Category: Reading

Genre Studies: Back to School Read Alouds

By Mariah Bruehl,

Genre Studies: Back to School Read-Alouds

 

In planning for back to school with my second and third graders, I spend a significant amount of time researching which books to read aloud to them. I am often asking myself questions such as:

  • Will this story hook my students into reading?
  • Will students reach for this book during reading workshop?
  • Which non-fiction texts are best for reading aloud?
  • Which non-fiction texts will peak students’ interest and encourage additional inquiries?
  • Which poems will encourage a love of words?

 

I find back to school to be the perfect time of year to focus on incorporating different genres when I’m reading aloud to my class. In developing a love of language and encouraging students to be avid readers, I want to be thinking about how I can reach them all. Some will be quite motivated and learn best through listening to a story, others love realistic photographs and factual information, while still others prefer the rhythm of words in the genre of poetry.

 

There are many wonderful books to include in your back to school read aloud sessions. This fall while in the classroom, my students and I have begun to explore some of the titles listed below. Each genre offers a wide range of possibilities for sharing.

 

Fictional Picture Books: I often share several picture books on the first few days of school. This year some of our favorites include:

  •  Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman – Fish and Snail is such a beautiful story about exploration and trying new things but most of all the power of friendships.
  • Once Upon An Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughten – Once Upon An Ordinary School Day is a fantastic story that explores the power a teacher can have to ignite passion in students. Mr. Gee (the teacher) brings words alive in encouraging his young students to write.

 

Non-Fiction: This year I intentionally set out to locate non-fiction books that focus on back to school around the world. I was thrilled to locate the following fabulous read aloud titles:

  • Off To Class by Susan Hughes – Susan Hughes hooked my students immediately with a focus on unique schools around the world. We read through a section on Bangladesh boat schools and rich discussions ensued. In fact, we had so many questions and wonderings that we’ve decided to locate more information such as videos, additional books and articles about boat schools.
  • A School Like Mine produced by UNICEF and authored by Penny Smith is also intriguing to students in that they get to explore how children around the world attend school The author interviews individual children and as such readers gain a unique view into their daily school lives.

 

Poetry: Sharing poetry with students is one of my favorite ways to make sure students see language as fun and inviting. These two collections invite students to read together and laugh out loud!

 

Here’s to an inspiring new school year!

 

Author Focus: Oliver Jeffers

By Mariah Bruehl,

Author Focus: Oliver Jeffers

Rebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us today to share some inspiring insights and book recommendations from the great author, Oliver Jeffers.

 

I consider Oliver Jeffers to be a modern day classic author/illustrator. Both his writing and illustrative styles are unique and each and every new release is welcomed into our home with huge smiles and the need for the story to be read over and over again.

Oliver has the very clever ability to masterfully create a book that extends beyond the pages. His writing encourages individuals to think, reflect and analyze not only the words, but the illustrations as well, which is a true reflection of a great multimodal text.

 

Oliver is originally from Belfast, however, now resides in Brooklyn where he creates not only picture books, but also art.

 

I often use Oliver’s books as a morning provocation or a starting point when teaching, which in turn leads to in-depth discussions, the need to create, and delightful opportunities for learning.

 

Below is a quick synopsis of a few of my favorite titles:

  1. The Heart and the Bottle is about love and loss and the ability to, when ready, love again.
  2. None the Number explains the significance of the number zero on a very basic level.
  3. The Hueys focuses on the importance of being an individual.
  4. This Moose Belongs to Me discusses the concept of ownership of another living thing.
  5. The Great Paper Caper can begin an entire unit about paper, cutting down trees and even flight!
  6. The Incredible Book Eating Boy, is an adorable book with amazing graphic design and layout focusing on the notion of reading and its importance to a developing mind, is cleverly told.
  7. Lost and Found offers the opportunity to compare a picture book to a film.  Both of these mediums are simply beautiful and a wonderful starting point for young children to delve into the area of film critique and analysis.
  8. The Day the Crayons Quit, is a title which has been illustrated by Oliver, yet written by Drew Daywalt is magical.  A delightful tale about color with a twist,  the possibilities with this book are endless and the wonderful trigger for a unit on color and what colors might mean, as well as the history behind color and its uses.

More Oliver Jeffers books can be found here.

 

Below is a preview of This Moose Belongs to Me.

 

photo credits: 1 /2 /3

 

Introducing Poetry to Children

By Mariah Bruehl,

Introducing Children to Poetry

Poetry is such a delightful way to introduce children to the beauty that is a collection of words. Poetry in itself is not always about telling a story, but capturing a moment, as a photographer might when seeing an amazing landscape in front of them.

 

Through exposure to poetry we can then slowly introduce children to writing their own pieces and developing a collection of words which can express what they see with their eyes and feel with their hearts.

 

I don’t often share poetry with my children, but I am determined to do so.  As part of this new daily provocation I have gathered a few of my favorite poetry anthologies and plan on creating a little space to keep this collection so we can touch on it daily.  My children often enjoy listening to a chapter books in the car as we wait for friends or before school and I may introduce one of these books to our audio book listening adventures.

 

Below is my small collection so far…

 

1. If Poems  is available as a book and as an app.  The application is just beautiful as it has the ability to listen to a reading of the poem, as well as recording your own version. With over 200 classic poems at your fingertips, this is the perfect starting point for those who have yet to build their poetry collection.   Helena Bonham Carter is the most perfect voice for this application.

Below is a little link to see Helena discuss the application….

 

2. When We Were Very Young | A.A. Milne

 

3. The Puffin Book of Modern Children’s Verse | Edited by Brian Patten

 

4. A Light in the Attic | Shel Silverstein

 

5. Falling Up | Shel Silverstein

 

6. Runny Babbit | Shel Silverstein

 

7. Random House Book of Poetry

 

I am also considering the Magnetic Poetry Kit to encourage my eldest son to create a flow of words he likes to look of and the sound of together.

 

 

Picture Book Projects: Extra Yarn

By Mariah Bruehl,

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

Randi from Swoon is with us today to share a fun project to compliment the inspiring book, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett.

Being displaced and living with family this summer has made doing activities with my children especially difficult. This week they reminded me that the best projects don’t have to require a lot of skill, time, or materials and preparations.

While reading one of our favorite picture books, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, my daughters expressed an interest in making something with yarn. They love this story of a young girl with a generous heart who fills her village with color. If you haven’t read this book, look for it on your next trip to the library. You’re in for a real treat!

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

We chose to make God’s Eyes as a simple introduction to working with yarn. We gathered up some sturdy sticks, a pair of scissors, and some yarn. We were also able to invite a friend over to share in the fun, which was a lot of fun!

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

Want to make a few of your own? Start with two sticks, roughly the same size.

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

1. Lay two sticks across one another, forming a cross. Take the end of a piece of yarn (approx. two feet long) and tie it around the middle, fastening the sticks together. Wrap yarn diagonally  across the middle of the sticks a few times in each direction to secure. Do this until you cover the middle completely. Don’t clip the end, as this will become your working string.

Picture Book Project: Extra Yarn

2. Working counter-clockwise, wrap the end of yarn over a single stick. As you pull the yarn up and around, bring it directly over the top of the next stick, pulling tightly and turning cross as you go. Continue around and around until you have about two inches left of yarn.

3. Attach another color by tying a new piece of string to the working string and trimming the ends. Continue working your way around.

When you’ve added all the colors and rows you want, it’s time to finish. If you have glue, you can glue the end of your yarn to the back of your design. Or, you can tie it to the strings in the back, like we did. We also added some fun tassels to ours after they were done, as well as tying on a small loop of yarn for hanging.

I hope this week you are able to get down on the floor with your kids and do something creative, perhaps inspired by a favorite book, or just your wild imaginations!

Graphic Novel Booklist

By Mariah Bruehl,

Great Graphic Novels...

Rebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us today to share a great list of graphic novels to enjoy with the young readers in our lives.

We adore picture books in our home and believe that you can never have too many! Recently we have become interested in a new genre—the graphic novel.  My son loves the fact that there is a chronological tale told though visual images and that the text that accompanies is fast yet detailed and often tells just snippets of the tale.  You really must use the visual cues to also gain an in-depth understanding of the story.

Here are three different graphic novel series worth exploring…

Tintin has become a firm favorite and we have gathered a collection from our local library to explore.

I do believe however that this series might need to go on the birthday list as he has spend hours pouring over each edition, each time finding new and interesting components which relate to other editions.  The more you explore the more there is to find.

There are also three in one compact editions, which look delightful and perfect for a family traveling.

For those littles who then fall in love with Tintin there is a website dedicated to information about the characters, stories and behind the scene information such as how to draw tin tin yourself!

 

If your budding readers decide to try their hand at writing graphic novels, be sure to check out our comic strip templates.

 

Story Cubes for Young Readers

By Mariah Bruehl,

Story Cubes for Young Readers

Rebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us today to share a fun activity to share with the little readers in our lives…

 

Story cubes are such a wonderful way to engage children in a story and to check for comprehension.  Often when children are beginning to read they are so focused on sounding out unfamiliar words that meaning is lost.  Through working together with your little ones you can help them grasp the key concepts of a story in order to maintain comprehension.

The best part is that they are simple to create!

  1. Choose a familiar story and read it together or listen to your child read to you.
  2. After you have read the story use the cube template download to create a story cube.
  3. A cube has six sections and in each one there is enough room for a sentence focusing on the key components of the story.  I chose to focus on the following six areas for a narrative text however you can make your focus what ever you wish.
    • square 1:  title of the story
    • square 2: setting/ scene
    • square 3: characters
    • square 4: beginning
    • square 5: problem
    • square 6: resolution

Books to use initially as your children get used to the cubes could be familiar fairy tales such as:

As they become more familiar with this learning process you could introduce books that they are unfamiliar with in order to gather their level of comprehension.  With older children you could focus on developing character cubes, one face of the cube for each character in the story or chapter book, or scenes from the text which were significant in the theme of the story.  The possibilities are endless.

You can find the cube template here. There is also an online version in which you can direct children to create a story cube online!

 

Summer Reading In a Box

By Mariah Bruehl,

Summer Reading in a Box

Randi from Swoon is with us today to share a lovely summer reading kit for the blossoming young readers in our lives.

Summer is right around the corner and it’s time to think of creative ways to maintain and build on everything our children have learned in this last year throughout the long break. If you’re like me and your children attend school outside of the home, now is a good time to ask teachers for guidance and hints about ways to work with your child as they spend more time at home.

We have a new reader in our house who needs lots of practice and opportunities to grow the skills she’s already mastered. I want her to feel confident as she steps into the next school year, and I know that practice is the key. As a starting point, I’ve put together a little box filled with activities we can do together several times a week.

Summer Reading in a Box

So, what’s in the box?

Summer Reading in a Box

A stack of new readers and a fun bookmark. We will also be joining the summer reading program at the local library, and possibly purchasing more of these simple books as we go.

Summer Reading in a Box

A homemade phonics game. I came across this lovely idea over on the Playdough to Plato blog. Using paper and stickers, we transformed two blocks we had on hand into a fun game about word families. Roll the dice and sound out the word. The first one to make 10 real words wins! Go here for complete instructions.

Summer Reading in a Box Summer Reading in a Box

A homemade phonetic flip chart. This flip chart is all about sounding out words. Simply take a notebook and cut the pages into three equal sections. Write the consonants in the first section, as well as some common blends found at the beginning of words. Vowels go in the middle section, and consonants and common blends found at the end of words in the last section. Find complete instructions over at Kids Activities Blog.

As the summer progresses, I hope to add more things to the box and change activities as needed. I LOVE the idea of giving something like this as a gift to a new reader in your life. The contents of the box could easily be modified for a child who is in the pre-reading stages, or to fit the needs of a more advanced reader as well. The idea is to create a pretty and functional spot that has everything needed to inspire little ones to read.

Audio Books for Kids

By Mariah Bruehl,

Audio Books for Kids
 
 We adore audio books and have gathered a rather large collection over the last few years. Listening to audio books is a great way for young children to internalize the fluency and expression that comes from reading longer chapter books. It is helpful to have them follow along with a hard copy of the book, running their finger across the text as they listen.
 
Today I wish to share with you a collection of audio books that we have enjoyed as a family. We often listen to them at bedtime.
 
  1. Wildwood | Carson Ellis and Colin Melloy Performed by Amanda Plummer
  2. Under Wildwood | Carson Ellis and Colin Melloy: We are yet to listen to their book as we are still reading Wildwood.  This series is aimed at a more mature reading age group, 8 plus.  Little R has enjoyed Wildwood. We are taking it slowly and spending a lot of time immersing ourselves in the beautiful rich vocabulary.
  3. The BFG | Roald Dahl Perfromed by Geoffery Palmer: There is an entire series of Roald Dahl books as audio, which our six year old adores: Fantastic Mr Fox, Danny the Champion of the World (this is our favorite), The Magic Finger, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Enormous Crocodile
  4. The Magic Faraway Tree | Enid Blyton Performed by Kate Winslet:  Kate Winslet does the most beautiful characterizations in this audio story. I could listen to her voice day in and day out, and her intonation is perfect.
  5. Lost and Found | Oliver Jeffers
  6. The Heart and the Bottle | Oliver Jeffers read by Helena Bonham Carter
  7. The Incredible Book Eating Boy | Oliver Jeffers
  8. The Gruffalo | Julia Donaldson
  9. The Gruffalo’s Child | Julia Donaldson
  10. Harry Potter | JK Rowling
  11. Brown Bear and Friends | Bill Martin, Eric Carle Performed by Gwenyth Paltrow
  12. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt | Michael Rosen

 

We hope you enjoy them as much as we have…

Dinosaur Books and Apps for Little Ones

By Mariah Bruehl,

Dinosaur Books + AppsRebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us today to share some great app and book recommendations for the little dinosaur lovers in our lives…
Little ones usually go through phases of being mesmerized by a specific genre.  In our household dinosaurs have come and gone numerous times.  Over the last couple of years we have developed a lovely little dinosaur library, as well as a few dinosaur themed iPad apps.

Books:

 
1. How to be a Dinosaur | Lonely Planet This is filled with information worthy of an encyclopaedia.  Lonely Plant do these books so very well.  The comic book style illustrations are perfection.  
 
2. Dinosaur A – Z | Sam Mugford This books is a all time favorite.  Each page represents a different dinosaur and the pictures are bold and contain details, such as size comparisons to a human adult, as well as how to pronounce the tricky names!  Once when we went on an extended holiday I photographed every page so we could still flick through the book on my phone.  The Smart Kids books are all brilliant, as is the entire dinosaur range by Priddy Books

3. Yikes, Stinkysaurus! | Pamela Butchart and Sam Lloyd This is perfect for those littles that enjoy a little but of humor of the bathroom variety.  

4. There’s a Dinosaur in my Bathtub | Catalina Echeverri A large dinosaur called Pierre found in your bathtub is ever so delightful, especially if he comes from France to visit for the summer.
 
5. Dinosaur Farm | Fran Preston Gannon Fran Preston Gannon is the recipient of the Sendak Fellowship and has created a delightful tale of being a very special kind of farmer.  
 
6. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs | Mo Willems I have a soft spot for Mo Willems in our house as my boys adore his quirky style.  This books is a take on the traditional Goldilocks and the Three Bears. 
 
 
Educational iPad applications also worth having a little look at if you have children who enjoy this format:
Britannica Kids Dinosaurs (These are three individual apps based on different dinosaur periods)
 
Enjoy!

Picture Book Advent Calendar

By Mariah Bruehl,

Picture Book Advent Calendar

Rebecca from Thirteen Red Shoes is with us today to share some lovely tips for sharing a picture book advent with your family this holiday season.

We have a family tradition: each day of advent the little ones get a picture book.  It is the only advent calendar we have in our home, so no little lolly delights or small toys, simply a new picture book to open.  I know that this is extravagant, but it is where we choose to spend our money.  I am such a huge believer and lover of children’s literature, that I budget this in every year. Instead of buying them all at once, I buy the books gradually throughout the year.

The books are wrapped and gathered on the mantle in our lounge room. Each night of December, once the littles are bathed and in their pajamas, we select a new book to unwrap and gather on the lounge to share. In the past, my book collection has included fiction, non-fiction, picture books, chapter books, as well as a few audio books.  The variety makes it even more exciting.

If you are like me and you store Christmas books away from January to November, you can wrap them up and add few newly acquired titles to create your own book themed advent calendar.  Picture Book Advent Calendar

There are so many delightful titles on the market!

Here is my most recent list of our favorite holiday books.

And for added inspiration, here are a few of our favorite authors:

Here a some other delightful ideas for advent: