faulker034

New to the Thanksgiving read aloud scene this year is How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy E llerton. What a FUN book- your students are going to love it!  There are several books in the How to Catch a... series and this is one of the newest ones. (Look for the How to Catch a Snowman blog post after the first of the year!). There are several skills you could touch on with this  How to Catch a Turkey  Thanksgiving read aloud... I created an anchor chart that you could use for any of the word choice lessons- let your students lead the discussion with what jumps out at them with the authors' word choice.  1. Word Choice (Vocabulary): The book is written in rhyme. The authors choice of writing in rhyme really sets the upbeat, fun mood for this story.  The vocabulary and the phrases are also spot on and a great teaching point for this read aloud.  After reading the story through once, you...

Oh my goodness- I can't believe we are almost to November. Time to trade in the jack-o-lanterns for turkeys... or maybe even Christmas trees? I love November and December in the elementary classroom- so much to do and so much fun. It's a great time for strengthening your classroom community with all of the opportunities for giving that occur during this time of year.  I also love the crafts and celebrations that come with the holidays. Too often teachers feel the stress of the curriculum pacing guide and feel as if they can't or shouldn't do any crafts "just for fun", but I say shut that door and craft away! They are only little once... And I really LOVE  the wealth of picture books that are holiday-themed. Students are so engaged and you can teach so many skills using picture books during your reading workshop time. Over the next several weeks my plan is to share some of my favorites with you!  To start off November- I pa...

Happy Almost Halloween! It's hard to believe Halloween is next week- it seems like October has flown by! Is the excitement level in your room starting to CREEP up a little bit more each day?  Today I have a fantastic Halloween read aloud your little monsters will love! Plus if you make it all the way to the end of the post I have a link where you can grab a FREE Halloween Story Organizer that can be used with any Halloween fiction book! There is so much to love about this book- I Need My Monster  written by Amanda Noll and illustrated by Howard McWilliam.  This story is about a little boy whose regular monster has gone fishing and he is looking for a replacement monster. The book is humorous and creepy and the illustrations are GORGEOUS! The word choice in the book is so entertaining. Your kids will love it!  This book is available on Storyline Online- read by Rita Moreno.  I love the voices that Rita Moreno uses when rea...

I love old(ish) picture books. I am a vintage girl at heart and when choosing read alouds I often find myself gravitating towards older books. Now, The Vanishing Pumpkin is not terribly old (published in 1983) but it reminds me of the Halloweens of my childhood with its illustrations and vocabulary. The Vanishing Pumpkin is written by Tony Johnston, but it is illustrated by Tomie dePaola who has a very distinct artistic style. If you have any Tomie dePaola books in your classroom library you might want to pull them out to compare the styles before or after your read aloud.  This book is chock full of rich vocabulary: snitched (stolen), perched, rapscallion, fresh (sassy), varmint, wickedly,    and some fun examples of alliteration:  "lucky lizards", "in fact, they fairly flew", "great grizzlies",  I have created a FREE, quick, cute jack-o-lantern craft and quick writing activity that you could use with this book if you would like. J...

Fall is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year (well maybe it is tied with winter) but anyway... today I want to share a great fall/Halloween book with you!  Have you read Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell? This book was published in 2000- but is new to me. There are so many things I love about this book- the illustrations, the descriptive language, the science included in the book, but best of all is the sweet story. The main character in this story is Tim, a little boy who has carved a jack-o-lantern and named him Jack. The story follows Jack throughout the next year.  This book would work well during a life cycles study, but also during the fall season. I have created a FREE book companion for you to use with this story if you would like! You can grab the freebie here: Pumpkin Jack Book Companion I hope this is something you will find valuable and can use with your class!  If you are looking for any additional fall/Halloween resources you might want to check these eas...