Monkey Fun! It's Monday, What are You Reading? November 10, 2014

   

It's Monday! What are you Reading is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

Picture Book Month Day 10 theme:  Numbers                   View the calendar here  

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November. Visit the Picture Book Month website    

Count the Monkeys is all sorts of fun and children and adults alike love the surprises on every page and most especially the ending. What a delightful book. Counting couldn't be more fun! 

Count the Monkeys on this page

Count the Monkey Ideas on Pinterest

These are a few of the books I have been working with students with this past week.

First a book with no pictures and then books with no words.

Writer B. J. Novak has created a book kids love to hear read aloud. Students from three years old to sixth grade students have begged for me to re-read this book again and again. I even enlisted the art teacher so they could hear another adult's reading performance. The book literally has no pictures but its filled with humorous text instructing the reader to read precisely what is written. Those are the rules, you must read the text exactly as it is written. 

We also explored several wordless picture books with students reading together in small groups and sharing their interpretations.

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Simply beautifully illustrated.

Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon

My students are big fans of Sara Varon's books. Bake Sale, Chicken and Cat, Rabbit and Robot, and  Odd Duck.

Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner 

One of my favorite books. It's so cool to try to figure out the alien language in this wonderful nearly wordless book. 

Unspoken by Henry Cole

This is a beautifully illustrated wordless picture book and the story is so clearly evident in every page. I find it incredibly rewarding to use this book with students because they really get into the story and their interpretation of the illustrations.

 YA Books I am reading this week:

     

 Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier                                 If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Happy Reading!

Picture Book Month Day 5: Seasons

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative 

that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November. 

Visit the Picture Book Month website 

 

Picture Book Month Day 5 theme: Seasons

View the calendar here

Leaf Trouble and Other Colorful Tales

Autumn is my favorite time of year-not too hot, not too cold. There is only one wee problem. I live in a area that is abundant in palm trees and very few trees with leaves that change colors. Thank goodness for all the wonderful picture books that let me live out my dream of beautifully Autumn colored leaves falling into gentle crunchy piles ready for kids to pounce in. 

Leaf Trouble

Author: Jonathan Emmett
Illustrator: Caroline Jayne Church
Publisher: The Chicken House
Publisher description: When Pip Squirrel wakes up one morning to find his home tree fallin to pieces, he goes nuts! Scampering about frantically, he starts gathering up leaves in colorful pawfuls.. But try as he may to stick them back on their branches, it's hopeless: They keep coming off. It's only when his wise, reassuring mama explains what happens in autumn that Pip begins to understand why...all the leaves keep falling down!

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

Author and Illustrator: Lois Ehlert
Publisher: Harcourt Inc.
Publisher description: This is the story of a sugar maple tree and the child who planted it. As they grow up together, the child watches the tree through all the seasons. Ehlert uses watercolor collage, leaf-shaped die cuts, and pieces of actual seeds, fabric, wire, and roots in this rich introduction to the life of a tree.

Fantastic Fall Lesson plans and activities

Scholastic Seasonal Changes lesson plan and printables

Artsy Leaf Rubbings activity

Leaf Man 

Author and Illustrator: Lois Ehlert
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc. 
Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows.

Leaf Man sample pages

Make your own leaf man

Leaf Man teacher guide

Season Activities for younger children:

I love the colors of Fall and these Fall Sensory Jars from Blogmemom look great and offer teachable learning moments, 

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love kid's hand-print art. I have dozens of my own children's hand-prints in cookbooks, favorite novels, and hanging on the walls. I don't think any art is more beautiful than watching your child develop and grow through the years. I like this example from Teach Kids Art

Non-Fiction Monday: If You Lived Here: Houses of the World

If You  Lived Here: Houses of the World

Picture Book Month

Day 5 theme: Around the World
Non-Fiction Monday

Fifteen different architectural home structures from around the world are beautifully featured. The homes range from those carved into the sides of mountain caves to houses on stilts. A brief explanation is given describing the type of home, who would have lived in it and when, materials used, which country, and some fascinating facts. A vague map is included on the last  page with pin points indicating the regions where the homes are located. A more detailed map would have been a more helpful choice.

If You LIved Here was one of those books I purchased to help round out my non-fiction curriculum support collection plus kids really like to find out how different people live around the world. The first image of a "dogtrot" house brought up a memory I had of watching the Disney movie "Old Yeller" which if you have not seen, you will now need to add to your must see list. The family lived in a "dogtrot" house. I always thought their house was really cool because I had never seen one like it before. Now I am glad to better understand why early settlers built dogtrot homes. 

Compare and Contrast Activity
Students choose a dwelling from the book and draw a representation of their own home.
Students describe the differences between the two dwellings and observe how they are the similar. 
Students design a home to suit a particular environment such as a rain forest and explain which materials could be used to build it and why they chose their particular design. 


Take a peek at some of the pages of If You Lived Here

Visit author website:  Giles Laroche

Day 2 Picture Book Month

Theme: Rabbits

A Baby Rabbit Story
by Jeni Wittrock
Pebble Plus book 
Capstone Press

Click here to view pages of A Baby Rabbit Story


Many times when I read a fiction picture book to students, I like to begin with an informational picture book on a related topic. This is the type of book that is well paired with a fictional story about rabbits. 

A Baby Rabbit Story begins with mama rabbit preparing her nest for the birth of her four babies. This page is accompanied by an amazing photograph of a mother rabbit in action with a mouth full of twigs. The next few pages follows the babies through their early stages of growth and explains how they are fed and protected by their mother until they are able at three weeks of age to begin eating on their own. We learn how the rabbits groom, play, and at the age of two months are ready to find their own mates and begin the own family. The illustrations consist of large, vibrantly clear photographs of rabbits in their natural environments. The final illustration on page 21 is absolutely stunning in its natural beauty. 

Additional resources include a glossary, suggested book titles, and an internet link to www.facthound.com where you can type in the ISBN number and access kid-friendly resources. These are posted below.

National Geographic:  Cotton Tail Rabbit

Print out a rabbit to color at Enchanted Learning

November 1st marks the beginning of National Picture Book Month. Learn more here.

The idea is to explore and read all the wonderful picture books you have been wanting to read. For schools, it is a great opportunity to work with families to reach reading goals in a fun and positive way that encourages families to read together. Another plus is because so many people are joining in the celebration you will be able to gain exposure to books you might have missed. Authors and illustrators are posting daily essays explaining why reading picture books are so important. Teachers and librarians are thrilled at all the perks of being able to download incredible resources to support the reading of picture books. There are few things in this world that are more comforting than building memories by reading a good picture book with the ones you love.

Print out the Picture Book Month calendar and follow the daily theme. 

Day 1 theme: Oceans

Read "Why Picture Books are Important" by Chris Raschka

My favorite ocean book is The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. 

Visit Deborah's author website
Illustrated by: Dan Hanna visit his website for pictures and adorable videos at Bluebelly Lizard
 Published by:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG)

Why I love the The Pout Pout Fish

It is an easy flowing rhyming book about with a great lesson to be learned-turn your frown upside down. PPF also fits in nicely with ocean related learning objectives.

This book is so loved by children and they naturally want to join in his chants of "I'm a Pout Pout fish" and you know it is a terrific book when children go home and teach it to their parents. Such joy is felt when a parent calls to find out about the Pout Pout Fish because their kid keeps quoting him.I highly recommend The Pout Pout Fish for your next undersea adventure.

Pout Pout Fish Curriculum Connections and fun activities


Make a Jelly Fish with a paper bowl, streamers, gogglie eyes, and paint.