I Wish You More Cookies Than Toast

We read I Wish You More by the amazing Amy Krouse Rosenthal in library last week but I forgot to take pictures to share on my blog.  Each child filled in an I Wish You More paper.   At first they had a little bit of trouble understanding the concept, but I told them to think of things that they really liked and also things that they didn't like that much.  After writing their words, they were supposed to draw a picture.   Here's what they came up with...

              

This is one of my favorite ones,
done by a Pre-K student

I also found an activity guide called, "I Wish You More Supplies" put out by Tom Lichtenheld.  We colored kites and the students had fun doing the matching game.  We tried to make umbrellas but found it a little bit tricky.

    

Here is a picture of the completed bulletin board :)

A copy of the cover of I Wish You More...
complete with a yellow umbrella!

Butterflies, Ladybugs, and Birds...Oh My!

I have a giant bulletin board in the back of my library.  Inspired by the book Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, I decided that we would read books about bugs, gardens, flowers, butterflies, and birds and create a  mural on that bulletin board.  Every grade will make a part of our mural which will include both an underground and above the ground look at a garden.

Kindergarten read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and made ladybugs using black crayons and red watercolor paint.

1st Grade read Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert (an author that we had studied earlier this year) and made butterflies by cutting a folded piece of paper, painting on one side of the butterfly, and then folding it in half to make a mirror paint image on the other side.

Pipe cleaner antennae's will be added to every butterfly.

2nd Grade read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and made 3D flowers by folding and cutting paper.

3rd Grade read birdsongs by Betsy Franco and Steve Jenkins and created birds out of construction paper


             

                                              




















Pre-K read a non-fiction book about bees and started some fingerprint bumblebees.  I don't have any pictures of these yet because at the moment they are just yellow fingerprints ;)

Brown Girl Dreaming

I finished Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson today.  This book has been on my to read list since we got it in our library 3 years ago.  I am so glad that I finally read it.  I listened to the audio book, which was read by the author (a big bonus, if you ask me).

Her poems are so beautiful as she tells the story through memories from her childhood.  I found myself mesmerized by her thoughts and it was hard to stop listening.  The one drawback to listening, I found, was that I didn't have a good grasp of the timeline.  When I peeked at the first couple of pages of the written book today, I was able to see the family tree which helped me better understand the timeline of her memories.

I highly recommend this book!  Learn more about Jacqueline Woodson on her website.  Also, check out this interview that she did on NPR!

I can't wait to recommend this to one of my students!!

One Proud Penny

One of my favorite places to find books is at my local public library.  I *might* be the person that comes and snatches up the new books on display...but I'll never tell ;)

I found this gem of a book about a month ago.  The illustrations caught my eye and after reading the first page, I knew I had to check this book out!

The illustrations are so fun and the content is present in such a fun and unique way!  It is the story of a penny, told by a penny.  The proud penny talks about where he was born, what he has been made of throughout history, and the odd places that he has been lost or dropped.  

Your students will absolutely love this book!  I promise!

Families, Families, Families!

Today I read Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang.  This book celebrates families of all shapes and sizes and is summed up perfectly on the last page...

"...if you love each other, then you are a family."

#bookaday Challenge, Day 3...done!

#MOREforAKR

Tomorrow I will celebrate #MOREforAKR with my library students.  

I have a few books to give away, to pass on the gift of reading :)

Umbrella and yellow ink pad

Yellow umbrella stamp with #MOREforAKR
4/29/17

We will create a bulletin board after reading I Wish You More.  I will post a picture of that when we finish.  What are you doing to celebrate the life of Amy Krouse Rosenthal?  Let me know!

I Wish You More

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is one of my favorite authors.  Yesterday, in honor of #MOREforAKR, I went to my local bookstore and bought this book...

It was 1 of 3 books by her in the store and it was pre-owned...which made it only $5.37 (I would have paid full price for it though!)

In honor of #MOREforAKR I bought a handful of other books to hand out to some of my library students on Tuesday.  I bought an umbrella stamp and yellow paint so I can put the official Amy Krouse Rosenthal stamp of approval on them.  I plan to pass on the give of reading in honor of her.

This book is on my list for Day 3 of my #bookaday Challenge.  It is simple yet very powerful.  I plan to read it in library on Tuesday and hope that my students enjoy it as much as I did.  

On a side note, my son has discovered a new series that he loves (he read 3 chapter books today) and would like to start a blog of his own.  Stay tuned for more information ;)

Radiant Child #bookaday Challenge, Day 2

Today I read Radiant Child:  The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiet. 

Winner of both the 2017 Randolph Caldecott Medal and the 2017 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, this is the story of a young boy who overcame obstacles to become a radiant artist.  I loved the illustrations and how they told the story through his art.  It is a story of hope and perseverance.  Jean-Michel had a dream and he made it come true.  

I was sad to read that he passed away at such a young age.  I am thankful to author/illustrator Javaka Steptoe for sharing Jean-Michel Basquiat story with the world.

My #bookaday Challenge

I went to a conference yesterday and learned about the #bookaday challenge.

I took this little blurb about the challenge from Donalyn Miller's Blog.  

The #bookaday guidelines are simple:

• You set your own start date and end date.
• Read one book per day for each day of summer vacation. This is an average, so if you read three books in one day and none the next two, it still counts.
• Any book qualifies including picture books, nonfiction, professional books, audio books, graphic novels, poetry anthologies, or fiction—children’s, youth, or adult titles.
• Keep a list of the books you read and share them often via a social networking site like goodreads or Twitter (post using the #bookaday hashtag), a blog, or Facebook page. You do not have to post reviews, but you can if you wish. Titles will do.

I am going to start today, and read a #bookaday for the next 365 days (I will get to read a ton of new books AND become a better blogger at the same time!)  and then you can read about them on my blog :)  Here is the post for day 1.  Happy reading!

If You Plant a Seed

Today in class I read, "If You Plant a Seed" by Kadir Nelson.  If you haven't read his books or seen his illustrations, you are missing out on something amazing!

The paintings are beautiful and the message is powerful.  Spread kindness and it will come back to you many times over (and you may make a few friends along the way!)

This is book 1 of my #bookaday challenge.  

Lois Ehlert - Part 2

While celebrating Lois Ehlert, we read Snowballs (see my blog post about it here) and Oodles of Animals.

After reading the book, my students created animals using torn paper.  I just love what they came up with!!

Lois Ehlert - Part 1

https://theeducatorsspinonit.com/2012/09/lois-ehlert-author-study-virtual-book.html

The Author Spotlight was on Lois Ehlert during the month of November.  She turned 82 years old on November 9, 2016.  She is the author of numerous books, most of which lend themselves beautifully to the creation of art in our library.  We read The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life.  My students and I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about Lois Ehlert and the style in which she creates her art.  I highly recommend this book!

In the past I have had students create art using the book Eating the Alphabet but this year we used Snowball and Oodles of Animals.

This is how we made our snowmen after reading Snowballs...

Each student got to choose 3 torn "snowballs".  

Add caption

I used a chip and dip tray to organize the supplies.  There were feathers, buttons, noodles, black beans, scraps of fleece, pom poms, and ribbon.

Supplies, paper and glue all set up for a Pre-K class.  They weren't good at writing their names yet, so I wrote their names on the paper and had them look for their name :)  

Some of the finished products...

       

          

      

Blizzard

I wasn't alive during the Blizzard of '78 but my parents were and since it was only 3 years before I was born, I grew up hearing a lot about this infamous weather event!

Before we read this story in class, I shared some facts about blizzards and had them guess which Chickadee book we were reading in class.  It didn't take very long for them to guess which book we were reading!

I really enjoyed John Rocco's account of the Blizzard of '78!  I also loved the very creative ways in which he showed the passing of the days on each page.

There is a really neat fold out map that shows his journey through the neighborhood on his way to the store.  We took a detailed look at that map and then the students drew maps of their own neighborhoods.  It was really neat to see what about their neighborhood was important to them and also to see how many (or few) details each student included.  Here are a few examples of the maps that my students drew...

 

Dragon's Extraordinary Egg

This was an amazing book!

I loved it, my students loved it and my 6 year old son loved it!  What more can I say?  Here is what we did in library...

In 3rd and 4th grade we made origami penguins

    Origami Penguin display with Non-Fiction and Fiction penguin books.

 While my group did origami, the other group of students watched a video from the author/illustrator, Debi Gliori.

In 1st/2nd Grade, the student wrote penguin facts and drew pictures to go along with their fact.

In my Pre-K/Kindergarten class, we drew penguins and made a winter display to show off our handiwork :)