Serial Readers... I am way to in love with this article

Today I read this article on Scholastic about what makes kids serial readers. In the article it states that in a survey given to children ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade many students admit to starting books and never finishing them. The  author goes on to say that children stop reading because they aren't reading their perfect book and it suddenly hit me that this is totally true. When I was young this was a really issue for me. I think a lot of my problem came from the books being too hard for me, but I also know that I was always trying to read what was popular and that wasn't always something that was interesting to me. 

Even now i see this a lot in the two classrooms that I work in. With the first graders I think that it is hard to find something that will keep them super engaged. For many of the chapter books are still little above their heads, but they want to read them so that they can seem big. I love this about them, but I know that this is an easy way to scare them away from reading! 

I do notice that in the first grade there are a few books that really keep the interest of my kids. The one love love love anything that Mo Willems writes. They get that from me. They also love books that are about animals. I, personally, think that National Geographic Kids has done a fabulous job with writing books for children. They have book ranging from preschooler to chapter books for older kids. The picture bring the story to life, not to mention there are so many different books to pick from. I am about to share one in my next blog post and I just ordered several new ones yesterday! They are something that I am always looking for to fill my library.

For third grade things get a little more tricky! These kids have already developed a taste for what they really love. The kids in my class are really into the shadow children books right now which I will say I really got sucked into recently and I couldn’t put them down. I loved the story and they always had me wanting more. My students also love the who is books, as well as the I survived series. I think that they love having a taste of history. Many of my girls are loving the books Sister, Braces and Smile. They also have fallen in love with cute little Baby Mouse. 

When I am a teach I hope to really help grow a love of reading in my students. I love watching them fall in love with reading. To me reading is life changing and I am so glad that it is something that I love so very much. Check out the article, I think that it is an interesting read for all teachers and parents.

New Books Coming Soon!

IT’S A SNOW DAY!! This is the first snow day that my area has had since November and I want you to know that this has been much needed. We are expected to get about 8 inches today and then it will probably all freeze over night. It has snowed non stop since 2 am. I am spending my day planning some tutoring lessons, watching the first episode of the outlander series (which I am loving so much), and reading some books in bed! Later, my sister and I are going to go for a snow walk in our neighborhood, which is a bit of a family tradition in our house.

Today I wanted to post about some of the new books that I have gotten.In the past few days I have bought some great books. Many of my books will be arriving though out the week from amazon. I think I am addicted to Amazon. Here are some of the books that I have gotten.

Stella in the Starlight by Sharon M. Draper

I personally bought this book because I love the writer so much. I have only read one of her books, but she has written a book that I truly believe it is a masterpiece. She wrote the book Out of My Mind. I love this book and it has a very deep place in my heart. This new book is a historic work of fiction that I am sure will become one of my new favorites.

Charlie and Lola by Lauren Child  

I went on a bit of a Lauren Child Spree and honestly I do not plan on changing that. I love these little books and how extremely British they are. I bought the following books in this book Haul.

 My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Fall Out

I Can Do Anything Thats Everything All On My Own

The New Small Person by Lauren Child 

I am so excited for this book I love the illustrations on the cover and I can not wait to see the rest of the book. This is the story of a big brother who is not quite sure about having a new small person ( a baby ) in the house. I love that this book has a family of color in it. I am working on bringing more diversity to my classroom library and I am looking forward to this great new addition.

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai 

Honestly I know nothing about this book, but it is by the woman who wrote Inside Out and Back Again and that book is a favorite of mine. I have read it at least five times. This book has some high standards to live up to, but I have great faith that it will. I am so excited to get this tomorrow!

     I can not wait to share my review with you as soon as I get my books!

Plant a Kiss

     I almost forgot how much I love this book! This books is Plant a Kiss and it brings me so much joy.
    I love this because it shows how easy it is to spread love. It also shows how much it takes to nurture love and help it grow. Its has a fun little rhyme and I think it is a perfect read aloud.

    When are you having Valentine parties. I can not wait to start seeing them all over instagram!

Love!

Ms. Cara

Romantically Ridiculous

     Yesterday in tutoring I read Bear Hugs: Romantically Ridiculous Animal Rhymes by Karma Wilson.  My student is a struggling reader and she has read so much in the short hour that we were together I felt like these short poems would be a great way to end our session.

     This book is filled with so many clever poems about animals falling in love. Her favorites were “Bear Hugs” and “Turtle Love”. I would read her the poem and then she would read it to me and then we would read it together. This was a great way to work on her fluency, as well as, help her practicing some monitoring because she knew what the words should be.

     I loved seeing her fall in love with poetry. She has so much fun! It was a great giggle filled  tutor session. 

Enjoy Some Poetry Today, 

Ms. Cara

Its Valentines Day... Kinda

       More poetry is coming your way! I am loving these holiday poetry books by Jack Prelutsky. This one is particularly fun. It deals with first kisses (yuck) and making valentines. It talks about being afraid of not getting any treats. This book is called It's Valentines Day.

I think that these are perfect books to read during transition times. One poem between kids moving and getting to their seat. We have actually been reading these in my first grade class to practice fluency.

Have you ever read these books with your students? How do you use poetry in your classroom?

Happy Reading,

Ms. Cara

Love Monster

     Well the award for the cutest monster book in the world goes to Love Monster. This is the story about a little monster that lives in a world full of fluffy adorable things. He wants to find someone like him that will love him for who he is. He searches high and low and looks all around. He is finally about to give up when he finds his perfect adorable googly eyed match. 

I love this story because it shows that sometimes all you have to do is stop looking and you will find the very thing that you are looking for. I feel like this is a good lesson for adults too. I know that I always keep this story in my heart. 

I think that this will be a really fun book to read with kindergarten students. I would love to make a pattern so that the kids could make their own Love monster. I think that this would be particularly cute if it were made out of felt so he had some fun fuzzy texture to him.

That is a fun project to come. 

Happy Reading,

Ms. Cara

Love me some mail

Today was an awfully fun mail day. I order a lot of books to build my classroom library and also just because I think there are few things more rewarding that finding a great new children’s book. 

In the past few months I have mentioned Mouse and Mole a few times. I love this simple series of books and what they have to offer to readers who are ready to move on to chapter books. I am so glad that a Valentines Day Mouse and Mold book was written. First of all the book is beyond cute. This is the only book in the series that you can only get in hard back right now. It is adorable small and it’s bright red book really stands out! 

In the book Mouse and Mole Valentines Surprise by Wong Herbert Lee Mouse has a secret clever Valentine. She has a series of clues to figure out who it is. The illustrations of this book add so much to it.  I love how the silly little characters blush and how they interact. 

I can not wait to share this book with some of the students that I love. For some of them this will be the first chapter book at that they read by them selves and I love that I can be part of such a magical transition.

Reading is Magic,

Ms. Cara

Slugs in Love

I love poetry as a fun thing to add to  a children's story. I don't need something that every word rhymes, but I love when there are a few clever poems to make the story really worth while.

Last year my good friend introduced me to a really fun story. This book is called Slugs in Love by Susan Pearson. This is the story of Marylou slug who has fallen in love with Herbie. Her love inspires her to write a poem. Once Herbie sees the message he knows that he must meet her. He writes her a series of poems, but something is always happening and she doesn't see the message. Finally, he has a smart idea and the two are brought together.

I think that this would be a great book to read during a poetry unit. I think that if this were read during small reading group time. You could discuss what type of poems the slugs are writing and also the students could write their own poems as either Marylou or Herbie.

Have you ever read this little gem of a book? What kind of things do you do during your poetry unit?

Thanks for reading,

Ms. Cara

In My Heart

Lately I have been on a real kick for buying books to help kids understand their emotions. Learning about your emotions and beginning to understand others can make thinks so much things so much simpler. I know I am an adult and I don’t always know what I want or how I feel and that is a very frustrating feeling. 

The book In My Heart by Jo Witek each page looks at a different layer of the young girls heart. Each page looks at a different emotion such as happy, brave, mad, and shy. Something so unique to this  book is the large heart cut out in the center of the book. Each page is a different color and the size of the heart becomes smaller. 

I love this book and I can not wait to share it with students. I would love to see students make their own heart book with different color and sized hearts. Each heart could show the different emotions that the child feels. 

Keep Learning,

Ms. Cara

A Crankenstein Valentine

      In October, I fell in love with Crankenstein. He has to be the cutest grumpy monster around. I love the story and how really he is just a normal funny kid. For Valentines Day, they put out A Crankenstein Valentine. 

This story is so fun. Crankenstein hates everything about Valentines day. He hates making cards and he hates all the treats. He hates having to go to school on this day. One thing that he doesn't hate is having one friend that is as cranky as he is. She is a little friend that makes a not great day worth dealing with.

I would love to see this made in to a craft of Crankenstein. I think that that is going to an upcoming project for me. The prompt could be something like “ On Valentines Day Crankenstein does not like to do….” If i get something started I will post it. I am really working on building some products so that I can start selling on teachers pay teachers. 

Have you read these funny little stories? How do your children like them?

Keep learning,

Ms. Cara

There's This Thing

I love Valentines Day because it brings life to all sorts of cute little love stories. A great example of this is a book that I recently bought called There’s This Thing by Connah Brecon. This is a sweet little story of a girl that has a crush on a boy but she is to shy to tell him. She things of all of these big ways to tell him but still she does not. Finally the little boy tells her that he has a crush.

For me this story was just too cute. I have always been shy around boys that I like and I feel this little girls pain. I was so glad that this ended in such an adorable way. This is a great read aloud. It would be fun to see a class act this out.

Always  Learning, 

Ms. Cara

The Perfect Valentine

Happy Monday! Aww Mondays a day that is so misunderstood! I personally love them. 

Today we are going to be talking about the book Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas. I bought this book last month and featured it in a book Haul post. This book literally could not be cuter, from the sweet little pictures to the fun story, this book is a winner. 

This is the story of Lily and she wants to make a special Valentine for her mom. She works and works to make the perfect thing, but can never make it just the way that she wants it to be. For so many kids that is a big problem. This is also a problem for a lot of adults as well. Sometimes things aren't perfect, but every moment in life is a growing experiences and when things do not go right we learn from our mistakes. 

If I were reading this book to my class I would use this as a prompt in to writing about a time when we were trying to do something perfect and it just wasn't going our way. What did we learn from this experience? How did you feel about it when that was happening? How do you feel about it now? I think It would be fun to see what first and second graders would think of a question like this.

How do you think your students would respond? Do you have any perfectionist in your class.

Have a Great Week!

Ms. Cara

Llama Llama I love you

Literally nothing makes me happier that children during Valentines. I love how crafty they get making their Valentines and giving them to their little friends. I love all the home made cards I get during this time of year. I love reading heart felt books to my kiddos and seeing them fall in love with reading. 

For the next 14 days I will be sharing some of my favorite Valentine Day books. I will be sharing a summary, a class idea, and of course why i absolutely love the book. Buckle up it is going to be a mushy love filled ride.

I am going to start with a simple book. The book is Llama Llama I love you by Anna Dewdney. First I must say that I am so beyond glad that they are making these sweet little Llama books for each holiday. I am a big big fan of Llama Llama and I love seeing everything that he is up to. In this story Llama is doing all of the best activities of the season. He is making valentines, spreading love, and of course, cuddling with Mama. He even makes a sweet gift for his Mama. 

I think that this book is best for preschool to kindergarten students. It is a simple book that rhymes and it would even be good for reading with the class and then reading several more times in choral reading to work on fluency. This would also be a great book to read one day when the kids are going to making Valentines for their parent or special family member. It is important to talk about how much love they give to us and that Valentines day is a day that we can show a little extra love to our most important people.

        I love that they are putting these out for so many Holidays. Next month there will be a new Llama Llama book about Easter and I can not wait!

Have you read any of the new Llama books? What books would you like to see on here in the next few days?

Have a wonderful day,

Ms. Cara