This Week in Picture Books

We had a few big-time favorites this week! Our 1-year-old Book Reviewer absolutely loved No, David! and Firefighters: Speeding! Spraying! Saving! (which was such a favorite I had to renew it last week - so it's not pictured).

Here's what we read this week - in order of favorites!

Traditional Picture Books...

No, David! by David Shannon

This is a popular choice for the start of the school year. It's a great way to begin the conversation about rules and procedures in the classroom.

Squish (my one-year-old co-reviewer) particularly enjoys the number of times the book uses the word no! He loved the pictures (though Dad found them to be a little creepy). As I said, this book was a HUGE favorite and was requested very regularly! In fact, when we came back from the library, I think he was looking for it in the stack of new books... Oops!

This book tends to be a winner for children ages 1 - grade 2, obviously depending on the child. Be careful if you're reading it to little ones who haven't discovered nose-picking yet... Our realization of that possibility happened when reading a book...

Zoe's Hats by Sharon Lane Holm

Oh how I love this book! When I get back into the classroom, I will definitely be using it! I'm thinking of creating a unit around this book - crafts, patterning, Reader's Theater inspired by Caps for Sale, center activities... Did I mention my love of this book!?

At first glance, this book is incredibly simple - one hat per page, just a couple words. Skills practice (identify colors, etc) at the end (Full disclosure, we didn't read that part!). But the beauty of books is that with just a couple words, you can create something amazing and funny! So in addition to being an excellent early childhood read, it would be fantastic as a mentor text for Writing Workshop. I'd probably use it in 2nd-4th grade to focus on the value of choosing words wisely, but there are a million things you could do.

It was also a favorite read here at home. Bonus: We can now identify the color blue! (or at least the blue hat in the book!)

Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw
This one has similar feel to the other sheep books. It's almost poetic, with each page rhyming and could be used for developing inference skills using the illustrations.

Neither of us were particularly enthralled by this one, though we do really enjoy reading Sheep in a Jeep several times a week.

There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Clover by Lucille Colandro

This is a cute concept, obviously playing on There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly. The repetitive language would definitely be a hit with some young readers. It just wasn't suited to our particular tastes. I found it to be a bit of a stretch in terms of the rhythm of the poetry, which happens to be a personal pet peeve. If that doesn't bug you, this might be a better fit for you.

Squish was not a fan. He didn't make it through the first page and didn't want to attempt it more than twice.

Board Books...

Diggers and Dumpers
A book all about different kinds of trucks - who could ask for anything more!? We read it about 10 times, and then someone put it in a safe place while I started dinner... and it's never been seen again. Any bets where I might find it? We've looked in all the favorite book storage places: cabinets, drawers, the fridge...

In any case, this is a great read for little ones who just love trucks! I love that it's an informational text geared for this age group - that's such a rare and important literary treat!

Llama Llama Wakey-Wake
Who doesn't love Llama Llama books? This one is as wonderful as the others! It was especially fun to read at the start of the day or right after nap time. Squish requested it several times a day.

My Shapes
This was fun to read. It's simple and repetitive, with the shape on one page and a related object on the opposite page. It was fun to point out the shapes within the object, and I really liked that they included several of the shape. We like to point at things in books (especially stars!), so this was especially fun! I also liked the challenge of reading in Spanish - it's good for little ones to hear different languages, and it's good for them to see grown-ups learning. So, this was a win in many different ways!

Lucky Leprechaun
Such a cute seasonal text! You probably can't tell from the picture, but the gold is shiny! Each page has a shiny element, which I though was a really fun way to engage little ones. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way in our house. I suspect that is more an issue of personal taste than anything else.

Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors
I've been trying so hard to find Bible stories told in a toddler-friendly way. This seemed like a great option, but it was just too long. The pictures didn't have enough variety to engage little learners the way the other books did. Neither one of us made it through more than a couple pages (apparently my attention-span matched the toddler's this week!).

Earthdance, Roller Coaster and a Writing Lesson

I just adore books that teach a million things at once and leave you with that satisfied, peaceful feeling when you close them.  Earthdance is one of those books.  It is one big celebration of Earth and all those who dwell here.

 The book is fantastic as a read aloud, just for pure enjoyment.  It's also a great addition to an Earth Day celebration.  You could use it at the beginning of the school year to remember that we are part of something bigger and everyone around us is valuable.  I love to celebrate diversity at the beginning of school; it sets the tone for the whole year.

Another great way to use Earthdance is as a mentor text for writing.  The illustrations perfectly capture the structure of a story and lend themselves well to teaching a story map.  It would be great to pair it with Roller Coaster, which I use as a mentor text when I'm teaching small moment stories.  

I've often used it to remind students that our stories really work like a roller coaster.  Earthdance is another great mentor text for the same topic.  This year, I was inspired by Cole Elementary to use this anchor chart, instead of the simpler version I usually create.  (Click on the image to check out their blog.  There are some other great anchor chart ideas there.)

 This really helped my young writers remember the structure of the story.  I especially loved the idea of using the sticky notes to plan and evaluate our stories.  We used them to check a draft I had written and discovered that my story needed some revision - it was missing the action!

The students created roller coasters in their notebooks and used sticky notes to plan and evaluate their own stories.  It was so sweet to see them using their hands to create the roller coaster as they re-told their stories.

I wish I thought to take pictures of their work, but I was way to involved and excited by conferencing with them to think about that!

Anyway, Earthdance is a fantastic follow up lesson, because it shows that the action and excitement of a story can go beyond just the problem and solution.  A book can have a fabulous purpose and carry great meaning by making a simple variation to the story structure.

I can't wait to try it out!

The bugs are here!

It's an exciting time in second grade... Our ecosystems are set up, and our bugs are here!  My scholars were so excited to share their observations and show me all their discoveries that I forgot to snap a picture.  I had so much fun supporting them as they touched worms and snails for the first time.  One child was so nervous, and two of his friends coached him through the whole thing...

"It's ok.  You got this."

"You can do it!  Just tell your brain - I'm ok!  I got this.  Now close your eyes and take a big breath in and out."

"Ok!  Now open them, and do it!"

"AAAAH!  It's so slimy!"

Seriously... Best.  Day.  Ever.

And I don't even like bugs!
 

In other news, I had the pleasure of visiting Village Tech in Cedar Hill, TX last week, and I loved every moment of it!  The best part was that the students gave the tour.  They did a fantastic job, and I learned so much from hearing from them. 

My students were excited to learn about the way they continue trying until they get a skill, rather than focusing on completing a task.  This has really had an impact on us this week.  I'm always hearing, "I'm done!" immediately followed by, "Do you need feedback?"  On Monday, they didn't want to leave school until they had achieved their math goals.  My teacher heart soared! :)

Here's the chart we're using to remind us how to give effective feedback before we try our next iteration.

Of course we're continuing our work on poetry.  Is this poem awesome or what?  She wrote this beauty after 2 days of instruction!  I was so proud to see her taking out the math tools and using them to check her spelling and gather shape names.

 In one of our guided reading groups, we are working on noticing when we stop understanding and taking action!  This is an anchor chart we created to help us remember the conversation.

I hope you're enjoying your week as much as we are!

The Bee Tree - A Review & Lesson Ideas

Patricia Polacco is one of my favorite children's book authors.  Her word choice is second to none, and she creates such vivid images for the reader.  I also love the way her illustrations perfectly capture the spirit of the text.  She is just brilliant!

Click on the image to buy a copy!

The Bee Tree is no exception.  In this story, Mary Ellen becomes tired with her reading, so her Grampa takes her on a search for a bee tree.  The entire town joins in, and after the fun is over, Mary Ellen learns that we must sometimes persevere to find the enjoyment in our tricky tasks.
 
This is an excellent book to use in almost any subject area.  It is a great read aloud and can be the center of a lesson on author's purpose or identifying the lesson in a book.

I also love it as a mentor text for writing.  Here are just a few possible teaching points:
- Using words other than said
- Relating the ending to the beginning
- Including a moral or lesson
- Using dialogue to drive the action

The Bee Tree works brilliantly for Guided Reading, as well.  Here's a lesson I've used.  In fact, I even used this as a Guided Reading demonstration lesson, because I knew I would be excited to share this book with others.  It went beautifully, and I'm loving my new job! :)

Peek at My Week & Poetry Unit

It's my favorite unit of the year in Writing Workshop... Poetry!  I just love seeing my young writers express themselves with poetry.  They have such great ideas and are able to create such brilliant poems.

We are using my poetry unit (click below to grab a copy), which I use and improve upon every year.  I learn so much from my students, so I change it and add to it based on what they teach me each year.

So far, we've used our sunglasses to look at the world through the eyes of a poet.  We remember that poets see the world differently, just like things look a little different when we put on our sunglasses.

They came up with some GREAT ideas for poems!  Please excuse our spelling... We never worry about it when we're just gathering ideas. After all, our lists are just for us! :)

This week, we'll continue learning about crafting poems and using repetition as part of the art of poetry.  Collaborative poetry writing is a new one lesson this year, and I'm really to try it.  This was a suggestion from one of my young writers, and I think it's going to be awesome! :)

Here's a little Peek at My Week!

I'm linking up with Mrs. Willis Kindergarten.  Be sure to stop by and check out everything going on in other classrooms around the country this week!  (Isn't it great to be able to learn from people across the country!?)