Sock Monkeys

Last week I read the picture book Sock Monkey Rides Again (Cece Bell) to Connie's second grade class. It was very silly and the kids liked it. This book led to a discuss by Connie and myself about the old sock monkey toys of our youth. Connie and I decided that it would be fun to have a "Make a Sock Monkey" party one evening after school. Hopefully other staff members will join us.

I found this site: http://www.sockcompany.com/index.html to have a good price on the red heel socks. Right now you can get two pair for $7.59. The direct site for these socks is: http://www.sockcompany.com/or1.html

Also, this site: http://www.ciaspalette.com/ has sock monkey fabric. Select "Novelties."

Possible AR Themes

Something to do with travel: Reading is a Grand Adventure ??? with a map displayed in foyer and marker is moved acroos the map from point to point as the school reading points accumulate.

Come Back To

Trelease, Jim: The Read-Aloud Handbook, 2006-2007 edition

Reminder - Popcorn Day

Talk to Brian about new plan for Popcorn Day: deliver popcorn to the classes after lunch. Teachers use the time for sustained silent reading.

Read Alouds Favorites

I read cowboy-themed books to 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade classes today in preparation for our AR kick-off next week.

The fourth graders loved the book The Toughest Cowboy...great success

First and second graders thought Adventures of Cow Two was very funny and second graders really enjoyed Lasso Lou and Cowboy McCoy

Add these three books to book order.

Children Book Illustrators from the 50's

Great collection of classic '50s artist/illustrators in collection at http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/collections/

Professional Books for the Library

May want to come back to these sometime...

Baxter, Kathleen and Marcia Agness Kochel - Gotcha for Guys!: Nonfiction Books to Get Boys Excited About Reading

Reid, Rob - Storytime Slam!: 15 Lesson Plans for Preschool and Primary Story Programs

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio - Read It! Play It!: Building Literacy through Reading and Play

Trelease, Jim - The Read-Aloud Handbook, 2006-07 Edition

Picture Books

Donaldson, Julia and Axel Scheffler, ill. - The Snail and the Whale - Donaldson is the author of The Gruffalo, one of my favorites. This one is cute too with the themes of adventure, teamwork, cooperation. Nice story.

Korchek, Lori and Marshall Taylor - Adventures of Cow Too by Cow - A very excited toy cow takes an adventurous trip to a grocery store. This begs to be read aloud as children discover that what the text says does not match the photograph: Cow is in the middle of pineapples in the produce section and the text reads: "Yum, bananas." There are other books in this series.

Beaumont, Karen; Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, ills. - Duck, Duck, Goose! (A Coyote's on the Loose!) - could be a pre-school, K read aloud choice with an additional book.

Unfinished Book - that's okay!

I checked out the book Let Me Finish by Roger Angell. Iwas interested in reading it because the author is the step-son of E.B. White of Charlotte's Web fame. The book is good and interesting enough, but I have a lot of reading material waiting, and what I really wanted to know about was E.B. White and his relationship with his step-son and others. About a third of the way into the book is a chapter entitled "Andy" (Andy is E.B.'s nickname). So now that I've finished reading that chapter which concludes with E.B.'s death, I'm returning the book to the library. What a nice chapter...I'm glad I read it.

More Cowboy-Themed Books

Tucker, Kathy and Nadine Bernard Westcott, ill. - Do Cowboys Ride Bikes? Humorous rhyming answers to fourteen questions about what it's like to be a cowboy.

Wheeler, Lisa and Kurt Cyrus, ill. - Sixteen Cows - Rhyming tale of Cowboy Gene and Cowgirl Sue, whose beloved cows get mixed up when a storm blows down the fence between their ranches. - not sure this would work so well as a read aloud

Frank, John and Zachary Pullen - The Toughest Cowboy: or How the Wild West was Tamed - this is really a neat book, funny with great illustrations; the tough cowboy ends up with a free dog that happens to be a french poodle named "Foofy" - a little crude humor, the kind that boys like, lengthy for a read aloud

Books to Come Back To

I'd like to read these, but it's time to return them to the library...after renewing them twice, I think I'd just better find another time to check them out again:

Winter, Richard - Perfecting Ourselves to Death (recommended by my pastor)

Kimmel, Haven - The Solace of Leaving Early - I loved Kimmel's non-fiction books A Girl Named Zippy and She Got Up Off the Couch. This one is fiction. I definitely want to come back to this book.

Tammet, Daniel - Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinay Life of an Autistic Savant - recommended by a friend.

Helpful Websites

Some good PowerPoint lessons at this site:

http://www.seaford.k12.de.us/it/pp/home.htm

Good slides on fiction and non-fiction at:

clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/literacy/MSSDLRC/ppt/LrcOrientationJan17.ppt
(may need to copy & paste this link into Google to get to the right spot)

Read Alouds

Friday afternoon I read to a second grade class immediately after a very strong storm passed through our area. The loud thunder and heavy rains caused a lot of fear and much crying throughout the building. Taking that into consideration, that the kids were somewhat distracted, they did a good job listening to the two stories that I read:

Lasso Lou and Cowboy McCoy (Failing/Tedd Arnold, ill.) and Old Little Big Beard and Young Big Little Beard (Charlip)

At the end of our time together I asked the students, as I often do, which story they liked best. They vote by show of hands, and the vote was split pretty much in half.

These are both good read alouds, tho' the Charlip book may be too confusing to students below second grade.

Note to self

Search:

Wallpaper patterns for livng room wall painting

How to make a fake campfire and other western-type props
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Email Alicia and Leanna about available books for Darryl to take to Nashville
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Thursday evening: finish setting up the Mark Twain book covers in Word doc - save on flash drive

Cowboy-themed books

I'm reading through a couple dozen picture books that have cowboys as the main subject. Next week we will kick off our AR reading program and I've offered read-alouds to all classes. The books that I liked the best and that I think will do well as read-alouds are:

Charlip, Remy: Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard

Sauer, Tammi and Mike Reed, ill.: Cowboy Camp

Failing, Barbara Larmon and Tedd Arnold, ill.: Lasso Lou and Cowboy McCoy

Mitchell, Marianne and Bryan Langdo, ill.: Joe Cinders (Southwestern retelling of the Cinderella story)

Bell, Cece: Sock Monkey Rides Again

Icenoggle, Jodi and Normand Chartier, ill: 'Til the Cows Come Home (pair this with Joseph Had a Little Overcoat)

Funny book

Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America - Bill Geist - very funny and quirky.