). They also understood the lesson and were well aware that one cannot only eat pancakes! Ha! We will continue to discuss and share more tall tales with the second grade next week.
Fernando's Gift by Douglas Keister
Read to 3rd Grade
Skills: Features of a Personal Narrative
In 3rd grade they are wrapping up their personal narrative writing unit so I decided to share one more example of one. As I discussed in an earlier post, a personal narrative can be about an important event, person, or place. This particular book is about a special place. It tells all about Fernando's home in the rain forest of Costa Rica. It is important to him because it is where he lives with his family, but it is also in danger as trees are being cut down. I think it is important to read texts such as these to the students before and during the writing process because it is a great way for them to see examples of similar writing, to discuss what they liked about the writing, and to get some ideas for their own writing. I am excited to read their own personal narratives when they are done with this unit.
