Joy Cowley contest: Barbie the Lamb

I have had the privilege of reading some new books by Joy Cowley, featuring the characters Mr. Whisper and Barbie.

I featured Mr. Whisper in a post last week. If you didn't see the post, click here.

Joy Cowley contest: Mr. Whisper

I have had the privilege of reading some new books by Joy Cowley, featuring the character, Mr. Whisper. Hameray Publishing is having a giveaway!

Mr. Whisper, well, whispers! He is a lovable character!

Christmas Book Recommendations

I LoVe kids books! What elementary teacher doesn't?! I have bins of books and bins of bins of books! Books on every bookcase and stacked everywhere! My bookcases at home are ridiculous. The books are spilling out of the shelves and onto the floor! Maybe I should have asked for another bookcase for Christmas!

Here's some of my favorite collections of books from posts in the past.

And now ... some of my favorite Christmas books!

Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation

What happens when Mrs. Claus needs to be recharged? She takes a vacation, of course! But what happens to the North Pole and Santa when she's away?

Franklin's Christmas Gift

Franklin learns first hand the importance of choosing the right gift to give away. And that it's more blessed to give than to receive.

Santa's Stuck

Check out this book to find out what happens when Santa gets stuck!

I have used Nancy's "Oh No! Santa's Stuck" unit for several years to accompany this book. Check out the link to see her wonderful activities!

How Santa Got His Job

Did you know Santa had other jobs before he became ... well ... Santa? This story tells about his other jobs and why he wasn't any good at them!

Jerry Pallotta is one of my favorite authors! 

Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight?

Santa thinks maybe he should have some different animals guide his sleigh on Christmas Eve night. 

Who Will Help Santa This Year?

Santa needs some help in the workshop this year. Who will he get?

And Rob Scotton's famous Splat books!

Merry Christmas, Splat!

Splat wonders if he's been good enough for a really big present this year. Will he get it??

Splat the Cat: Christmas Countdown

This touch and feel book is a fun one as you read through how Splat's family gets ready for Christmas!

Happy Christmas book reading!

summer school update, Pinterest party, & Book Talk Thursday

Yesterday was the last day of our summer school program.  Did you hear me sing for joy?!  I wanted something special for our math session, so we played "I Spy" using addition sentences.

 

Yesterday was also our pinterest party day!  My friend Brittany makes bows and she taught us several kinds.  Here's a picture of one of my bows.

 

Today I am linking up with my friend Andrea, at Reading Toward the Stars! for Book Talk Thursday.

 

My book for this week is called I Need My Monster, by Amanda Noll.

 

One of my sweet firsties purchased this book for me last year during one of our Book Fairs.  Our primary children read this book in library classes because it was a Virginia's Reader Choice book.

 

The story is about a little boy who, when heading to bed one night, finds a note from the monster who lives there, that he is on vacation to go fishing.  The boy doesn't know how he will get to sleep without Gabe being there.  Other monsters show up to try to scare the boy, but none of them are able to accomplish the task.  It's a cute story, especially if you love monsters! 

 

Happy reading!

 

Day 2 is in the books!

After a rough first day, the second day was much better!  My firsties have been busy ...

Our fish glyphs - we created by boy (blue) and girl (pink); car riders had colored pom pom balls and bus riders had cotton balls; and the number of stickers shows how old he/she is!

 

After reading There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books, we created the old lady and finished the sentence to tell me what is in his/her book bag.  The old lady pattern came from First Grade Wow.

Have a great Tuesday!

Overwhelmed already??

Anybody else overwhelmed?  I have had a difficult week going back, mainly because of the few hours that I have had to work in my classroom and the many hours that I have had in various trainings.

However, Monday is coming quickly, but Thursday is coming even faster - when my new kiddos and their parents come!  Lesson plans for the beginning of the year are always difficult, but due to Pinterest and various blogs, I have so many ideas running around my head!  The only area I haven't had ideas for is some creative writing responses.  Like most primary grade teachers, I have a lot of back-to-school themed books, so this idea came about.  Click {here} to get the packet.  I have also included a title page in case you would like to put all of writing pages together into a book.  {This might be a great writing activity to save for evidence of progress throughout the school year!}

My husband and I got back from visiting family and my sister-in-law took some great pictures of us; I had to share one!  Have a great rest of the week!

My Must Have Picture Books

Who could resist a linky party with favorite picture books??  Not me!  But how can I choose just 5??  It took a while, but I finally narrowed it down.

Zoomer is a very creative dog, and much to his dad's dismay, does not want to get ready for school.   I purchased this through Scholastic and it came with a CD recording - my children love this story and requested it over and over again!  Click {here} to get your own copy!

Roar!, by Robert Munsch, is a story about a brother and sister who want to roar like lions (from a book they read!), but encounter trouble when they go on a nature walk at school.  This is another favorite in my classroom!  Click {here} to get your own copy!

Stuck in the Mud takes place on a farm; Hen tries to get help for Chick - who is, well ... stuck in the mud.  Various barnyard animals try to come to Chick's rescue. This book has great ideas for rhyming lessons!  Click {here} to get your own copy!

Who doesn't love the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some ... books?  These are great for concept of word with the repeating phrases, as well as how silly they are!  I try to find these in big books - check Scholastic for those, but click {here} to get a "regular-size" copy for your classroom!

Thunder Cake, by Patricia Polacco, is a story about a girl who is so scared of the coming thunderstorm that she is hiding under her bed.  Grandma finds her and together they make thunder cake.  This is a great story to read during a thunderstorm!  Click {here} to get your own copy.


Be sure to join Lindsey's linky party at the teacher wife to find more great books!

Blessings,