PIGEON WITH AN ATTITUDE! - The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!

LAUGH OUT LOUD

The author Mo Willems is so entertaining!

Another outstanding fun book to read aloud to your class.

THE PIGEON WANTS A PUPPY!  By Mo Willems

The pigeon really, really, REALLY wants a puppy. Come on, he will take good care of it. He promises to water it, play tennis with it, and take a piggyback ride on it. Until . . . 

Moral:  Be careful what you wish for!

EXTENDING THE READING EXPERIENCE

TEXT-TO-SELF-CONNECTION

Follow-up Activity

Please click on the FREE blackline master below.  It will link you to teachers pay teachers where you can download the free page from PICTURE BOOK REVIEWS WITH WRITING CONNECTIONS. 

Make enough copies for your students. Have the students complete the sentence of what they have wanted forever. Next, draw a picture of it. Then write 3 things that they would do with it. Lastly, draw a picture of themselves. Students can share their writing with a partner or the class.

Enjoy your day!

Kathy

We Are in a Book!

A California Young Reader Medal Nominee Book For 2012 - 2013
We Are in a Book! By Mo Willems

THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH FUN TO READ TO A GROUP OF KIDS! 
THEY LAUGH, GIGGLE, AND REALLY ENJOY THE HUMOR.

Piggie discovers that she and Gerald are in a book. Piggie can make the reader say a funny word if the reader reads out loud. It works! Gerald and Piggie laugh hysterically. Then Gerald discovers the book is going to end soon - eek! The book concludes with a very clever ending.

I have created comprehension question and answer sticks to go along with the book. There is also a paper craft animal fun flip book that students can make. Click below to link to teachers pay teachers.

Take Care,

Kathy

SPRINGTIME - THE WONDERS OF SPRING

"The job of a teacher is to excite in the young a boundless sense of curiosity about life, so that the growing child shall come to apprehend it with an excitement tempered by awe and wonder."
 - John Garrett -

Springtime does just that, heightens children's curiosity about nature. I've just posted a hands-on thematic unit:  Springtime - The Wonders of Spring. Your students will enjoy exploring the wonders of spring with this product!

This integrated unit provides thought-provoking questions, reinforces reading/language arts, hands-on science projects, and math skills.  Please click below and have a spring adventure!

Growing and Learning in the Garden!
Kathy

RAINBOW GLASSES

Yesterday it rained.  Then the most beautiful rainbow appeared.  Wow!  Quite lovely!

It reminded me to dig out my "rainbow glasses".  The students can look through these glasses at the classroom lights and see rainbows.  These wonderful glasses refract light and make interesting rainbows. 

If you are starting a rainbow unit these glasses are a must.  They don't cost much and are a big hit with the kids.

They can be purchased online in many places.  This site:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1190

has a video to watch which explains everything.

Very cool!

Kathy

LAUGH OUT LOUD #4

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU READ THE FINE PRINT! A friend of mine has a 9 year old daughter and a 6 year old daughter. It was early morning and time for school. The 9 year old was looking at the school menu and starts yelling at her sister. "Don't get it! Don't get it! Don't buy hot lunch today! The menu says they are serving over baked chicken. How could they do that to kids!" She throws her arms up in the air and yells even louder, "How could a school serve over baked chicken to us kids?" Shaking her head side to side.

 Hearing all the yelling, her mom rushes over to find out what is going on. "The school is nuts," shouts the 9 year old. Her mom takes a look at the menu and points with her finger at the writing. "Read it again," she tells the 9 year old. "It's not an "r" it's an "n" silly. It's oven baked chicken."
(And, yes, it was delicious!)

Diggin' Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have fascinated me every since I was a kid.  It's still the same with the kids today.  Mention dinosaurs and you hear, "Ooooooh, yes!."  They get very excited about the subject.  This week the leprechauns will be leaving back to Ireland on the 17th.  After they leave we are going to start my dinosaur unit called Diggin' Dinosaurs.  There are a lot of Easter activities out there, however, some of the parents in my classroom are sensitive about the holiday and I respect that.  So off we go back into time, the Mesozoic Era.

I found this website: http://millersfossils.com/fossil-replicas.php
Miller's Fossils - you can buy fossil replicas for a great price.  I bought a few of them and my students love studying them!

I'm Diggin' It!

Kathy

LAUGH OUT LOUD #3

SOMETIMES HARD WORK CAN BE EMBARRASSING!
Teachers try everything to get through to their students.  One day I was teaching a math lesson.  I was trying so hard to get my first graders to think.  After putting my heart into the math lesson, I wanted the students to respond with the correct answer.  So I said to the class, "I wonder what the answer could be?  Hmmm, Hmmm."  I said it louder, "I wonder what the answer could be?"  Blank looks were on their faces.  Silence in the room.  Then one girl raised her hand.  Finally, I was relieved.  She said, "How could you not know the answer?  You've been doing this for years!"
(Wow!  Sock it to the teacher :)

WHICH SEASON IS IT? FREE

I love when the seasons change.  I appreciate the beauty of each season.  Spring is almost here.  Here is one of my favorite spring quotes.

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"
Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer, Detective.

I posted a FREE product on Teachers Pay Teachers titled: Which Season is it?  My students and I chart all the characteristics of spring that we could think of onto chart paper.  Then I read some books about spring.  We reread the chart and add some new ones or delete some we think don't really fit.

Then we do this mini-book during centers/stations.

Enjoy your day!

Kathy