Rhyming

September Bonus List of Books and Activities!

Posted by on Sep 25, 2015 in Early Learning, Integrating Knowledge and Ideas, Key Ideas and Details, Letter / Number Knowledge, Michigan Author, Music Smart, Nature Smart, Non-Fiction, People Smart, Phonological Awareness, Print Awareness, Print Concepts, Professional Development, Range of Reading, Rhyming, Science, Self Smart, Social Studies, Song Books, Vocabulary | 0 comments

Because I gave a presentation to awesome librarians this month and I couldn’t resist sharing all the great ideas we came up with, you get a bonus post this month! And because you’re getting a bonus post, I hope you’ll allow me to indulge in a bit of horn-tooting.

My debut picture book, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA, illustrated by Matt Faulkner (swoon!) will be published by Charlesbridge this December 1st, and it recently received a good professional review:

“Faulkner’s anthropomorphic animals and vibrant colors recall Uncle Wiggly, and the illustrations are packed with humorous details that repay rereadings. Remenar’s graceful prose and the subtlety of her message, pitched to older preschoolers and early-elementary students, are a good match. A sly and funny take on truth-telling and friendship.” – Kirkus, Oct. 2015

Woohoo!!!!!!!

Ok, horn-tooting over.

I spent a morning with a roomful of youth librarians and bunches of new books. We came up with these activities revolving around the key early literacy skills: Talk, Sing, Read, Write, Play. (Look here for lots more good stuff from Every Child Ready to Read.) Many of our activities can be used with a variety of books. I’m including our list of ideas and the books we shared. Enjoy!

TALK:
* Read Rufus Goes to School by Kim T. Griswell and talk about what you need for school, what you shouldn’t do in school, and favorite books you know how to read.
* Read Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar and talk about your favorite/least favorite parts of winter and spring. Talk about animals that hibernate and those that don’t. Talk about why the characters in the story wanted or didn’t want Groundhog to see his shadow.
* Read Clothesline Clues to Sports People Play  by Andy Robert Davies and encourage kids to guess the sport. Discuss unfamiliar terms like foil and quiver.
* Use nonfiction books with photos of bees to go along with Bee Dance by Rick Chrustowski. Bring in a honeycomb and give kids bendy straws so they can act like the bees in the book.
* Read Pepper and Poe by Frann Preston-Gannon and discuss why Pepper feels the way he does.
* Discuss good and bad manners after reading The Entertainer by Emma Dodd.
* Encourage kids to respond to “which would you choose?” while reading Hot Rod Hamster by Cynthia Lord.

SING:
* Sing rhyming words, even nonsense ones, after reading Hi! by Ethan Long.
* Sing “Milkshake” after reading Lulu’s Party by Kit Chase.
* Sing the book Old Mikamba Had a Farm by Rachel Isadora.
* Sing “The Days of the Week” song after reading Pepper and Poe by Frann Preston-Gannon, or “If You’re Happy and You Know It”.
* Sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” after reading Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar.

READ:
* Read nonfiction books about groundhogs and Groundhog’s Day along with Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar. (It delights me every time I type it!) Use puppets to help narrate/read the story.
* Use magnetic or felt letters to rearrange and read aloud, after reading Little Bird’s Bad Word by Jacob Grant.

WRITE:
* Kids can decorate the first letter of their name or make pictures with die-cut letters after reading Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss.
* Write your own “wumbers” inspired by Wumbers by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.
* Draw or write about something you cherish after reading Thankful by Eileen Spinelli.
* Trace your shoes and decorate the tracings after reading Whose Shoe? by Eve Bunting.
* Write a letter or draw a picture to convince Groundhog to predict winter or spring after reading Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar. Kids can write and draw about a time when they’ve had to resolve a dilemma. Outside with chalk, or inside on paper, kids can trace their own shadows!
* Create maps of your playground, classroom, school, library, etc. after reading Henry’s Map by David Elliot.
* Paint Q-tip paintings of trees inspired by Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley.
* Write your own “word equations” inspired by This Plus That by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

PLAY:

* Use a string and pin it to a world map to show all the places from Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein. Compare it to Madlenka and Nothing Ever Happens on My Block.
* Act out Uh Oh! by Shutta Crum.
* Play a version of “Going On a Bear Hunt” after reading In the Canyon by Liz Garton Scanlon.
* Incorporate different dances like The Hokey Pokey and The Twist and act out The Sky Is Falling by Mark Teague. Have a dance party!
* Create hand/body motions and make the sound effects for Niňo Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales. Come up with other characters who might want to wrestle!
* Move like cats and act out the emotions from Pepper and Poe by Frann Preston-Gannon.
* Have a storytime party where kids act out what should and should not happen at a party after reading The Entertainer by Emma Dodd.
* Paint small boxes like houses after reading Vincent Paints His House by Tedd Arnold.
* Rearrange letter tiles to show how one word can become another after reading One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
* Act out Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar. (Still fun to type!) Little ones can curl up in a box and pop out for Groundhog’s Day to look for their shadows, or try making shadow animals on a wall.

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27 Books You Can Use This Year

Posted by on Aug 17, 2015 in Counting Book, Craft and Structure, Early Learning, Integrating Knowledge and Ideas, Key Ideas and Details, Letter / Number Knowledge, Logic Smart, Math, Math Tie-In, Nature Smart, Non-Fiction, Phonological Awareness, Poetry, Print Concepts, Print Motivation, Range of Reading, Rhyming, Science | 0 comments

During the “Moving Beyond the Basics… Reaching for More” conference on Aug. 11 at the Byron Center High School in Michigan, a roomful of teachers and I read through boxes of books. (Thank you, Annemarie Johnson and Kate DiMeo, for inviting me to share informational picture books and to talk about kids’ book publishing.) ((Have I mentioned that my first picture book, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA, will come out this December 1 from Charlesbridge?)) After browsing and brainstorming, we generated a list of 27 books with lesson ideas we can use this year in kindergarten through third grade. Feel free to share it!

Title Author Illustrator  Lesson Ideas
Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types Werner Sharon Forss, Sarah alliteration, identifying letters in different fonts – visual learners
Aunt Ant Leaves through the Leaves Coffelt, Nancy homonyms/homophones
Bee Dance Chrustowski,Rick vocabulary, informational reading, chronological text structure, debate if it is “narrative” or “informative”
The Best of Times Tang, Greg Briggs, Harry multiplication in third grade, rules for each and tables
Boy, Were We Wrong About the Weather! Kudlinkski, Kathleen V. Serra, Sebastia compare/contrast what we once thought to what we now think, text features, weather in first grade, landforms in second
Families Rotner, Shelley Rotner, Shelley “all about” writing at a simple level = great mentor text
Greedy Apostrophe: a cautionary tale Carr, Jan Long, Ethan grammar – ways to use an apostrophe
Henry’s Map Elliot, David mapping skills lesson, pictures with labels = text feature, mentor tex for writing
How To Surprise a Dad Reagan, Jean Wildish, Lee mentor text for “how to” writing that goes beyond basic instruction format, mentor text for incorporating all five senses in details
In Mary’s Garden Kugler, Carson Kugler, Tina compare/contrast with “The Most Magnificient Thing”
The King Who Rained Gwynne, Fred homonyms/homophones/word play, figurative language
Lucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man Van Wright, Cornelius reading for pleasure! Friendship themes and good “boy” book
Math Fables Tang, Greg Cahoon, Heather number sense for youngers
Me, Too! Dunklee, Annika Smith, Lori Joy opinion writing: “Reason #1”, friendship story to discuss
Messy Jesse Bowles, Paula writing prompt, “what I’m good at”, punctuation lesson
Nino Wrestles the World Morales, Yuyi using context to decode unfamiliar words, appreciation of other languages/cultures
One Boy Seeger, Laura Vaccaro finding words within words
One Word from Sophia Averbeck, Jim Ismail, Yasmeen persuasive writing, writing for an audience, text features like glossary
Ostriches Are Not Pets! Niver, Heather Moore persuasive writing
Over in the Wetlands Rose, Caroline Starr Dunlavey, Rob vocabulary – word choice and author’s craft, context clues, inferring, how do animals prepare for storms compared to how people prepare?
Rufus Goes to School Griswell, Kim T. Gorbachev, Valeri use at the beginning of the school year, shows importance of learning how to read, point out persuasive reasons why pigs should (not) go to school
Simple Machines Adler, David A. Raff, Anna use as a mentor text for flip books, compare/contrast, nonfiction with illustrations and not photos, text features, easy nonfiction that’s not about animals
Speed, Speed, Centipede! Dahl, Michael Trover, Zachary early math counting by tens, shows 10 frames
This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations Rosenthal, Amy Krouse Corace, Jen writing with math symbols
Water is Water Paul, Miranda Chin, Jason “show, don’t tell”, art tells story as much as text does
Wumbers Rosenthal, Amy Krouse Lictenheld, Tom lesson on speech bubbles
Zero the Hero Holub, Joan Lictenheld, Tom higher math concepts, friendship, lesson on speech bubbles
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Dig in to fun summer books!

Posted by on Jun 6, 2014 in Early Learning, Integrating Knowledge and Ideas, Michigan Author, Nature Smart, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Range of Reading, Rhyming, Science | 3 comments

Digger Dozer Dumper by Hope Vestergaard and David SlonimBuilder Goose: It's Construction Rhyme Time! by Boni Ashburn and Sergio de GiorgiThese books are so much fun I couldn’t choose just one! Now that summer is here, I’m looking for books that encourage outdoor play. Here are two books that will have kids scurrying to the sandbox: Digger, Dozer, Dumper written by Hope Vestergaard and illustrated by David Slonim and Builder Goose: It’s Construction Rhyme Time! by Boni Ashburn and illustrated by Sergio de Giorgi.

Both of these books have poems about construction vehicles, so by sharing them together you’ll not only hit Range of Reading, you’ll have great compare/contrast discussions which hit Integration of Knowledge & Ideas. (Also, both are written by Michigan authors, so shout out to the proud Mitten State!) I love that these books both give real information about how these machines work within fun, catchy poems. Dig these favorites:

Backhoe (from Digger, Dozer, Dumper)
The backhoe’s two machines in one:
a useful little truck.
His front end pushes dirt and rocks:
his back end digs out muck.

Heave Ho! Let’s Go! (from Builder Goose)
This old crane,
it swings wide!
It takes pallets for a ride.
With a heave ho, let’s go,
swing it back for more.
Hoist it high and watch it soar!

Once you and your crew have enjoyed the construction poems, everyone will want to go dig in the sandbox and build, dig, measure, and pour. Extend the learning and develop fine motor skills with these fun activities I found on preschoolexpress.com, Jean Warren’s genius website: hammer golf tees into firm Styrofoam pieces, screw screws into bars of soap, and build edible structures with graham crackers and frosting, peanut butter, or cream cheese. Happy reading!

 

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Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance

Posted by on Oct 31, 2013 in Body Smart, Early Learning, Fluency, Holiday, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming | 0 comments

Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith GravesHere’s a treat for you this Halloween: a rhyming picture book that will delight your little monsters while you hit the CCSS of Fluency and Phonics & Word Recognition.

Frank was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves is simple, spooky, silly fun. Frank’s dancing delights the audience until his body parts start to come loose, but even a cold shoulder from the crowd (see what I did there?) can’t diminish Franks’s love of performing.

There are plenty of simple rhymes for early elementary students to catch (“ants in his pants”, etc.) and I love that students can listen to them while they enjoy this story on TumbleBooks. Many school, public, and state libraries have subscriptions to this great website where kids can hear books read aloud. TumbleBooks has picture books, chapter books, fiction and nonfiction, all kinds of titles to help students build fluency. An extra bonus: TumbleBooks also has a section of lesson plans for teachers, including a K-2 lesson plan for Frank was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance!

So read aloud this book to your class, or log into TumbleBooks and project it so the entire class can enjoy it. If your little wigglers are anything like mine, they’ll want to move their bodies like Frank did, so on repeated readings, encourage listeners to act out the text. Kids can mime brains flopping out, arms falling out of sleeves, etc. For Halloween, or for anytime your mini-monsters need an active read-aloud, this book does the trick.

For more about the author/illustrator, please visit: keithgravesart.com.

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