EEK! Bugs everywhere!

    But you won't mind these bugs!  They don't bite or sting or buzz in your ear! In fact, they are just plain cute! So cute, in fact, that they are in The Best Bug Parade!

       The Best Bug Parade, by Stuart Murphy, is a favorite among kindergarten teachers and students!  Students love the vibrant, colorful bugs, and teachers love that it introduces measurement as a math concept!  In the story, different types of bugs go marching by on "parade".  The captions compare the bugs as they stroll by, using terms like big, bigger, biggest, and long, longer, longest.

     Summarizing is a good reading comprehension strategy for students that involves more than simply retelling what they heard or read in a book.  In summarizing, students point out the main points of a book. It can be used for fiction or nonfiction books.  In fiction, students point out the main characters, the setting, the events, etc.  In nonfiction, students point out the main ideas or key points.  Teachers can offer sentence prompts like first, next, finally, etc.


      One strategy that is good for summarizing The Best Bug Parade is called exit strategy.  In this one, the teacher writes an answer on a note card and students must answer it correctly before they can leave the room  (for block, lunch, etc.) or the table (if it is group time).  For example, the teacher writes shorter on one side of the note card and longer on the other.  Then the teacher holds up or points to two items.  She asks the students "Is the pointer shorter or longer than the flagpole?", and students who hold up the right answer get to line up or leave the table to go back to their seat.
  

     Synthesizing is a reading comprehension strategy that takes summarizing a book one step further. Instead of just repeating what is heard in the book, students relate what they already know about the subject to the book.  Then they take the new things they learned from the book and add it to their existing knowledge.

     There are several  strategies that work well for synthesizing this book.  One is called "say something".  In this activity, students pair up and take turns reading the text.  After reading a page or two, students each take a turn making a significant comment about what they read; it might be something that the book reminded them about or what the readers thinks is important; it might even be a request for clarity on the matter.  The teacher might suggest statements like:

• This reminds me of...
• I did not understand when....
• I know something that is ...(longer, shorter, taller,etc.)

So if you are looking for a good book to introduce students to measurement concepts and comparisons, check out The Best Bug Parade", and see if these aren't just the cutest little bugs you've ever seen!

Can I Have?......

Today is my FAVORITE day of the year! Just watch you'll see what I mean....

Have you ever asked a question and the answer you got in return was always Yes!? Well, if so then you sure are lucky.  In our book Yes Day!, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, the main character tries his luck at getting everything he wants throughout the day. 

"Can I please have pizza for breakfast?" Yes!

"Can I clean my room tomorrow? Yes!

"Can we have a food fight?" Yes!

For all of those out there that have little children, this book will surely get them excited and send them on a journey of their wildest dreams.  After reading this book we have developed an appreciation for the little things in life.  For children, life is all about having fun and Yes Day! truly shows life's little pleasure from the perspective of a child.

"Can we stay up really late?" Yes!

"Does this day have to end?" Yes

Visualizing allows readers to create pictures in their heads based on their understanding from a particular story.  We feel as though a visualizing activity is a great way to get students engaged with reading because there is no wrong or right answer and it allows students to be free with the their thoughts.  In our activity we would first read the book to students without showing them any pictures.  Reading the book to students without showing pictures allows students to create their own images in their head without relying on the images that are in the book.  As we read the book we will tell the students to create their own pictures in their head of things that they would love to have or do for an entire day.  Once we finish reading the book, children will create their own Yes Day book that will be inspired by their own thoughts, and they can later go back and retell the story in their own words as much as they like.   

But I'm not sleepy!

     If I had a dime for every time I have heard that from a child who could barely hold their eyes open, I'd be a rich woman!  This is the plot of Jake Stays Awake, where the little  boy Jake refuses to go to sleep unless he can sleep in the bed with his parents.  Of course his parents are less than thrilled with this sleeping arrangement, but in order to get Jake to close his eyes and go to sleep, they allow him to come get in the bed with them night after night.

This drove his poor parents
Straight up a tree-
they had a bed made for two, Not a bed made for three.

"We love you, dear Jake,
but we can't even doze.
How can we sleep
with your toes up our nose?"

      The book continues along this pattern with the family trying several different sleeping spaces; they tried the bathtub, where the family got stuck.  Then they tried the kitchen, but Jake couldn't sleep because he was too busy stuffing his face.  They even tried the trash cans but couldn't get the smell of liverwurst out of their clothes.  When the car was too boring, and his dad's snores were too loud, he had an idea that had never occurred to him before.... his bed!!!


      I think many parents and children will be able to relate to this story.  It talks about many issues that children face daily.  Teachers could start the book by asking if students have ever been afraid of the dark.  Students could share why they are afraid of the dark or any bad dreams they might have had that kept them awake. Or the teacher could ask the students if they have ever been scared to be separated from their parents. This is a very common occurrence that children face, especially when they start school for the first time. They could share with other students things that make them feel better at night or when they're away from their parents. For an activity, students could draw in their journal a picture of their bedroom at night and draw ways that might make someone feel better about being alone in the dark.  They could offer suggestions like a night light, a favorite stuffed animal to cuddle with, or having their parents read to them until they fall asleep.


    I would also tell my students how my son and I handled his fear of the dark. I would them that my son was scared to sleep in his own bed until we put a night light and a music player in his room.  Now he sleeps in his own bed  (almost) every night.  I would also share with my students that my son cried every morning his first week of preschool because he didn't want to leave me.  He looked at me and said "my whole little life in this world is ruined!!  But after the first week, he loved school so much that he didn't want to leave at the end of the day! 

      Another very similar book is Little Bunny’s Sleepless Night by Carol Roth.  It is about a rabbit  that does not want to sleep in his room alone until he realizes that his own bed is the warmest, safest one ever!

My favorite part of this story is the ending:

His parents are happy again
with their son,
and everyone's realized
it's not always fun
to have kids sleep with parents night after night.

But every once in a while?
Well, that's quite alright!!


After all, we all need a little comforting every once in a while, don't we?

I WaNt To VoTe

Can you remember the first time you voted? How did it feel?  Did you feel like your vote could change the world?  Well, if you can answer yes to any of the questions above then come journey with us through our book America Votes, How our President is Elected and take a closer look at some of the important figures in history that helped make voting a vital role in the lives of many Americans.  Before the Civil War, some northern states allowed some free African American men to vote, but the vast majority of voters were white men.  After the war ended the states passed the Fifteenth Amendment which grants rights to all men regardless of race, color and previous condition of servitude.  

 It’s important for children to understand that they have to wait until they are eighteen to vote, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have fun and experience voting within their classrooms and homes.  Did you know that many states give students under the age of eighteen the chance to cast a ballot, similar to the official one, through the nonpartisan organization Kids Voting USA?  Don’t worry we didn’t know either, but now we do.  Elections aren’t boring and neither is voting.  Voting should be an enjoyable experience for all.  Voicing your opinion for something you believe in should make you feel great.  This book is a good book to introduce to students in Fourth grade using standard SS4G4.b. The student will explain the importance of Americans sharing certain central democratic benefits and principles, both personal and civic.  Explain the necessity obeying reasonable laws/rules voluntarily, and explain why it is important for citizens in a democratic society to participate in public, (civic) life (staying informed, voting, volunteering, and communicating with public officials).   

Your right to vote is protected by the Constitution of the United States – no one can deny you the right to vote because of your race, religious beliefs, or sex.

Welcome to the Jungle!

There's a rumble in the jungle,
There's a whisper in the trees,
The animals are waking up
And rustling the leaves.

It's a jungle in here!


     Come along with our kindergarteners while we take a walk on the wild side and explore the animals of the jungle! But make sure you hold on tight because you never know who you might come face to face with!

      This rhyming book, Rumble in the Jungle, is all about animals that live in the jungle.  It starts out by telling you where to look for the animals....the hippo's at the water hole, the leopard's in his lair, the chimpanzees are chattering and swinging everywhere! However, on the first page we are given a glimpse of some of the animals as they are hiding.  For instance, there's a spotted tail hanging from a tree and a huge horn sticking out from behind a bush. One fun thing to do with this is to stop and let the students "find" the animals and try to guess what they are! Then after you meet the animals, you can go back and see if they were right!

     On the first few pages we meet chimpanzees, lions, zebras, snakes, and giraffes.  The pictures are very bright and colorful.  The stanzas are filled with onomatopoeia like when the lion roars or the gorilla thuds on his chest.   There is plenty of alliteration like the galloping, gorgeous gazelle, or the slippery snake who squashes and swallows his prey.  There are facts about each animal included in the rhymes, and students will love verses like

       It's great to be a chimpanzee

     swinging through the trees,

          and if we can't find nuts to eat

        we munch each other's fleas!

     This book is good to introduce kindergartners to standard SKL1.b.Students will sort living organisms and non-living materials into groups by observable physical attributes. Group animals according to their observable features such as appearance, size, motion, where it lives, etc. It can also be used for standard SKL2.a.Students will compare the similarities and differences in groups of organisms. Explain the similarities and differences in animals ( color, size, appearance).

 So wouldn't you like to take a walk on the wild side with us?!  We won't let anybody eat you, we promise!

Circus Shapes

The book that we have chosen to share with everyone this week is called Circus Shapes.  The circus is in town and all of the children are excited to go, and really can you blame them?  The chance to see elephants, tigers, lions and bears, oh my!  Have you ever taken time out of your busy day to look at the world around you?  Have you ever noticed the different shapes that make up our homes, schools, or places of business?  Well, Circus Shapes is a great book that not only tells a story, but also teaches students the basic two dimensional shapes such as triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles.  This book not only teaches students about shapes, but it also allows them to see that shapes are all around us. 

 

We decided that this book would be a great book to teach to a kindergarten class.  The standard that we thought tied in most accurately with this book is MCCK.G.3 Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, “flat”) or three-dimensional (“solid”).  Circus Shapes does everything that this standard talks about and more.  “Some monkeys make a square.  The four sides are all the same.”  “White horses make a triangle, three corners and three sides.” While reading  this book to the class the teacher could ask the students to describe what is going on in each picture and ask direct questions such as “What shape are the horses making?”  During the closing of the lesson the teacher and students can together retell the story using the names of the shapes: “circle,” “triangle,” “square,” and “rectangle.” Reading this book to young students is a great way to get them engaged and excited when learning about shapes. 

Love at First Bite

It's Valentine's Day, and many people are still searching for their SOULmate.  There are many different ways people try to find love: some will meet at church, some will look online, and some will put ads in the newspaper.  Would you respond to this ad?

TALL, DEAD, & HANDSOME

If you like taking walks in the graveyard

And falling down in the rain.

If you're not into cooking,

If you have half a brain.

If you like waking up at midnight,

horror films, and voodoo,

Then I'm the guy who you've looked for

And I'm dying to meet you!

Saturday, Cupid's Ball

Punch Bowl

I guess you figured out by now that whoever wrote this ad is not your average guy. And you've probably guessed that no one answered his ad.  That's sad because he is lonely, and he cannot help the fact that he wants to be a.......

   ZOMBIE IN LOVE!!!!

     This fictional book, by Kelly DiPucchio, tells the story of Mortimer.  Mortimer is a zombie.  He has very few teeth, tattered clothes, removable limbs, and eats brains for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, this zombie is not scary at all.  In fact, he is a very likable zombie.  He gives the mail carrier a shiny red heart (real and beating, of course) and the lady at the diner gets a stunning diamond ring (complete with finger still attached), but the girls are still not interested. The setting of most of the book takes place in the graveyard where Mortimer lives. His house is very much what you would expect from a zombie's house; it has a casket for a bed, the computer monitor is a tombstone, the keyboard has bones as keys, and a real mouse serves as the computer mouse!

      The plot of the book is very relevant to today's love affair with zombies.  It is recommended for ages four and up, and it is very age-appropriate. This book allows young kids to get in on the zombie craze without getting scared.  In fact, my five-year old loves this book, and I must admit that I do, too.  The story unfolds naturally, with Mortimer trying several different ways to meet girls until he finally finds his true love. He walks his dog in the park, he reads self-help books for advice on finding love, he takes ballroom dancing lessons, but he still cannot seem to meet girls! The ending is predictable, but done in a way that keeps readers interested. In fact, the happy couple rides away in a hearse marked, of course, His and Hearse, with cans of dead bull,  baked brains, and cranbrainy juice strung to the bumper.

     It is written in limited third-person with the narrator telling the reader only what Mortimer is thinking or doing.  We do not know what other characters say or feel.  The style of the book is simple with words that many young readers will know.  Lines are filled with humor and sarcasm; for example, "Suddenly it was clear that nobody was dying to meet him". There are only one or two sentences per page and vivid illustrations accompany the sentences that will give young readers visual clues if needed. The pictures are also hilarious! There are pictures of Mortimer and his girlfriend holding hands (not their own) and Mortimer going to the funeral home (to shop for a new suit)!   

 

     The conflict in this story revolves around person versus society.  Mortimer is having to battle the typical stereotypes of zombies. The theme of the book is about getting along with others: friendships and accepting differences.  You see, even though Mortimer is a zombie, he just wants to be loved for the wonderful person, er zombie, that he is!   After all, isn't love and acceptance what we are all looking for?

      Macy introduced me to this book, and I must say that I am glad she did.  This book is cute, sad, funny, and mind boggling all in one.  Not only are the pictures in the book remarkable but the story within itself, made me fall in love all over again.  Zombie in Love is a fantasy book that is filled with elements that are not considered possible in our world.  A man that is dead looking for love, a woman with half a brain, and a dog that walks around with one eye hanging out  is not something that I expect to see anytime soon in this lifetime.  The main character Mortimer is looking for love, but it seems as though all of the ladies he meets are mortified of him.  Maybe it’s because he’s tall, dead, and handsome.  I just don’t see why any ghoul wouldn’t want a guy who likes taking long walks in the graveyard.  Me personally I’m not up to taking long or short walk’s in the graveyard, but if I was then Mortimer might just be my guy.  If any ladies out heir are interested in meeting Mortimer just go to stalemate.com and he’ll be waiting that is if he hasn’t found his true love. 

   

Finding True Love

      When you think of the ocean, do you think about talking flounder and singing crabs?  What about a seagull that is a self-proclaimed expert on humans? Or a mermaid that lives in a giant oyster shell and sings with the prettiest voice ever heard? If you have read Disney's version of The Little Mermaid, then you have seen all these things!  Even though the setting is vague, "fathoms below the ocean's surface", and it never mentions what ocean they are talking about, most people know that this is not your average sea life! 
       The Little Mermaid is an all American classic traditional book that is filled with color, excitement, and curiosity all in one. As I read this story to my children, I explained to them that this book is called traditional literature. "Mommy what does that mean," and I simply explained to them that traditional literature is a book that usually starts off with "Once upon a time" or "Long ago and far, far away," such as their favorite movie Shrek. Although these are just a few of the elements that make a book traditional literature, there are a host of others that I will share with you as well. The Little Mermaid is full of magic, transformations, journeys and quests, as well as trickery. Now, who would have ever thought that a little harmless shell could possess an overwhelming amount of magic? Well, it's true; one little shell can as seen in this fairytale. The mean old sea witch Ursula, who disguised herself as a lady by the name of Vanessa, wore this magical shell around her neck in order to use Ariel's voice to capture the heart of Prince Eric. "The magic shell that contained Ariel's voice went flying through the air and landed on the deck just as Ariel reached the ship. It shattered and Ariel spoke alas as her voice returned to her." While reading this book one can't help but to fall in love with the young and beautiful Ariel who wants more out of life than just being a mermaid. On a quest to learn about humans, Ariel and her best friend Flounder collect human artifacts and travel to the surface of the ocean often to visit her friend Scuttle the seagull with whom always seems to give misleading information about the humans. Although Ariel's father disapproves and warns Ariel to stay away from the humans, Ariel ignores her father’s wishes and continues on with her constant journey to reach above the sea and join the humans. Ursula agreed to transform Ariel into a human for a period of three days, but not without stipulations. In order for Ursula to transform Ariel into a human, Ariel had to give up her voice. Ariel agreed and Ursula placed her voice in the nautilus shell agreeing to give it back if Ariel received a kiss from her true love. As the story continues on it becomes evident that Ursula's promise to turn Ariel into a human is a trick and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Reaching a happy ending, King Triton, who is Ariel's father, comes to the rescue and realizes that his little girl does truly love Prince Eric. Wanting his daughter to be happy and experience true love, King Triton changes his daughter from a mermaid to a human. In the end Ariel and Eric marry, living happily ever after. 
           Like many traditional stories, the Disney version is a retelling of an earlier edition of The Little Mermaid which was written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1836.  Of course, Andersen's version did not have all the talking fish and dancing sharks that the Disney version contains. This is a common theme in traditional literature where the story is passed from generation to generation many times, usually changing along the way.  There were many other differences also. For example, in Andersen's version, none of the characters have names; they are known simply as the Sea King, the prince, the little mermaid, and the Sea Witch. The Disney version gives the characters names like Ariel (the mermaid) and Eric (the prince). This creates a more personal  relationship between the characters in the book and the readers. Also, in Disney's version, the little mermaid  becomes a part of the human world she loved and "would live there with her beloved prince happily ever after".  However, in Andersen's version, the prince marries another woman and the little mermaid is supposed to kill him or she will die. Instead, she opts to save him and throws the knife into the ocean.  Doing this selfless act makes her a heroine and gives her immortal life with the daughters of the air.
      Disney's version of The Little Mermaid is an example of a Fairy/Wonder Tale.  It contains witches, heroes, magic and, of course, being a Disney story means it has a "happily ever after" ending.

Wherever You Are, my love will find you.

This is a beautiful poem written by Nancy Tillman. It also has beautiful pictures to go along with it.

I wanted you more
than you will ever know,
so I sent love to follow
wherever you go.

It's high as you wish it. It's quick as an elf.
You'll never outgrow it...it stretches itself!

So climb any mountain...
climb up to the sky!
My love will find you.
My love can fly!

Make a big splash! Go out on a limb!
My love willl find you. My love can swim!

It never gets lost, never fades, never ends...
if you're working...
or playing...
or sitting with friends.

You can dance 'til you're dizzy...
paint 'til you're blue ...
There's no place, not one,
that my love can't find you.

And if someday you're lonely,
or someday you're sad,
or you strike out at baseball,
or think you've been bad...

just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair.
That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.

In the green of the grass...in the smell of
the sea...in the clouds floating by...
at the top of a tree... in the sound
crickets make at the end of the day...

"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved,"
they all say.

My love is so high, and so wide and
so deep, it's always right there, even
when you're asleep.

So hold your head high
and don't be afraid
to march to the front
of your own parade.

If you're still my small babe
or you're all the way grown,
my promise to you
is you're never alone.

You are my angel, my darling,
my star...and my love will find you,
wherever you are.

You are loved.



Antoinette's Thoughts:
Having children of my own has allowed me to develop a deep appreciation for this poem.  For many of us, we think about a time in life when we will have our first child, and when that day finally comes our lives are forever changed.  Our children become our everything, they become our heart and our love follows them like a never ending shadow.  Love is a word that even when it is unspoken, can be felt in the green of the grass ... in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of the tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day... it is this type of descriptive language that allows our love to live even when we ourselves can no longer continue on.  Within this poem there are several ingredients that come together in order to make this poem a beautiful piece of poetry.  It's as high as you wish it.  It's as quick as an elf  (simile) or, you can dance til you're dizzy...paint til you're blue...(metaphor)

I wanted you more
than you will ever know,
so I sent love to follow
wherever you go.

As seen in the stanza above, alliteration is used through the words wanted, will, and wherever in order to explain a love that begins for our children even before the first time we hold them in our arms. In closing, I will make a big splash! in order to show that onomatopoeia exist in this poem as well.



Macy's Thoughts:

I love this poem!  This poem captures the love that a parent feels for a child. The poem basically tells the child that no matter where they are, their parents' love will always find them.  I read this poem to my son regularly, and not once have I made it through the whole poem without crying.  My five-year-old always asks why I get so sad when I read it, but I tell him it that I am not crying because I’m sad, I am crying happy tears because I know that I am so lucky.  So this poem definitely has an emotional impact on readers. 

             Another element found throughout the poem is personification, and that is basically where you give a non-human object the characteristics of a human.  The most common instance here is where the author gives human qualities to the feeling of love.  For example, she says that love can swim and that love can fly. She also says that love never gets lost, never fades, nor ends.  She also says that the real sound that crickets make at the end of the day is not chirping, but them repeating “you are loved”.

            Although each of the stanzas rhymes, the poem does not have a set rhyme scheme. The most common seen pattern is ABCB.  It definitely follows a nice flowing rhythm. Part of this is due to another common poetry element, which is repetition. It repeats several times, “You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.”  In fact, the word love is repeated thirteen times.

             I hope everyone enjoys this poem as much as I do.  I talked about the emotional effect it has on me.  But even though I really like the poem, if I did not have a child, the poem would probably not have such a profound effect on me.  Are there any other poems that you have read that make you feel the same way?           

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