The month of March is National Women's History Month, so we spent the week after spring break reading books about women who have made a difference whether it be on the world, our country, our state, or our very own community. Here were some of the books we shared.
Week 22:
Sheila Ray, The Brave by Kevin Henkes
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Both Books Read to: CDC and Pre-k
I read the above two books with our younger students and just focused on girl protagonists who were brave, courageous, or who persevered in some way. Many of the women whom we celebrate during the month of March are women who had all of these qualities, but I felt like these books were more appropriate for demonstrating that concept to our younger students.
Librarian of the Roof! by M.G King
Read to: Kinder, Primer, and First Grade
I did this lesson awhile back with Pre-k when they were discussing change makers. Go here to see what we did. However, this time, if we had time I also shared a couple of you tube news clips of this actual event, so the kids could see parts of the real thing because many were having a hard time believing it was a true story. They really enjoyed it as after reading it many kids came up to me and said, "I can't believe there was a librarian who really did that?!" Ha!
Here Come the Girl Scouts! The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey
Read to: Second Grade
Here Come the Girl Scouts! is the true story of the first girl scouts and their visionary leader, Juliette Gordon Low. I decided to share this story because I know many of the second grade girls participate in girl scouts, and I love how throughout the story on each page the author gives an inspirational quote. The boys enjoyed it too! A great read for Women's History Month!
Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone
Read to: Third and Fourth Grade
Finally both Third and Fourth Grade are working on biography research projects at the moment so I wanted to share the story of an inspirational woman, Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor. This story is a simple, yet powerful picture book biography that was enjoyed by all.
Week 23:
This week as we prepare for Poetry Month coming up in April, I wanted to review rhyming words with our youngest students. With our slightly older ones we focused and reviewed the elements of a fictional story.
Billy and Milly, Short and Silly by Eve B. Feldman
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
Read to: Pre-k and Kinder
Skills: Rhyming Words
Both of these stories are not only great for highlighting rhyming words but they sure are fun! The first one contains 13 short stories just using rhyming words. The kids can look and listen to the words that rhyme and do a bit of inferencing as they draw conclusions about what is happening in each story. The second story is about dust bunnies that like to rhyme. However, one of the bunnies, Bob, is having a hard time because he is distracted with something that is coming after them. Think of what dust bunnies might be most afraid of and you have a hilarious story that the kids love! I adore all of Jan Thomas' books! After reading we then played a fun rhyming game in which the kids were handed a card with a word on it and they had to read their word and then stand up and find someone who had a word that rhymed with theirs. They did a great job at this and I think they enjoyed getting to move a bit while at the same time, rhyming!
Help! We Need a Title! by Herve Tullet
Read to: Primer
Skills: Parts of a Story
The Story Starts Here! by Caroline Merola
Read to: First and Second Grade
Skills: Parts of a Story and Unconventional books
I used both of the above stories to review the parts of a fiction story: Characters, Setting, Problem, Solution, and they both were somewhat unconventional books so we discussed what made them different. Help! We Need a Title! basically discusses and shows the process of writing and illustrating a story. Then in The Story Starts Here the author decides to have the reader begin the story from the back and while reading the reader has to turn the book upside down to basically solve the characters' problem. So, for I think the first time ever on my blog, I am not using this blog to review books, but I am going to go ahead and say that in my opinion these two books are not all that great (gasp!) as I didn't feel like they had much of a story line. Sorry! Just being honest here folks! HOWEVER, they both got some laughs from the kids and they showed the basics of what I was trying to review-parts of a story, so I guess I will give them an A-.
In the meantime, I am getting pumped about beginning poetry month in April and can't wait to share all of the fun things we have planned. Stay tuned!
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