Happy Halloween

     I love Halloween and I can't wait to celebrate this fun holiday in my future classroom. I thought that this would be a great time to talk about some fun books that could be read during Halloween.

The Dark by Lemony Snicket

I love this book. I bought it the day that it came out. I am such a big fan of his work and I love sharing this book with every one that I know. Today I read it to a little girl and she was so excited that the story has the dark as a character. The pictures are amazing and there is talk of this book winning some major book awards this year. Great for kids of any age.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-Lemony-Snicket/dp/0316187488/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383167126&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dark

Click, Clack, Boo by Doreen Cronin

This book goes with the popular Click, Clack, Moo series. I like this story because it is funny and the children really get into it. I have probably read this 10 times in the past two days. Kids are quiet during the story, but they want to talk about it when it is over. Its entertaining and has somewhat of a pattern so that it becomes predictable. I would say this is great for kid up to second grade.

http://www.amazon.com/Click-Clack-Boo-Tricky-Treat/dp/1442465530/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383164394&sr=8-1&keywords=click+clack+boo

Five Little Monkeys: Trick or Treat by Eileen Christelow

For any one who has read Five Little Monkeys will love this. Its a simple story about the silly monkeys that everyone loves. I personally was glad to see this. My preschoolers loved it and ask me to read it over and over again. I think this would be fun to make into a play in a second grade classroom.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Monkeys-Trick---Treat-Story/dp/0547858930/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383165623&sr=8-1&keywords=five+little+monkeys+trick+or+treat

     I hope you have a Happy Halloween and enjoy these books. I would love to hear your favorites for the Halloween season. I have a lot more than what is listed above.

                                                                                                     Happy Reading, 

                                                                                                      Ms. Cara

Melody will always be in my heart

      I have never read a book where I have connected to a character so quickly. In the book "Out of My Mind," the character of Melody tells her story in the way that really captures your heart. Melody is a girl that has a disability. She is unable to talk and communicate her thoughts. Everyone judges her for her physical disabilities, but no one gives her a chance to show how very intelligent she is.
      This book has had a huge impact on me and how I will teach very greatly. I will never let a child come into my classroom that has a disability and let them feel uncomfortable. This book showed me how important it is for a classroom to have a community so that all the students feel safe and comfortable.

http://www.amazon.com/Out-My-Mind-Sharon-Draper/dp/1416971718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381953976&sr=8-1&keywords=out+of+my+mind

     My uncle has special needs and this book reminded me of him so much. So many people think that because he has a disability he isn't smart and that he can't learn. Even when he was in school his teachers underestimated him. The thing with my uncle is that no one ever took the time to teach him in school. They never tried to teach him to read. When he graduated high school he taught him self how to read. He teaches himself new things all the time. My uncle is someone that I look up to and really admired. He never lets other people get him down.
     I would love to read this book aloud to a fifth grade class. I feel very deeply that all students should contact with students with special needs. For me I have had my uncle in my life and he has taught me so much. I think that for students it could teach them the true meaning of friendship. I am recommending this book to everyone I know. I hope that you all will read it and enjoy it. Please leave your comments I would love to hear what you all think. Here is the authors web page if you would like to learn more http://sharondraper.com/

                                                                                        Happy Reading
                                                                                           Ms. Cara

Three year olds are the best Artist!

     I has been a little while since my last post and I will say that things have been wild for me lately. I will tell you a secret.... becoming a teacher takes a whole lot of time and effort. Recently I wrote a paper that if I didn't pass I would not continue on in my program. Lucky for me I received a 94% which I think is pretty darn good. Also since we last spoke I have started visiting a new school where I will begin teaching reading and phonics lessons for the rest of my semester. Also my internet was out for a bit so needless to say things have been a little crazy at Ms. Cara's house.
     For the past few weeks I have been doing some great art with my three year olds and I can not wait to share this with you.
     First we read, "This is Not My Hat" by Jon Klesson. This book won the Caldicott award for 2013 and I personally think it is an amazing book. This is the story of a little bitty fish that takes a hat from a great big fish. He thinks he will get away with it, but the big fish is hot on his trail. I love this book for predictions because the kids just say the funniest things about it.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Is-Not-My-Hat/dp/0763655996/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381713562&sr=8-1&keywords=This+is+not+my+Hat

      For our project, we made hats and fish. The hat is just a drawing that I did and the children colored it in with markers. The fish is a fish that I drew and then we glued pieces of construction paper. I love how each child's art work shows their own personality.

     We also read a book that is called "About a Bear". This is the story of a bear and he is getting ready for the winter. While this is a book that I am less wild about it is a great book for a preschool classroom or for early readers. The words are simple and the story is easy to follow. 

http://www.amazon.com/About-Bear-Holly-Surplice/dp/1589251121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381714770&sr=8-1&keywords=about+a+bear

      For our art project, I wanted to do something very fall so I decided to make a fall scene snow globe. For this, I took a plastic sandwich bag and filled it with hole punches of all different fall colors to make the leaves. I drew a fall scene with trees for the children to color. After the children color all of this is stapled to a blue piece of paper to create the sky. I personally think they turned out amazingly well. 

    It was good to catch up with you all. I will be back Wednesday with a new book to talk about. Have a great week!

                                                                                         Have fun reading this week

                                                                                                  Ms. Cara

Like being reunited with an old friend

     This week I was able to spend some quality time reading a lovely book. I read "The Boy on the Porch" By Sharon Creech.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-Porch-Sharon-Creech/dp/0061892351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381101647&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boy+on+the+porch

 Growing up I always loved the way that Creech wrote. She always had a way of sweeping me up in her words and making every event seem real. This did not change as I got older and I have bought every book she has put out since I was 12 ( I am now 22). 

     This book tells the story of a boy that is left on the front porch and the couple that takes him in. I love the story line and it touched something in my heart. Later in the story, the couple become foster parents. This is something that I have been thinking about recently and I was excited to read about it in a book. It made me feel like if one day in my future I did want to do that that this is a book I could share with the children to show how much they mean to me.

     I would love to hear this story read out loud. I think it would take a special class to read this to, but I would like to put out the effort to find them. This book is a beautiful piece of writing and one that I think most would enjoy. I will always feel a little comfort reading a book by Sharon Creech. It's like being reunited with an old friend.

    I hope you all had a great weekend. I have a lot of post to catch up with so expect some fun art projects and great reads in the next few days. Have a wonderful October week.

                                                                                                   Happy Reading.

                                                                                                     Ms. Cara