Library Lessons

Last week a read Dog Days of School by Kelly DiPucchio to Pre-k through 2nd.  It's on our Texas 2x2 list. Every single class clapped after this book except one Pre-k biligual class (I think that was just because of the language barrier).  They clapped... for a book!  My students almost always like the books I read but I rarely get clapping.  This book is clappable (I totally made up that word!) good!

Charlie is a young boy who is tired of school and wishes he was his dog, Norman.  To his surprise he wakes up Monday a dog!  Charlie is thrilled as he rolls over and goes back to sleep while Norman heads to school.  Charlie quickly learns that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and by the end of the week wishes he was a boy again.

The first question I ask the students was "Is the grass always greener on the other side?"  Then I asked "What did Charlie do as a dog that wasn't really fun?"  Then we discussed all the things Charlie had to do as a dog that weren't as fun as being a boy and weren't even as fun as going to school.

The students and I both had fun reading and discussing this book!

I read The Scraps Book by Lois Elhert to 3rd-5th grade.  It's a Bluebonnet Book and part of a reading incentive I do. I googled images of all of Elherts books and showed to students before we read The Scraps Book.  I wanted students to see how many of her other books they had read.  Some of her other books are included on the pages of this book.  As we read The Scraps Book students would raise their hands (and of course just yell out) when they saw a page from one of Elhert's other books that they've read.  Students had fun looking for her other books on the pages of this book.

This week I'm reading The Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat to Pre-k through 2nd and The Right Word Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant to 3rd-5th.