Last Few Weeks of School

I can't believe this school year is coming to an end. Here is what we were up to during our last couple of weeks in May.

We started off the month celebrating Free Comic Book Day and May 4th which is "Star Wars Day." "May the 4th be With You!" So we thought it was a great time to discuss the genre of graphic novels. So many of our kids LOVE and are OBSESSED with graphic novels, but others may not really understand them or realize all of the cool learning opportunities that they hold! So Mrs. Young, our LS graphic novel expert, did a lesson with our 1st-4th graders on the subject.  The kids loved it and we all (including me) learned a lot!             

Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

Flip Flop Bop by Matt Novak

Read to: CDC and Pre-K

Skills: Summer Fun!

With Summer on our brain I decided to read these two fun books about going to the beach and what you might wear to the beach, Flip Flops! The kids had fun and lots of them told me about beach trips that they had gone on or were planning to go on this summer. After reading, they then decorated and designed their very own pair of flip flops. I saw some very creative pairs of shoes that I sure would love to wear this summer!

Chalk by Bill Thomson

Doodleday by Ross Collins

Read to: Kinder and Primer

Skills: Focusing on the problem and solution in each story and comparing and contrasting the two stories. 

These two books were so fun to read! Both of these books have been around awhile, but they are all about drawings coming alive whether by magical chalk or if it is a day called, Doodleday! Both of the stories also have very clear problems that kids can easily identify, but the solutions are different so I of course wanted to emphasize that if the kids didn't catch it first. After reading both I had the kids draw something that if it came alive it would cause a problem. Then they had to exchange papers with a friend and each person then had a draw something that could solve their problem. They had fun! The next time I saw these classes so many of them asked, "Is today Doodleday?" Ha!         

It's Okay to Make Mistakes by Todd Parr 

The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Read to: CDC, Pre-K, Kinder

Skills: Understanding that it is ok to be ok!

I was reintroduced to The Ok Book at a recent seminar I went to and we just happened to get Todd Parr's book It's Okay to Make Mistakes this year, so I wanted to share them with the kids at the same time. Our lesson was all about discussing mistakes we may have made and how we fixed them, as well as talking about things we are just ok at. I then found a fun activity page that kids could write or draw about something they are just ok at. Afterwards each of the classes made a class Ok book of their own.    

TumbleBook Library 

Shared with Pre-K and Kinder

The last week of school I shared this cool resource with our Pre-K and Kinder students if they want to do some reading over the summer, but don't have time to go to the library. It is called, Tumblebooks, and it is an online collection of animated books. We provide this database for our students so I wanted to be sure they knew about it. I have taught all of our other students about it, but just now had a chance to share it with our youngest ones.   

While I taught our youngest students about Tumblebooks,  I reviewed how to access our ebook collection with the 1st through 4th graders. 

Dog vs Cat by Chris Gall

This Book Just Ate My Dog by Richard Byrne

Read to: First Grade

I have been dying to read all of the below books with the classes because they are just fun books! With first grade we had a pet themed story time. The kids love all books by Chris Gall, and so they were excited about this newer one.  For the Richard Byrne book, every time I read it the kids would ask at the end, "So, did that book REALLY eat her dog? Looks that way! It is so funny how serious they get about it all!    

This is a Moose by Richard T. Morris 

Read to: 2nd and 3rd Grade

This is a Moose was another just plain silly read aloud. I love it when I can get the crowd rolling with a funny book! I won't spill the beans on why this book is so great but it is definitely one to check out this summer if you haven't read it. 

The Book With No Pictures by B.J Novak 

Audio book played for: 3rd and 4th Grade

And finally, The Book With No Pictures! This book has been out for a while, but we just purchased the audio book of it where B.J. Novak reads the book. I mean what is better than hearing the author read his own book? So, I played it for the 3rd and 4th graders and they loved it, even if they had heard it several times before.  

So we wrapped up this school year with some great read-alouds and activities. All in all it was a super ending to a super year. I hope you all have a great summer and read some fantastic books!      

Poetry Month Part 2

For the rest of poetry month we did some more cool activities so here is what we were up to in a nutshell.

Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

Nothing Beats a Pizza by Loris Lesynski 

A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky 

All three read to: Kinder

Skills/Theme: Pizza Poetry!

I think we can pretty much agree that most of us enjoy eating pizza, so I decided to do a pizza themed story time with of course including some poetry all about pizza. We first read, Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin which most of the kids already knew and loved (it is one of my favorite's too), and then I chose a couple of fun poems about pizza to share from each of the poetry books above.  We all had a pizzariffic time!      

Riddle Rhymes by Charles Ghigna

Simms Taback's Great Big Book of Spacey Snakey Buggy Riddles by Simms Taback, Katy Hall, and Lisa Eisenberg 

Read to: Primer, 1st, and 2nd Grade

Skills: Riddles

With Primer, First, and Second grades we learned about riddles! I picked riddles from each of the above books and as I read them, I made it fun for the kids by not showing them the pictures. They then had to guess what I was describing. I have to say they were really good at guessing way before I had given them all of the details! I am not sure I was that quick at their age. However, then they had a chance to write their own riddle and exchange it with a friend, so each of them could guess what was being described. They came up with some great adjectives to describe their objects.     

Laugh-eteria by Douglas Florian

And just for fun and if time allowed I shared a couple of poems from this book with some of the classes because well, it is funny, and I enjoy all of Douglas Florian's poems! 

"I Am" Poems

Completed With the Third and Fourth Grade Classes

With Third and Fourth Grade we learned about and wrote "I Am" poems. Basically it is a poem about yourself, but instead of having to think about what to write you pretty much just fill in the blanks with adjectives that describe yourself. Pretty fun! I originally had wanted to turn this lesson into a selfie poem and thought it would be fun if the kids took a picture of themselves to include with their poem,  but I wasn't sure how to go about it and the thought of printing out all of the pictures did not seem appealing or Earth friendly so we kept it simple.          

Finally, this past Thursday, April 30th,  was National "Poem in Your Pocket Day!" I really talked it up this year and I was so pleased with the number of kids and adults that came to the library or stopped me to share their poems. One first grade class had even constructed paper pockets and had a wide variety of poems to choose from in their "pockets" to share! Here was the poem I had in my pocket. I shared it with anyone who would listen!

Overall, it was a super way to end a great Poetry Month!