Month: November 2013

Lessons for November 18-21

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Lessons for November 18-21

Kindergarten                                    First Grade                                       Second Grade

one is a feast for a mouse                      one is a feast for a mouse                    one is a feast for a mouse

Perfect for any grade level at Thanksgiving, this beautifully illustrated and authored tale One is a Feast for a Mouse, by Judy Cox speaks about what it means to take only what you need, not what you “think” you need. Plot prediction  thinking skills will be used as students discuss what will happen next.  We will discuss idioms  such as “ His eyes were bigger then his stomach“. Discussion guide can be found here. Vocabulary: tidbits, feast, olive,luscious, gravy boat, pirouette,bandit

Third Grade                                     Fourth Grade                                     Fifth Grade

baloons over broadwayjpg                  baloons over broadwayjpg                  baloons over broadwayjpg

This collage type written and illustrated title by Melissa Sweet will delight all nonfiction fans!  On Thanksgiving day, young and old will wake up to these magical upside down puppets which line the streets of downtown New York at the annual Thanksgiving Day parade. After watching and discussing footage and fun facts about the event, Third through Fifth grade students will use their visible thinking skills of prediction when we discuss how creator and master puppeteer Tony Sarg was able to keep the heavy puppets floating high above everyone’s head. An activity kit provides students with their own puppet patterns.  Vocabulary: marionette, blimp, articulate, gesture,helium, Macy’s Department Store, Locate: London, Broadway Macy’s Tony’s  Wondertown, Central Park

November 11-15

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Kindergarten                                        First

the mitten                         the mitten

With the temperatures dipping this week, I thought it would be a great time to read aloud The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt We talked about folk tales and fairy tales. Folk tales are usually stories handed down from generations and focus mainly on animals.  As we read the book we tried to  decide if the book was fiction or nonfiction.  All were in agreement that it could be nonfiction UNTIL the mouse talked to the frog! This classic Ukranian tale about a mitten, lost by a little boy in the woods, can magically hold  almost all the creatures from the forest who want a warm place to sleep. Students love to compare the illustrations from one page to the next.  They also love talking about how many animals are in the mitten and how they will all fit. We used our whole brain practice of Switch/Pair as we discussed with each other  what an author and illustrator do and what a folktale is.

Third   These students are still working on their Destiny skills.  This week we reviewed how to use the card catalog. Students then looked for their book on Desiny and and the treasure hunt began.  Lots of fun this week with third grade!

Second                                                           Fourth                                                       Fifth

nubs                            nubs              nubs

We are honoring our Veterans this week with an assembly on Friday.  Our very special read aloud for fourth and fifth grade is Nubs, the true story of a Mut, a Marine and a Miracle. Students decided this was a non fiction selection because the pictures were actual photographs.  I have to say, the photographs gave the students an insight to the story that sparked a bit of emotion.  We talked about paying attention to  this feeling as we are reading and how important it is to the message of the book.  Vocabulary we discussed was, Humvee, Iraq, Iran,primary documents, Marine,passport.  We also discussed the reason why Nubs had to be bathed 3 times before he could come to America from Iraq, we made text to self connections.  Both grades loved the read aloud today and were willing to give up a bit of their book check out time for it.

 

Halloween Read Alouds

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Last week was Halloween and also Red Ribbon Week.  This week is also a week of traditions here at the library.  I have favorite October/Halloween books to read to the grade levels.  Here they are.

 

boo

Kindergarten- We read “Boo” by RooooooooberrrrrrrrrT Munsch! The kids love when we play around with the pronunciation of the atuhor’s name! “Boo” is a slightly gross but not too scary story of a little boy who paints his face for Halloween.  His intention is to scare everyone and then take all their candy.  Its very funny and a great audience participation story.  Check out ‘BOO”, you can’t help but to love it.

ghost eye

There isn’t a single Bill Martin Jr title that doesn’t leave me wanting more. “The Ghost Eye Tree” is a standard read aloud for 1st-3rd grade.  Students love the sing-song style of the verse.  We always close the book with a smile.

tailyp[o

 

And for something a little scarier, we love love love “Tailypo”.  An oldie-but-goodie!  Some students readily compare the book to “Who Took My Hairy Toe”.  Both are folk tales with an oral tradition and very similar in storyline. Again, a great choice for student participation!

October is a great month for read alouds!