NY Times Notable Books of 2012

I am sharing these links that I got from a posting on LM_NET. If you are a librarian and not a member of this listserv you must join immediately. I can't tell you how many times the members have helped me out, quickly, or volunteered for a project I was doing. There are 1000's of members all over the world. It's a great networking opportunity.
http://lmnet.wordpress.com/

So on to the list - NY Times Notable Books of 2012. Here are two that I take special note of since I teach elementary students but there are many more lists.

New York Times Best Notable Children’s Books 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2012.html
* Out of the picture books listed I've read Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin to my boys and we loved it. 

New York Times Best Books Graphic Novels
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/books/graphic-novels-from-batgirl-to-wrinkle-in-time.html?ref=books

There will be many more lists coming out so it's nice to take a peek at the lists and see what your library owns or what you may need to buy. It always makes me feel good to say "Oh, we already own that". It makes me feel like I'm doing a good job selecting books for my students.

Halloween...my favorite holiday!

In this day and age many teachers are scared (pardon the pun) to read about Halloween.  There are many conflicting opinions about the holiday or some students don't celebrate it. As much as I love the holiday I also try to stay safe.

Each year I focus on a different "scary" topic. I rotate between bats, spiders, and mummies. These are some things that come to mind when I think of Halloween! With just three grade levels a three topic rotation is easy. Bats is the topic of October 2012. Here is a basic rundown of my books and topics.

KINDERGARTEN
Lesson 1 - We listen to Stellaluna on www.storylineonline.net Afterwards we complete a  chart as a group that compares bats to birds. We talk about how they are alike and how they are different.

Lesson 2 - We read Nat the Bat by Susan Laschutza. We talk about echolocation. I found these websites helpful
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/bat2.htm
Scroll to the echolocation diagram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp31AsqeggE&feature=fvwrel
Audio of a bat using echolocation - I only play to about the 1:05 mark because she says a cuss word a little later.

Lesson 3 - Littlebat's Halloween Story by Diane Mayr and magazine articles.


FIRST GRADE
Lesson 1 - We fill out 1 KWL Chart as a class. Starting with just the K & W sections..

Lesson 2 - We read Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon. We talk about echolocation and I use the same websites listed under Lesson 2 in the kindergarten section.

Lesson 3 - We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Anna Earle.

Lesson 4 - Finish the KWL chart and move on to new topic.


SECOND GRADE
Lesson 1 - Author study of Brian Lies.  I show the students the bat books that the l library owns then they vote on which one they want me to read.

Lesson 2 - We start the lesson discussing fact vs opinion. We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Anna Earle. After the story we review fact and opinion then I read them a sentence about bats. Students raise their hand to tell me if it's a fact or an opinion.

Lesson 3 - We read Nat the Bat by Susanne Laschutza. We then talk about Megabats vs. Microbats. I show them a flash card with the face of a bat on it. Students raise their hand to classify it as a megabat or microbat. Here is a helpful website
http://mrsgebauer.com/bats/Kinds/kinds.htm

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So its been awhile...

So yes, it has been awhile since I posted. I'm hoping to get back on track. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite "Beginning of the school year" reads for first grade. It's called Stella LouElla's Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

It's the cute story of Stella who looses her library book. As she tries to backtrack she is joined by many people in the community who try to help her. I always tell kids before I start to listen to the clues. The story never tells you the title of the book she misplaces but if you listen carefully you can figure it out. What's also cute is that the favorite part of the book goes with each person's profession.

Other curriculum tie-ins.
* People in the community
   - In this story it's the mailman, a police officer, a waitress, etc.
* Time
   - Stella must get her book back by 5:00. Towards the end of the story it mentions that it's 3:00 then a    
     few pages later 4:00.
* Proper book care
   - If you look at the title page you will see that Stella reads her books everywhere, even in the bathtub!
     This can spark a discussion on proper book care.

          

Website: Teachers pay Teachers

I have found a great new website - Teachers pay Teachers
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup?ref=murphy1620

Teachers pay Teachers is a website where teachers go to buy, sell and share their original ideas. Every grade and subject level is represented so its worth taking a look at. You can even post an "ad" to hire someone to make a lesson plan for you. I am finding quite a few free lessons and any of the ones I've paid for have been under $10.

Here are a few of the lessons I have posted. The Tales From the House of Bunnicula outline is free and the rest are priced $5 and under.
* A Day's Work by Eve Bunting : Discussion Questions and Observation
* Arranging Fiction and Non-Fiction Books
* Camp Read S'More Reading Program and Grant
* Grant for PebbleGo Animal & Earth Science Datebases (K-3)
* Grant: 6 Barnes and Noble Nook Colors or Kindle and Math and Science eBooks
* Scrapbooking in the Curriculum Power Point Presentation: K-3 Grades
* Tales from the House of Bunnicula Series - Writing Terms and Tips
* Vote for Books Election and State Book Awards for Teacher or Librarian

I hope to get some more lesson plans up. Now that we are debt free, except the house, I am working towards saving money to surprise my husband with a vow renewal ceremony when we go on our trip in June 2012!

Getting ready for 2012

The kids return back to school on a Wednesday. Since I will only have two days of classes I don't want to jump into anything new.

I'm looking forward to sharing Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller with them! I got the book and CD from Scholastic Book Club and if I remember correctly there are some comprehension questions on the CD. It turns out this book made the cover of Library Sparks January 2012 cover. Since squirrel, and probably a lot of our students, don't know what a resolution is they head to the library (where else!) to begin their search.

To librarians the name Pat Miller may sound familiar. She is the author of library related books including one of my kindergarten favorites, We're Going On a Book Hunt. She also write the Stretchy Library Lesson books. A must have for any librarian.

Check out Pat Miller's website. It contains a lot of great information and activities about her books along with a biography and "Writing lessons learned over a lifetime". I also plan on checking out some of her handouts on the homepage.
http://www.patmillerbooks.com/index.htm

Holiday Favorites

My holiday read-aloud favorites.

Kindergarten
What is Christmas without Gingerbread Men! There are a lot of great gingerbread books out on the market and they provide a great opportunity for the kids to compare and contrast the story. I also found a gingerbread man glyph. I enlarged the gingerbread man and then read the directions. It's a good listening and following directions activity.


Printable Glyph w/directions
http://www.kidzone.ws/thematic/gingerbread/index.htm


Favorite Stories
* Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett (www.janbrett.com)
* Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
* Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski (takes place in the big city)
* Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
* Gingerbread Girl and Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst
* The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle

First Grade
We are doing a Jan Brett author study and reading some of her gingerbread and winter books. I created a PowerPoint about her that I shared with the kids then showed them what books we have of hers. I also showed them how to identify her call number so that they could find her books on their own.


Fabulous Website - www.janbrett.com

Second Grade
I probably look forward to this set of books the most during December.


Favorite Books
* The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza by David Shannon (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!)
* A New Improved Santa by Patricia Rae Wolff.
* If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
- I few years back I bought this with a CD. Jason Alexander, from Seinfeld, is the reader. It comes with 2 popular Christmas songs that have mouse related lyrics to them. Very cute!

I will continue the Jan Brett author study when we return from school and include second grade in the unit.

How I Use Scholastic Book Clubs

Bonus Points, Bonus Points, Bonus Points…Being a Scholastic Book Club member offers lots of bonus point opportunities.

http://clubs.scholastic.com/

Become a new member and earn 350 Bonus Points. Please use my referral code 511467482. 

Each book that is ordered has a point value attached to it. You accumulate the points and "cash" them in on anything in their inventory.

I use my funding or bonus points

* To purchase hardcover books. They have the latest and greatest

* To purchase paperback books with CD’s (very cheap)

     - Great for days when I’m sick and don’t want to talk much.

     - Great for teachers to use at listening centers in their room.

     - They have seasonal sets of books with CD's. You get a small discount when buying the pack.

* They have fabulous teacher guides that I purchase for our professional library.

 What Scholastic Book Clubs offers for teachers

• Some teachers may not get enough, or any, orders when they send the flyers home. So by placing an order through me they can still get books they want for their classroom.
• I pass flyers out to our intervention teachers, resource teacher and school guidance counselor. I ask them to return their order to me by a certain date.
• When the books come in I organize each persons order and pass the books out. I also submit a total to our bookkeeper.

 What is offers for parents

• Parents can submit orders online using your special teacher code.
• You can go in your teacher account and set up the flyers you want parents to shop from.
• By doing this they have access to more books to purchase.
• Their credit cards get charged when you log in and request the order to be shipped to you.
• They get free shipping.

Anytime a parent places an order on the web you get a $3 book voucher. Send out a letter to the parents and share your code. You get bonus points for orders placed on the web too. This is a great way to get orders because not all teachers participate in the book clubs.

If a book is ever on back stock and it ships later then you usually get a $3 voucher for the inconvience.

I have even created my own parent account and I go in and buy books for my boys. School gets $3 J

Become a new member and earn 350 Bonus Points. Please use my referral code 511467482.