Monday, October 25, 2010

Fall Book Fairs

The Book Fair is here at two of our elementary schools!  I just love this time of year.  It's a lot of work but we all have so much fun with it!   I love to see all the kids come in to a "store" that's just for them and spend their money on whatever they want.  I also love to see when parents come in with their children and hear the excellent discussion that goes on over what books to buy! 

This year's theme is about superheroes - Reading Saves the Day!  

Here are some books Mrs. Green is buying: 





Monday, October 18, 2010

Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle

Today I taught a lesson with a first grade class on their author of the month.  Every month they choose a different author to highlight.  This year the teacher decided to do Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle together because of their illustration style.  They both use materials besides paint, markers, crayons or other "normal" art tools.  Instead they use items from around them.  
Ehlert especially uses all sorts of fun things like leaves from outside in her yard or string she found while on a walk.  

Carle uses tissue paper and pastes to make his pictures come to life. 

Today we used our own supplies from the library to make fun pictures and write a sentence to go along with them.  How fun to be an illustrator!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Bones and The Cat's Pajamas

I got a new box of books in today and of course I had to read some of them!  Here are two I really liked and I think you will too! 


Bones by Steve Jenkins

Have you ever wondered what bones actually look like?  Or how big they are?  This book explains about all different kinds of bones and compares them so you can think about how big they are.  Did you know there are 27 bones in your hand?


The Cat's Pajamas by Wallace Edwards

This book has 27 different idioms in it.  What is an idiom?  According to the book, it is a "group of words whose meaning cannot be understood from the meaning of the individual words" by themselves.   Have you heard the phrase "more fun than a barrel of monkeys" or "frog in your throat"?  That doesn't really mean you have an actual frog in your throat.  This book will help you understand what those sayings really mean.  Plus, there is a hidden cat on every page!  Have fun looking!  You might have to "use your noodle"!

Look for these books in your library soon!