Mar21

World Poetry Day!

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Happy World Poetry Day! From reading the classics like, Shel Silverstein to reading Hans Christian Anderson, poetry knows how to touch our souls! There have been some recently published poetry books that you need to check out! Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems is one of them!

This book, that was just published in 2015 has won over 15 awards/honors, so you know it’s going to be a good one! Of the numerous reviews on this book on clcd.com, this one by Kirkus stands out above the rest. “Choosing from works spanning three centuries, Janeczko artfully arranges 36 elegant poems among the four seasons. With each poem’s relationship to its season often subtle or tangential, Janeczko avoids the trite repetition flawing some seasonal poetry collections. The initial poem, by Cid Corman for Spring, lauds a dawn scene: Daybreak reminds us— / the hills have arrived just in / time to celebrate. Emily Dickinson’s poem shimmers in the Summer section: The Moon was but a Chin of Gold / A Night or two ago —/ And now she turns Her perfect Face / Upon the World below…. (The moon’s presence shines throughout, in eight poems.) Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser, whose published 2003 collaboration is represented by two poems, offer this autumnal musing: What is it the wind has lost / that she keeps looking for / under each leaf? The winter poems are snowy, but they are also laced with fog; nature scenes alternate with depictions of a subway, a rusting truck, harbor boats and more. Sweet’s effervescent mixed-media collages include signature elements like graph paper and saturated pinks; the large format engenders some expansive compositions, such as one showing the curve of the Earth near an enormous, smiling full moon. Inventive details abound, too: The last spread shows a child asleep under a crazy quilt that incorporates motifs from all four seasons—a perfect visual ending.” To read the other remarkable reviews, click here!
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Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by : Paul B. Janecczko & Illustrated by: Melissa Sweet

Information on the book:
Literary Awards:
Age Level: 5 – 10 years old
Genre: Poetry
Rationale: I chose this book because it is a beautiful rendition of every season! The book starts with Spring and goes through each season with a few poems that describes it. The illustrations make it even more enjoyable, they are wonderfully depicted and drawn to match exactly what each poem is discussing. It is also a recently published book, making it a wonderful book to read in any classroom setting.
Classroom Application: Although this book can be used for Preschool – 3rd grade students, it can also be adapted to fit any grade level! Since this book deals with the season, it would be great to use during Social Studies when studying the seasons. It could also be used during Writing, students can listen to a select of poems from the book, then create their own poems based off the seasons.

 

Mar20

Happy Spring!

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What a better way to celebrate the first few days of Spring than to go outside and do some Math! Today’s book is all about math games that you can play outside, Outdoor Math: Fun Activities for Every Season by: Emma Adbage.

This newly published book just came out in 2016, it begins with the basics in Math, numbers. As you read on, the book goes into different games that anyone (teachers included) can do with children. Some games include: “Worm Measure”, “Simple Coordinates”, “Free Form” (Shapes), “Pattern Play”, and “Melting Snowman” (Time). Along with using this book in the Spring, there are also other games to play outside during any season!
outdoor math fun activities for every season

Outdoor Math: Fun Activities for Every Season by: Emma Adbage

Information on the book:
Literary Awards: none, just published in 2016
Age Level: 5-8 years old
Genre: Informational book/Picture book
Rationale: I chose this book because it is new and also because it revolves around Math. There are tons of books that deal with Math, but I enjoyed how the activities in the book can be done outside. That’s a great way of getting students outside and moving, instead of being stuck inside sitting at desks.
Classroom Application: You can use this book in grades 1st – 3rd, mainly because of the math levels of the games. Each activity has listed exactly what is needed to complete it, which makes it easier and quicker to plan for.
Mar18

Celebrating Dr. Seuss!

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Since March is National Reading Month, I’m going to be sharing some books by the beloved author, Dr. Seuss! Growing up, I listened to and read the silly, rhyming, non-sense word-books by this amazing person, so it’s only fair that I share some of my favorites with you! For the next week, I’ll be posting some Dr. Seuss books that are near and dear to my heart.

The first book that I am sharing by Dr. Seuss is Are You My Mother? My mom used to read this book to me every night before bed. It is such a sweet story about a baby bird who is trying to find its mother. He asks a dog, a cow, and even a plane before he finally find her!

On clcd.com, there are many reviews, here’s one:”This story has been around for forty-five years and has not lost its appeal. A little baby bird falls out of its nest and asks a number of the animals that it meets if they are its mother. Each in turns replies that he or she is not and that they are a kitten, dog, hen or cow. Baby bird is attached to a ribbon and can be removed from the nest. When he reaches the steam shovel which he calls Snort, baby bird can be inserted into the shovel as it lifts the bird up, up, up and back into its nest. There is a slot under mama bird s wing to slide the little baby bird. This cloth book will be perfect for little ones new to the story and will also engage motor skills as they try to put baby bird in all of the right places.” –Marilyn Courtot (Children’s Literature) Click here for this review and many others!
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Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Information on the book:
Literary Awards:
Genre: Picture Books, Fantasy
Age Level: birth to 5
Rationale: I chose this book because I love celebrating Dr. Seuss and his passion of reading! This book is a great rhyming and funny book that children can read along to (even if they can’t read yet).
Classroom Application: I would use this book in a Pre-K classroom. Before reading, I would make a list of animal native to our area and ask the students what the baby of each animal is called (ie. baby duck = duckling). We would discuss the importance of mommies and daddies and how they take care of their babies. Then we would read the story, I would have the students predict what animal the baby bird would ask next. After reading, the students would illustrate their favorite animal and its baby and properly label them.
Mar17

Luck O’ the Irish!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

“May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck!”

Today is St. Paddy’s day, so of course I had to share a wonderful Irish tale with you! I am sharing the old-time favorite Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato: An Irish Folktale by Tomie DePaola.

Once again, I’m using clcd.com for all of the stats on this book. I remember being read this book in third grade. I wasn’t aware of the traditions that Irish people do on this sacred day. So after re-reading this book just for today’s post, I now know the Irish folktale a little better! One review that I found on clcd.com stated “Jamie O’Rourke, the laziest man in all of Ireland, tries to avoid work at all costs. When his wife Eileen hurts her back and can no longer work, Jamie decides to visit his church. During his walk, he captures a leprechaun and demands his pot of gold. Instead of giving the Irish man his gold, the tiny green-clad fellow gives Jamie a potato seed. Upon returning home, Jamie plants and waters the magic seed, which becomes the biggest “pratie” he or any of the villagers has ever seen. In his effort to uproot the vegetable, Jamie and his fellow villagers get the potato stuck in the middle of the road. When he is blamed for the mishap, Jamie invites everyone to take pieces of the potato home with them. After a winter of nothing but potatoes, the villagers promise to give Jamie and his wife plenty of food each day in return for not ever planting another magic potato seed again.” – Debra Briatico (Children’s Literature) Click here for this review and more!
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Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato: An Irish Folktale by: Tomie DePaola

Information on the book:
Literary Awards:
Genre: Traditional Literature
Age Level: 4 to 8
Rationale: I chose this book simply because it is St. Patrick’s Day! It is a wonderful traditional literature book that is a folktale from Ireland. Students can learn the type of culture Ireland has.
Classroom Application: I would use this book on St. Patrick’s Day. I would read the book to the class and use this as an opener to a Geography lesson. We would learn where Ireland is located and even study the history of the folktale and where it originated.
Mar13

Working Together

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Today is National Good Samaritan Day and I just finished reading a book that does just that – Seedfolks by: Paul Fleischman. This book is very short – a little over 70 pages – and it talks about a girl who lives in a inner city community. This girl wanted to do something nice for her family by planting a bean garden in a very under-developed plot of land in the middle of her building complex. People soon catch on to this weird phenomena by planting their own gardens. This book is a wonderful story about culture and being a part of a great community.

This AWARD-winning book was awarded the CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices) award, and CCBC reviewed this book, stating “A young Vietnamese girl plants six lima bean seedlings in an overgrown, garbage-strewn, inner-city lot in Cleveland. An elderly longtime resident of the neighborhood watches the child from a third-story apartment window, unsure of what the girl is doing all alone in that abandoned lot, but suspicious. Life in the neighborhood has taught the woman to be distrustful of people, even of children. But when the woman discovers the girl has planted beans, she is startled and moved by the tender act, and when she realizes it is far too early in the spring for such young plantings to survive, she calls upon a friend to help her secretly tend them so the child’s small garden will grow. From these small acts, a neighborhood begins to change. Where once there was an old, abandoned lot, a garden emerges. Where once there were disconnected lives, a fragile sense of community begins to grow. Seedfolks takes place in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhood comprised of individuals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, a neighborhood in which some of the residents are relative newcomers to the United States while others have lived on those very city blocks for most or all of their lives. Author Paul Fleischman gives them voice, writing each chapter from the point of view of a different individual in the neighborhood who gets involved in the garden. There are conflicts as well as connections that result from the garden’s growth in Seedfolks, but ultimately there is hope, and a flowering of the human spirit.” –click here for other reviews
seedfolks

Seedfolks by: Paul Fleischman

Information on the book:
Literary Awards:
Age Level: 12 years old and older
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Rationale: This book was actually suggested to me by my professor. At first, I was very intrigued to read this book because of how small it is! This book would be a great story to read with students and to teach them about helping the community and giving back as well as different cultures.
Classroom Applications: I found some neat ideas on Pinterest for different grade levels.
For elementary/low middle school levels: Scholastic has a wonderful lesson plan on analyzing character’s actions and cause and effect. Click here for this awesome lesson!
Students could grow their own classroom community garden! It could be indoors and small or, with the principal’s permission, it could be grown outside!
Students could learn about citizenship and the importance of giving back. Click here for more information!

 

Mar8

All About Animals

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Today, we’re talking animals! What better way to learn about animals than to read a fabulous nonfiction book written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins! The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, and Shyest – And Most Surprising – Animals on Earth by: Steve Jenkins, let’s learn more about this awesome book!

This book discusses and shares facts on over three hundred animals and offers a brief overview of the history of life on Earth. According to CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2014), they stated “In this treasure trove of information, Steve Jenkins relates fascinating facts about 300 different animals, looking at them in sections that examine various qualities, traits, and behaviors (Family, Animal Senses, Predators, Defenses, and Animal Extremes, such as size, habitat, and life span). An introductory chapter talks about the scientific classification of Animal as a kingdom that includes two groups vertebrates and invertebrates with various subgroups. The penultimate chapter, The Story of Life, looks at evolution, natural selection, variation, mutation and other elements of survival, extinction, and change that have shaped life on earth. As always, Jenkins combines dramatic, eye-catching collage images of the many animals he s exploring with clever and succinct writing that focuses on one or more intriguing elements about each. Some of the artwork has been reused from his earlier volumes, but it and other illustrations are fresh and dynamic in this new context. And where does he get his ideas? In the closing chapter, Making Books, Jenkins documents the process for making his books, from the original idea through research, preliminary art, final illustration, and production timeline, to give kids a sense of what goes into the book they hold in their hands.” – click here for the full review!
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The Animal Book by: Steve Jenkins

Information on the book:

Literary Awards:

 

Genre: Informational book

Age Level: 7 years old and up

Rationale: Steve Jenkins always make such wonderful nonfiction books! In my experiences, students love, love, love his books! So of course I had to pick one of his books to share.

Classroom Application: I would use this book with any elementary grade level. Students could be paired into small groups and they could complete a ‘book report’ on one animal from the book. They can make a book report by making “an animal in a can” – build the animal in a can (any size) and have facts about the animal on the outside of the can. They can also complete “animal shoe box” report. They will create the animal’s habitat in a shoe box then build the animal in it’s natural environment. And they would have to include basic facts about the animal as well.

 

 

Mar6

Motivation to Read!

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As teachers, we can, at times, have a difficultly with motivating our students to want to read. This can be especially true for students who are boys. Most of the time, boys love anything BUT school work and this includes reading. So, teachers are constantly trying to come up with tactics to get them to read more. One of the most important thing you could do is: create a literacy-rich environment in your classroom! I have been looking near and far for some tips and tricks to accomplish this task, and I have found it! On the Reading Rockets website, they have a whole section dedicated to motivating students to read.

According to Reading Rockets, they said you should:
        • have book sets based on a theme
        • displays of student artwork/writing samples
        • have roughly 10 books per student (20 students = 200 books, seems like a lot, but it’s not!)
        • have a variety of books to choose from
        • complete a reading attitude survey to your class, this takes literally 5-6 minutes to complete.

Check out their website for more information!

reading rockets

 

Mar5

Star Light, Star Bright…

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Time for some Informational books! I love to incorporate as many informational books as I can; you can utilize them in many subject areas and ways. From Steve Jenkins to Gail Gibbons, teachers can use informational books for any subject! Today, I have found a very interesting book on the stars and what happens in the night. Night Sky is just the book for students who love outer-space and the planets.

According to clcd.org, Caitlin Marineau (Children’s Literature) stated 
“An engaging and information-packed exploration of astronomy, this title is an edition of Scholastic s Discover More series. The book is segmented into four sections, including chapters about star-gazing, detailed information about the stars that make up well-known constellations, planets, and galaxies. Amateur astronomers will explore everything from the various telescope types needed to see different phenomena, to star maps, the origin of planets, the life-span of stars, and colliding galaxies (including the Andromeda galaxy, calculated to collide with the Milky Way in around 5 billion years). Every chapter is filled with definitions, illustrations, and facts that will keep readers engaged for hours. Full-page photographic spreads offer beautiful images of the sky as viewed from Earth, as well as deep-space views. The book also comes with a code to download a free PDF copy of an accompanying book on the zodiac. Light-Up Zodiac features more scientific information about the constellations as well as astrological beliefs about the zodiac signs, such as personality types. With or without the digital book to accompany it, Night Sky features plenty of science in a format sure to draw in astronomy fans.” – click here to check out the full review!
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Night Sky: Watching the Universe Outside Your Window by: Giles Sparrow

Information on the book:

Literary Awards: none

Genre: Informational book

Age Level: 9 years old and up

Rationale: This book looked very interesting to me when I found it at the Children’s Literature Centre. I like using a variety of children’s literature in my teaching, and this is one that I have never seen before.

Classroom Application: I would use this in a 5th grade classroom when we would begin discussing physical science and the planets. After reading through the book and discussing the main topics in it, my students would complete a diorama on the planets in our universe! I loved doing this project when I was in elementary school, so I would have my students do it as well. But I would also require my students to choose one planet of their choice and do some research on it and include that with their diorama. Basic information: name, when it was found, fancy facts about it, and anything else they can think of.

Mar4

Hug Machine!

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What better way to celebrate hugging than to read Hug Machine by Scott Campbell! I had the wonderful pleasure to meet Scott Campbell at the Spring Festival of Children’s Literature at Frostburg State University. This event is held by the Children’s Literature Centre every year, and this year marks it’s 34th Anniversary! Check out their Facebook page by clicking here!

Anyways, last year (2015), Scott Campbell was one of four featured authors (I met all of them!) and he wrote Hug Machine. According to clcd.org, this reviewer wrote:

What, you may ask, precisely is a Hug Machine? It s a little boy with a propensity for loving squeezes whose hugs are good enough to stop crying babies and make small turtles feel big inside. No one is too spiky or huge for a Hug from the Hug Machine, not even a porcupine or a whale. There s a matter-of-fact glee in this picture book that keeps it silly and sweet but never saccharine ( People often ask what the Hug Machine eats to keep the hugging energy high. Well, the answer is pizza ), and the gentle but insistent repetition and theatrical beat give it a playful rhythm. Watercolor illustrations on textured paper feature our Peanuts-headed protagonist in suspenders and big red boots against a warm, earthy palette heightened by extensive use of pink, particularly for backgrounds. The cloudiness of the medium, the thick and bumpy outlining, and an exaggerated roundness of features ramp up the coziness, but the use of perspective and close-ups, as in a spread where the Hug Machine comes right for the audience, helps keep things from getting too treacly. Whether for bedtime or storytime, affectionate kids and adults will thoroughly embrace (ahem) this fuzzy and goofy paean to cuddling. –Thaddeus Andracki (The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books, September 2014 (Vol. 68, No. 1))
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Hug Machine by: Scott Campbell

Information on the book:

Literary Awards:

 

All taken from clcd.org, click here.

Genre: Picture Books

Age Level: 3 to 6 years old

Rationale: I chose this book because I love it, obviously! But, I also enjoy how students can relate to the book’s theme – affection. It’s great to tell kids that it’s okay to want to hug something, even if it’s the mailman.

Classroom Application: I have actually used this book in a Pre-K classroom, and the kids loved it! We talked about the importance of keeping our hands to ourselves, but if you ask politely, it’s also okay to give a friend a hug. The students then created pictures of themselves on a paper plate, then I attached arms. I asked each student what they like to hug (some said teddy bear, others said mommy/daddy) and I printed off pictures of the objects then made their arms bend so that they were ‘hugging’ their favorite thing. The best part about this is that Scott Campbell saw this display at the Festival and I got my picture taken with him!

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Scott Campbell and me!

 

Mar3

The Depression – In the Keys

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So, I just finished reading a historical fiction book Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm. This book was, without a doubt, one of my new favorite books! I absolutely love reading historical fiction novels, and this one took the cake! The cool part about it is that this book just came out in 2016, so it’s a newbie and not a lot of people have had the opportunity to read it yet. But I have, so you will be able to get an understanding of this book now. Trust me, you will want to read this book after I finish reviewing it!

I was able to find a review of the book on GoodReads.com.
Publisher’s Weekly stated “Anyone interested in learning to write crowd-pleasing historical fiction for elementary school readers would be wise to study Holm’s work.”— starred review

 

I also rated this book on GoodReads website with a 5 out of 5 stars. This book is a wonderful rendition of the trials and tribulations that people of the Keys had to endure during the Depression. Beans was one of many children at the time running around shoe-less and wearing clothes with many patches, but they made the best of it by doing what kids do best – playing. In Beans case, playing marbles, and being the best of the best in town! But, when the New Dealers came to town to try to turn it around into a tourist hotspot, some folks wasn’t into it. With his father in New Jersey in hopes of finding work, Beans had to do what was necessary to keep his family afloat, so he made some decisions that he later on regretted. Will the Keys prosper with the new additions and renovations? What will happen to Beans and his family?  You will just have to read the book to find out!

Full of Beans is a wonderful story about how difficult living was during the Depression and it taught that being 10 years old at that time was tough, but Beans made the best of it. 5th-7th grade students can relate to Beans story, even if it may be under different circumstances.
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Full of Beans by: Jennifer L. Holm

Information on the Book:

Literary Awards: none given, it just came out in 2016.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Level: 9-12 year olds

Rationale: I chose this book because I am quite fond of historical fiction novels, and this is another great one! I love learning about history through the eyes of a child, because most of the time, they see things differently than adults do.

Classroom Application: I would use this book in a 5th grade classroom as an anchor text to a history unit on the Depression. The students would do research on the Depression, specifically in Key West, Florida. They would complete a “book report” in the terms of making a movie trailer for the book.