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

Bears, Picture Book Month Day 12

Picture Book Month Day 12 theme: Bears

Find out more about Picture Book Month here

Download the daily themed Picture Book Month Calendar. 

Become a Picture Book Ambassador or Blogger 

I have adore bear themed books. I am not sure why but I do. Maybe it is because when I was a kid and my family would go camping in New Mexico. we would go to the garage dump and watch the bears come out to root around for food. I had a couple of face-to-face run ins with a bear ambling through the camp site too. I was scared senseless and thought I would get eaten alive! I just can't get enough of bear books. 

Author Karma Wilson has some wonderful bear books and illustrator Jane Chapman gives Bear such a comforting friendly feel that you just can't help falling in love with him. 

Bear Snores On is great for discussing the changing seasons and why bears hibernate. Click here for more

Mouse creeps into hibernating Bear's cozy lair, looking for relief from the cold night, and soon is joined by Hare, Badger, Mole, Wren and Raven. Bear snores on as the high-spirited party gets going. The critters pop corn, make tea, twitter and chatter, until Bear wakes up with a giant sneeze! (publisher description)

Bear Feels Scared 

Bear is out scrounging around for a snack to eat when the sun suddenly sets and the woods become dark and scary. Bear  searches and searches for his way home and begins to feel scared. Bear's friends are concerned and they form a search party to find their dear friend. Click here for more

My favorite: Bear Feels Sick
Oh dear! Bear has the sniffles and feels sick! It's up to his friends to tuck in him and take good care of him. 

This book is a great choice when helping children to understand how to stay healthy. I have used Karma's suggestion for introducing glitter germs to kids by shaking each child's hand as they enter the library. I keep coating my hand with glitter and they squeal with laughter when they realize what I have done. We then sit down and pass around baby wipes to clean the "glitter germs" off our hands. I then demonstrate the correct way to wash hands and make a big show of lathering up and rinsing away the germs while singing the ABC song which takes the right amount of time to sing and do a good job washing hands. Click here for more

More Bear books from Karma Wilson

Picture Book Month: Seasons of Learning #IMWAYR

 

                      
Picture Book Month Day 11 theme: Seasons

Find out more about Picture Book Month here

Download the daily themed Picture Book Month Calendar. 

 Become a Picture Book Ambassador or Blogger 

My Picture Book Month pick for a book about seasons is The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provenson. Here is an audio version to enjoy from Watch Know Learn (a website for free educational videos). I like to use the big book version of the book so students can see all the farm animals.

This is a book about farm animals, and what happens during one year on a farm. In January, the cows stay in the barnyard, and the chickens don't lay many eggs. By March, you can tell spring is coming: the barn is filled with baby animals. Month by month, the animals at Maple Hill Farm sense the changing seasons and respond to the changes. (Simon and Schuster)

Getting Ready for Winter

I love this Sesame Street video of a child describing how Fall evolves into Winter and how plants and animals know it's time to begin to prepare and settle in for the season. 

What I have been reading: 

I have been reading picture books galore but each book shown here was one I wrote a blog post about for Picture Book Month. I have included resources to use for all books.

I am trying to finish  Veroinica Roth's Allegiant as quickly as I can. I introduced a student to the series this past Monday and she has blown through the first two books already. 

I have to give her my copy on Monday! I love an inspired reader. My big problem now is what next? She is rabid reader so I went out today and bought her a copy of Seraphina. That ought to keep her busy for one or two days. Here is the Seraphina book trailer

Rocket Writes a Story resources

Click here for The Hallelujah Flight resources

Knufflebunny Resources

How I Learn Geography Resources

The Hinky Pink Resources

One is a Feast for a Mouse

Read Alouds in the Library:

Life Oak Media's  Educator's Guide: 

Dancing With the Indians by Angela Shelf Medearis 

Illustrated by Samuel Byrd

Our teachers are focusing heavily on poetry in preparation for the Texas STAAR test so I am always seeking unique ways to integrate poetry into the topics I am covering in my library. Dancing with the Indians is a wonderful choice for accomplishing this. The rhyming story has a beat, a rhythm, a cadence to its telling that matches the flow of words. The images are beautifully striking. 

Medearis offers a clear explanation of the author's purpose in writing her story. It is based on her ancestor's experience and stories that have been passed down through her family. Her great-grandfather was a run-a-way slave that was welcomed into the Seminole tribe. Every year, he would bring his wife and children back twice a year to take part in purification and religious rituals. My students really liked this image when the warriors leap out in front of the young girl giving her a scare. They liked the colorful ribbon dance and felt it was similar to their own Folkloric dancing. 

I enjoying sharing history with my students. Teachers have a hard time squeezing in Social Studies into daily lessons so I usually have one or two historically related interactive displays set up in my library. During November's American Indian Heritage Month I set up a photographic museum of images with an emphasis on Texas tribes.

A university colleague of mine, Ernest Graywolf Salazar, has performed a spiritual drum circles over the past several years. He also made this wonderful replica of a village for our students. There are several items that students may touch and handle including animal hides, antlers, a ceremonial leather shirt with sea shells that jingle while dancing. The land our school is built on was Karankawa tribal land. 

Here are some wonderful educational resources on Texas Indian tribes. 

• Texas Parks and Wildlife: Learn About Texas Indians
• The Indian Years A coloring book adapted from The Indian Years (Living with the Texas Past Series, No. 1), published by the Office of the State Archeologist, Texas Historical Commission. 

Leaf Trouble and Other Colorful Tales

 Picture Book Month

visit the website

Day 15 theme: Nature

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

Leaf Man Discussion guide