Of course we had to surf… We surfed to this song: https://youtu.be/2s4slliAtQU And we played with beach balls… And we looked at a few shells… Some of us have a beach trip planned, some don’t, but it sure is fun to pretend like you are at the beach – even in the classroom! For some … More BEACH FUN IN THE CLASSROOM…
This book is an entertaining read aloud. There are lots of opportunities to make fun noises, and to have the children join in with you. An engaging, entertaining, and interactive book. Perfect for the end of the year excitement that seems to be radiating out of every classroom. Of course, we all washed out our … More “Hey, Mud Puddle!”…
Our chicks have hatched! We read about chicks and chickens in this book by Joyce Markovics: Beatrix loved meeting the chicks as much as the children did (watch more of B with the chicks at the end of the above video): The children had to learn how to pick up and touch the chicks gently. … More Meet Our New Chicks!
OPVIPAROUS! This week we read CHICKENS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES by Ruth Heller and found out what oviparous means! The perfect book to go along with the hatching of our eggs and our spring science table. I brought in a few eggs to compare sizes: This year our chicks were right on time! Day 21: … More OVIPARO WHAT?
By Mo Willems Who doesn’t like a bit of Mo Willems? He really does make reading fun. The children loved this song. A easy way to introduce them to the word Bonjour: I myself can relate to Nanette. I have picked up a warm baguette in Paris, and managed to eat ALL of it…who can … More Nanette’s Baguette
by Christie Matheson. A fun, interactive book for the children. Perfect for any kind of planting activity for the spring. After we read the book, we planted zinnias. We are hoping to see some sprouts soon. We talked about the importance of butterflies, bees and the birds that enjoy the flowers. We also talked about … More PLANT THE TINY SEED…
Bunny Bus by Ammi-Joan Paquette, Illustrated by Lesley Green Withrow This Easter book has colorful pictures, and some nice rhyming words for the children to listen for. It is an easy book to incorporate some physical activities to go with it. During the week before Easter, Easter egg hunts and lots of excitement, it is … More Hop on the BUNNY BUS!
By Brendan Wenzel This book is a 2017 Caldecott Medal award winner. What a lovely book to introduce perception, perspective and different points of view. This book is so creative and beautifully illustrated. It really captures the children’s attention. This phrase occurs throughout the book, a great way to pull the children back in (if … More They All Saw A Cat
This week we had fun with Red Riding Hood by James Marshall. A colorful and somewhat silly version of Little Red Riding Hood. In this picture Red Riding Hood’s mother is making custard for Red’s Granny. We always stop and count the cats in the picture. NINE!! In the kitchen? (Hahah! How much cat fur … More And Granny, What Big Teeth You Have…
For Dr. Seuss week! We love to CELEBRATE READING with Dr. Seuss week! MONDAY: We started the week off with a parade. The Transitional Kindergarten class made a wonderful “birthday cake” for Dr. Seuss during their maker space time in the classroom. To see the parade go here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLMnEszH8–/ Look at all of the green … More GREEN EGGS AND HAM
Retold by BG Hennessy, Illustrated by Boris Kulikov A classic Aesop’s fable about honesty. Some of the younger children don’t truly grasp the whole meaning behind this story, but they do understand that he is not telling the truth. The colorful, funny illustrations keep them engaged. Looking for those wolves: And then the wolves – … More The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Or happy Lunar New Year. At our school we celebrate Chinese New Year (but many other Asian countries celebrate this holiday). It is the year of the Ox! We started the week off with a spectacular parade. The transitional kindergarten class made some wonderful dragons. We had music, drums and made lots of noise. Short … More Gung Hay Fat Choy -Happy Chinese New Year!
Queen Library: I used the first part of this music for my “entrance” into each classroom (A very royal book entrance – you can find a video on my Instagram): The children loved this book. It is entertaining, funny and has colorful and expressive drawings. Truly terrible..scribbling in books? NO!! Tamed by a story!! Now … More DRAGON WAS TERRIBLE by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
You gladly accept it and read TACKY THE PENGUIN by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. I mean – why not? As you can probably guess, the children were delighted. We learn that Tacky is an “odd bird”, but sometimes that is not a bad thing! (Right? Clearly Miss Library is an odd bird!) After … More When Someone Gives You a Penguin Costume…
By Caralyn Buehner, pictures by Mark Buehner Who knew how busy snowmen could be at night? They have some great winter adventures. The children love finding the “pickle nose” snowman in this book. When they see him, they scream at the top of their lungs: “PICKLE NOSE” and fall over laughing. The snowmen are having … More Snowmen at Night aka “Pickle Nose”!
Is there anything better than to wake up to find crisp clean snow everywhere? This book is so simple, and really captures the joy of Peter’s adventures in the snow. Fingers crossed that we get some snow this year, so the children can have their own adventures. Until then, we use our imaginations to make … More THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats
By Jan Brett I am a huge fan of Jan Brett. I think her books are just beautiful. I also love the clues she leaves for her readers. The children are learning about foreshadowing in literature. 🙂 Print mittens and animals to color and cut out from here: https://www.janbrett.com/put_the_animals_in_the_mitten.htm During non-covid times we would normally … More The Mitten
Mrs. Claus, Miss Library’s sister, was at school this week to read to the children! It gave Miss Library some much needed time to Christmas shop. Mrs. Claus read a book based on a true story. The book was Santa’s Stuck by Rhonda Gowler Greene, illustrated by Henry Cole. Mrs. Claus said it really did … More Mrs. Claus!
By David Shannon It seems the Coronavirus is a little like the Grinch, and we are Whoville. You will NOT take our Christmas away. It feels busy – gift buying (ok mostly online), Christmas cards, small gatherings outside to see friends and family surrounded by Christmas lights. And a Christmas program at school, via video. … More It’s Christmas, David!
You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man! Why do I love this book so much? Well to start with, it is just fun and engaging, and the children love it. There are also so many teachable components that can come out of this book. The first one is repeating and memorizing phrases. This is … More RUN, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
By Diane Mayr, illustrated by Laura Rader. We have had a lot of turkey fun this week! Starting with a visit from a real turkey. His name is Tom. He belongs to a friend, so I decided to borrow him. He was so great with the children, showing off for every class! When the kids … More Run, Turkey, Run!
By Jules Feiffer I like to read this story because…well it is just silly. And silly stories seem to catch the attention of our children! They are never expecting George to say “meow” after his mother asks him to bark. The illustrations in this book are fantastic. The mother just makes me giggle. From this … More Bark, George
A “terrifying parody”! How smart are our children – comparative literature in preschool!? This story is a clever Halloween version of the classic Goodnight Moon. The illustrations in this book are funny and it follows the same cadence as Goodnight Moon. Spooky enough, but silly enough that it is not too scary. A book that … More Goodnight Moon… I mean Goon…
Tis’ the season of monsters, goblins, ghosts and witches. For some children this can be a scary time, which is why I like these two stories: GO AWAY BIG GREEN MONSTER by Ed Emberley and LEONARDO THE TERRIBLE MONSTER by Mo Willems. Go Away Green Monster gives children the feeling of some control over the … More Who is Scared of Monsters?
“A told B and B told C… I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree”! I think it is the sign of a good book, if I can read it every year and still love and have fun with it (which of course means the children love it too). This is one of … More Let’s Have Some Fun With Letters!
Have you noticed that some people are a little on edge lately? Well, fires, floods, pandemics, politics, and a list of surprises that never seem to end, will put anyone on edge! At a time like this it seems especially important to talk to our children about kindness. So we read A Little Spot of … More Kindness is Always in Style!
We are back in school! It is the best feeling in the world to be back at school IN PERSON with the children. So what better story to start the school year off with than PETE THE CAT ROCKING IN MY SCHOOL SHOES by Erin Litwin and James Dean!? I love Pete the Cat because … More We are so glad to be rocking in our school shoes! Yay!
I like to garden, and I compost, so I like worms. But who cares about me? It is the children who actually love worms! When I bring them into the library, they love them. Especially if they can pick them up and touch them. Lots of giggling and ewwwwwing! Why not think about digging up … More Worms!
Let’s start the summer with a fun read aloud book! Color these pajamas: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ad/64/78/ad6478dd1c85223aad33ef5c689525d5.jpg Print this door on card stock, (color) and cut it so your children can close the door with a big “squeeeeeeak”! http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/door-clip-art-free I love this: https://www.totschooling.net/2018/03/feed-the-dog-sight-word-activity.html?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Animal+Shadow+Matching+%2B+Sight+Word+Game&utm_campaign=Animal+Shadow+Matching+%2B+Sight+Word+Game Have some pig fun with pink balloons: Print and color this worksheet: Fine more fun … More THE SQUEAKY DOOR by Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma
I like this version by Anna Milbourne (Usborne books) for preschool, it is a short, simple version with colorful pages. (It is missing the harp in the story). The giant can be scary for some children, which is why I usually ask them to be the giant so they feel a little more in control. … More FEE FI FO FUM! Fun with Jack and the Beanstalk