Library Lesson: Don't Be Sluggish, Read!

Graphic from My Cute Graphics

Don't Be Sluggish, Read!

After a summer break, many first graders come to school with a decline in reading (sadly we know this can happen at any age for those who don't keep reading over the summer). This may frustrate or sadden our young emergent readers. I do this lesson at the beginning of the year to help them to not be down and to just keep on reading!

Recommended grade:  1st grade

Materials:

·   YouTube video "Don't Feel Like Dancin' Slugs"

·   snail or slug hand puppet (mine is a Folkmanis Garden Snail puppet)

·   Book How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Pearson

Lesson:

I always try to incorporate wiggling into a lesson. The kids always need it to listen to an important topic (especially at this age). With the release of the movie Turbo this past year, this library lesson was a big hit!

    YouTube video "Don't Feel Like Dancin' Slugs"

1. Have the boys and girls stand up and dance (if they choose) to the You Tube video “Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ Slugs.” It is a really short 22 second video. But, it is just enough to "wake them up," smile, and be ready to listen to my lesson.
2. After dancing, I will have the kids sit down and then I will bring out my snail puppet. My snail puppet is really sad and dos not feel like dancing. After we ask him why, we learn it is because he cannot read. I will tell him I have a perfect book on how we can teach him to read. 
3. Read the book How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Peterson. Discuss afterwards ways in which the students learned how they could become readers if reading is hard for them or someone they know. My snail puppet will be "all revved up to read" afterwards!

My Garden Snail hand puppet from Folkmanis.

I do not think this particular one is for sale anymore.

But, there are plenty of other great ones out there!

Library Lesson: Reading in Your Own Time

Graphic by My Cute Graphics

Reading in Your Own Time

I love doing this lesson with my kindergarteners! I start out by explaining to them that when I came home from my first day of kindergarten, I was in tears because I expected to come home a fluent reader. Many of the students nodded in agreement as I shared this. Keep reading to see the results of this lesson...

Recommended grade:  Kindergarten

Materials:

·   Graph: “Can you read? Yes/No”

·   Book Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett

·   Poem “Big News About Me” by Mandy Watson

·   Word "me" to display

·   Environmental print pictures to go with poem

Lesson:

1. As students come in and sit down, let them answer the following question/graph: “Can you read? Yes/No.”
2. Read story Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett. Have the students chime in to the reoccurring phrase "in her own time."
3. Discuss results of the graph. Share how difficult reading is and assure them that it will come in their own time just like things did for Ruby in the story. Tell them that they may not know it, but they knew how to read since they were little, and I will prove it in just a few minutes. Introduce or review the sight word “me."
4. Read aloud poem “Big News about Me” (written by me), and display environmental print signs for students to call out as I read the poem.
5. Have students that graphed they could not read change their response because now they know without a doubt they can read!

The last step in my lesson wasn't originally in my plans. But after the students figured out they could read, one little kindergartner gasped, stood up, and marched to the graph at the front of the room and changed his response from a "no" to a "yes." That afternoon as I watched him get into his mom's car to go home, he screamed, "Mom, guess what? I was wrong, I CAN read!" It almost brought tears to my eyes and I still can't stop grinning when I think about it. Share with me if you have ever experienced the same feeling. It's very rewarding isn't it?

Fun freebie:
Here is the poem I wrote called "Big News About Me." All of the colored words are the ones to hold up the environmental print and let the students read versus you saying it.

Click boy for poem
Graphic by My Cute Graphics

Today is a day to blog and catch up (hopefully)!

Graphic from My Cute Graphics

Well, we have yet another day of no school due to icy conditions here in the Houston area. So, after being ashamed at how long it has been since my last blog post, I am going to work on posting lots today (hopefully). Kuddos to all you daily or even weekly bloggers out there who are able to blog all the time! :)

Book Review: The Pet War

The Pet War by Helen Docherty

At my school library, dog and cat books are always flying off of the shelves. Here is another that I believe will join that group...

Otto desperately wants a dog, but his annoying older sister Lexi wants a cat. Mom tries to tone down the siblings' spat by issuing a challenge: whoever raises $500 by the end of the month can get the pet of their choice. But instead of quieting the two, the challenge causes an all-out pet war!

Many will get a laugh from Otto's quirky attempts to earn money. Some will squirm at Otto's rebellious thought processes and lack of smarts. This book however is not written for that audience in mind. Rather (in my opinion), this book was written with boys in mind who love humorous realistic fiction tales like Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Thank you Scholastic for giving me the opportunity to preview this galley before its release via NetGalley!

Release date:  October 29, 2013

Recommended for:  2nd-6th graders who love humorous tales

Book Review: The Snatchabook

 The Snatchabook by Helen Docherty

In the evening, the animals enjoy reading or being read to until a Snatchabook sneaks all their books away. A little rabbit named Eliza Brown is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and return everyone's books.

The illustrations and rhyme make this book such a delight! Of course, I am in love with the hedgehogs in the illustrations too because I own a pet hedgehog!

Release date:  October 1, 2013

Recommended for:  PreK-2nd graders as a bedtime read aloud story

Book Review: Treasure Hunters

Treasure Hunters by James Patterson

The Kidd family sails the seven seas in search of treasure with their well-known and respected father. However, a terrible storm washes him overboard and leaves the Kidds orphans. For risk of going into foster care, the family continues the treasure hunting business hoping to not raise suspicion, raise money, and even to see if there is any chance their father or mother are still alive.

Set sail with this story that is not only told in a popular graphic novel format, but that contains bits of humor mixed with high-seas adventure.

Release date:  September 16 2013

Recommended for:  4th-7th graders that are fans of graphic novels and treasure-hunting adventure

Library Lesson: Being Knowledgeable about Reading

Being Knowledgeable About Reading

It saddened me to see many of our library books checked out and then sit in our students' backpacks, never to be cracked open and read. That concern sparked the idea for this lesson. Plus, I just love the envelope page corner bookmarks I have seen on Pinterest; I had to think of a way I could fit them into a lesson!

Recommended grade:  2nd grade

Materials:

·   Book Petunia by Roger Duviosin

·   Corners cut off of envelopes to make bookmarks

·   Pencils and markers

Lesson:

I was surprised that just about all of my second graders did not know what the word "wise" or "knowledgeable" meant. But after this lesson they did, and they started enjoying their library books versus letting them sit in their backpacks. Hooray!

1. Discuss with the students how checking out books and carrying them around in their backpacks will not help them become more knowledgeable. Even silly fiction stories can teach them a valuable lesson that will help them become more wise or knowledgeable. Discuss the meaning of both words.
2. Read story Petunia by Roger Duviosin.
3. Have students use the corner of envelopes to create a Petunia bookmark (need to first lick and stick them closed before cutting into triangle shapes). On the back of their bookmark, the students will write a sentence or more sharing what they learned from the story.

I love what this student wrote she learned from our lesson:
"I lernd (learned) that you have to read to get smart."