Visualizing!

Can you imagine if one of your students walked in with ANTLERS?! This book is about a girl who woke up one day and she had sprouted huge antlers. Nobody knew how it happened or what to do about it. Her mother was distressed and her principal had no advice. When she woke up the next day the antlers were gone, but she had a tail like a peacock.

Why do you think this book would be appropriate for students?

Billie: It is written in an language that is easy to understand. But it would also produce lots of laughs from the children. I think that kids will think this book is hilarious.

Cami:  This book is very fun, kids will love learning about what happens to Imogene. It’ s also a fairly simple book to read, so for children that read at a lower level want have a hard time reading this book with their peers.

What was your favorite part of the book?

Cami: I love the picture in this book! They are so vibrant and fun! My favorite picture is when Imogene got hung up on the chandelier, and her mom is passed out in the chair.

Billie: I loved the whole story but my favorite part of the book was definitely the illustrations. Each picture has something different and funny on the antlers. The family’s expressions also give a lot of insight into the story.

How would you use this book in a visualizing activity?

Cami: Because the pictures are so descriptive, I think the best way to help kids visualize this book would be just to read it aloud without showing the pictures. Then, the teacher could demonstrate this strategy for the children. The teacher should use chart paper and draw a quick sketch of what the teacher got from the story. After that, the children will give their interpretations of the picture.

Billie: Once the kids have an idea of what it means to visualize, you will read the book to them again (still not showing the pictures). They will then draw their own interpretation of the book. Now, they can hear the book again and see the pictures! Be sure to emphasize that students should not be concerned with their artwork. Sketches should be done quickly. The point of the strategy is to get their interpretations down on paper without using words.

We think this book would be an awesome book to help kids learn the visualizing strategy. The story is very descriptive and would give kids great mental images to go off of.

Curiousity doesnt have to always kill the cat

We cannot stress enough how important reading comprehension skills are for kids. Today's blog is going to explore making inferences, as well as the book, Curious George Goes to the Movie. This book is relatable to the children, so it will be easier for them to activate their background knowledge and make inferences.

What did you think about the book?
Billie: I thought the book was absolutely adorable! I can remember the very first time I went to the movies. I was little and my attention span was short. So half way through The Hunchback of Notre Dame, when my mom got up to get snacks I started dancing in front of the screen. Thankfully, the theater wasn't full. In the book, the man in the yellow suit leaves George to go get popcorn. George gets distracted and starts to wander around.
Cami: George starts to wander because he is curious about what is going on in the back of the theater. He ends up in the room where the film is being run through the machine and displayed on to the screen. Of course, the machine operator gets scared because there is a MONKEY in the theater. After he panicked, he knocked the film all out of whack. So George steps in and saves the day by making hand puppets for the people while the boy who was working sorted out the film. And that is why I love the book. It doesn't send a discouraging message for curious children. Yes, George didn't make the wise choice but he wasn't punished for being curious.

Do you think this would be a good story to use in your classroom?
Cami: Yes, I think this would be a great addition to any (younger) class library. Kids can relate to the main character but they are also learning about how movie theaters work at the same time.
Billie: I think this would make a perfect read aloud. It had just enough action to keep the kids interested. It also allowed for a lot of predictions for what came next.

Why do you think this book would work well in a "making inferences" lesson?
Cami: Like we have said before, most kids will have a somewhat extensive schema on what goes on in a movie theater. They will be able to use their back ground knowledge on movie theaters to make help inferences.
Billie: I also think that they will be able to relate well to how Curious George is feeling through out the book. They know what it is like to get antsy and distracted. They also know how it feels to be curious about their surroundings. There is also a point in the book where George is so hungry and he passes by the concession stand but he cant stop. Any one can relate to that!


We found a really awesome activity that talks about the differences between making inferences and predictions. (We think this book would be an awesome resource for both though!) It also gives students a place to start when making inferences. So you could read this story to the class or have them read it alone and use this chart to start a writing activity. It has sentence starters like, "The story said _____ which made me think...." and "How the character feels tells me....".
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/3e/f6/16/3ef616db9c1d26d0ababceece8fdd0ef.jpg

What's in YOUR diary?

One of the most important things for students to grasp is reading comprehension. One of the main reading strategies for children to learn how to make connections in text they are reading. This helps them internalize what they are reading. There are three types of connections students can make: text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self. Today on the blog, we are going to show a resource of making connections to self. To do this we will use the book Diary of A Fly.

Why is Diary of A Fly, by Doreen Cronin, a good book for helping the students make connections to their lives?

Billie: I think that this book would be perfect to help kids connect the text to their lives because it probably mirrors a lot of things they go through. First, the fly is nervous about the first day of school. Then she has trouble with her babysitter, hates her school picture, and has to go into time out because she is mean to her brother and sister (all 327 of them!). Fly then wants to become a superhero but is afraid she isn’t special enough. Her friends, Worm and Spider, help her learn that “the world needs all kinds of heroes”. The kids will be able to relate to all of those situations and hopefully more contained in the book!

Cami: This book would be great to use for a writing lesson. After reading the book a great activity would be to have the students write journal entries in order to make a connection to the fly in the story.


Do you think that this book will keep your children’s attention? What age do you think will be the most engaged with this book?
Cami: This book is so much fun! I think that most kids would be engaged but I think this book would be great specifically at a 2nd grade level.  It’s a really fun book, and I think kids would love it. I liked it and I’m 22. So I’m sure that a 2nd grader would love it as well.

Billie: I definitely agree with Cami, I think that this book is so entertaining and fun! The story is in an interesting format, diary form, the pictures are fun and fly is totally relatable! I think that this book would be best used in most classrooms up to about 3^rd grade.

Do you think that the kids could also use this book to make connections to another text or to the world?
Cami: I think that because the book goes through so many different scenarios that it would be relatable to other books they’ve read but more importantly relatable to the real world. Fly talks about “learning to fly” which could be related to pilots training. It also talks about superheroes, which they could easily relate to any other story about superheroes.

Billie: When I picked up this book, my first thought was about Diary of A Wimpy Kid. I think that the children would be able to make a very easy connection between the two texts. They are written in a similar format and have some of the same story line factors.

We found a really great activity that you could use along with this book to help the kids make connections to their own lives with this story. A lot of children are very visual so, if you give them this worksheet they can write down what they are hearing/reading in the story and directly relate it to something in their lives. The worksheet link included below would probably be best for older kids. Younger kids might need to journal about it (in a similar format) but with more prompting from the teacher. One column contains “Words From The Text” and the other column contains “My Personal Connection”. This book would be a perfect start on their way to making personal connections to a story!

Making Connections Worksheet

You can totally judge this book by the cover!

World War I: Putting Up a Front is the perfect book to help teach a social studies lesson on World War I. If you read on into the blog, Billie and Cami talk about how engaging this book is and why kids would want to pick it up and read it. It is not written in “typical” nonfiction fashion. And the end of the book has some awesome resources for teachers!

How can World War I: Putting Up a Front be used to teach a social studies lesson?

Cami: It would help address the standard SS5H4 the student will describe U.S. involvement in World War I and post-World War I America. This book is set up in a magazine form and goes through all the aspects of World War I, including what was going on at home.

Billie: This book would make a great supplement to a social studies lesson on World War I. It also has some awesome activities at the end of the book that would be great classroom wide games, or even individual worksheets.

Do you think that 5^th graders will be interested in reading this book?

Cami: Yes I do, it is a great alternative to reading a text book. It has all the information the students need but it has wonderful pictures and is formatted in a way to keep their interest. The pictures alone would have been enough to make me interested in reading it.

Billie: At first glance, this book looks like a magazine. I think that it would catch their eye just from the cover. It also reads very similar to a magazine. Most nonfiction books are very boring and unappealing. The content is presented in such a way, kids will not want to put this book down!

Do you think this book will be more beneficial in a read aloud setting or a small group setting?

Cami: I think this book would be better in a small group or individual setting. The way I would do it is in small groups I would have them read the paragraphs on each page, then go through each of the points by the pictures, explaining each one.

Billie: I think this book would be very difficult to present in a read aloud setting. It should definitely be tailored to small groups. I also think that the book would have to be broken up into sections. There is so much information provided that if the kids are reading it all at once, they will not absorb the majority of it.

What kind of activities would you do with this book?

Cami: Conveniently enough the back of this book has three activity pages, so one thing I would do is I would make copies and use those because the questions come directly from the book and they are pretty engaging activities. Something else you could do is break the students in the groups and assign them a category and have them use the book to make a poster about their category.

Billie: As Cami and I mentioned before, the activities in the back of the book could definitely come in handy! But one thing I remember doing in elementary school was role playing. I did not enjoy social studies, but when we had to “become” what we were learning I was really interested. I got to put all of my dramatics to good use. I think that a lot of kids would love to do that as well. Now, I wouldn’t suggest acting out the war scene. Although they could definitely act out the other parts such as, what was happening on the home front.

If you are having trouble keeping all of your children engaged when it comes to World War I, this is the book for you! The pictures are awesome and almost all of the information included has a graphic to go with it. We believe this is especially beneficial for visual learners. They will be able to link the information they are learning with the pictures being presented.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

What kid doesn’t love chocolate cake, ice cream cones, cupcakes or cherry pie? The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle includes all of those things AND a great science lesson, too! This book is a fantastically colorful example of how to bring children’s literature into all subject areas.

How do you think that this book could fit into a science lesson?

Billie: The main way it could be used in science is by discussing the life cycle of a caterpillar to a butterfly. This whole book is about a little bity caterpillar eating his way to becoming a very big caterpillar. Then he goes into his cocoon and a couple weeks later emerges as a big, beautiful butterfly.

Cami: Yes. And it fits perfectly with the second grade standard: S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

Do you think that this book will be appropriate for second graders?

Cami: I think this book could be used in a second grade classroom, but some of the kids might think it’s a “baby book”. But even big bad 8 year olds can enjoy a book like this, because it’s still a fun story to read, and the illustrations are so good that they will help with keeping their attention.
Billie: That is the one draw back to using that particular standard with this book. This book was clearly written for a younger audience. I think that when used appropriately a classroom full of 2^nd graders could definitely enjoy it. It would be a great opening for a life cycle unit. But, I also don’t think it is ever too early to start exposing younger children to “older kid” standards. So I think that if you want your kids to be prepared for 2^nd grade, this book could also be used in kindergarten or 1^st grade!

What was the best part of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, in your opinion?

Billie: I feel like I always say this, but the pictures were so great! And my favorite part was when the caterpillar is eating all of his food, and each food picture has a hole in it, emulating that he took a bite out of all the food. Such a cute touch!
Cami: I agree with Billie! The illustrations in this story are just wonderful! The holes in the pictures to show what the caterpillar ate, and the vibrancy of the colors is just amazing!

How engaging was this book?
Billie: This book was short and sweet! I think it was full of great information and wonderful pictures. But it was also straight to the point. It doesn’t give kids any time to get bored or disengage at all.
Cami: I think it was very engaging, you want to keep reading to get to the end to find out what else the caterpillar will eat, or what will happen to him.   It also has a great educational component. I see this book as a win/win!

If you decide that you like how this book approaches the life cycle of a caterpillar or if you are like us and just love the book, you might be interested in checking out this pin from pinterest. A teacher decorated her door to look like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She used construction paper and balloons... It is adorable!!!
Hungry Caterpillar Door Decoration

How far is far enough?

It can be really hard to get a classroom full of first graders interested in math. That is why it is important for teachers to include literature to help supplement their lessons. Not only does it make math fun, but it shows kids that reading is something they will always use. Keep Your Distance! is a funny story about two sisters who are forced into rooming together because of their new baby sister. The oldest sister Jen decides she wants to get as far away from her middle sister as possible! This book includes tons of fun ways to provide visual examples of specific distances.

Gail Herman wrote the book Keep Your Distance! When could this book be used in the classroom?

Cami: It could help address two standards.  The first is MCC.1.MD.1 Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

And the second is MCC.1.MD.2 Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps. Limit to contexts where the object being measured is spanned by a whole number of length units with no gaps or overlaps.
Billie: As Cami said it addresses a couple math standards, both of which relate to measurement. For example when the older sister Jen talks about Lucy needing to stay one inch away from her, the book includes a picture that shows children how big one inch is. 

The book is good at helping children understand measurements, but is it also an engaging read outside of the mathematical aspect?

Cami: Oh yes! It’s such a fun story. I think the kids would be really engaged because the two sisters, Jen and Lucy are sharing a room. Jen is fed up with Lucy always being in her way so she decides that she will start measuring how far from Lucy she can get. She even decides to go to the moon in order to get away from her little sister! (And it includes how many miles away the moon is, 240000 miles.)

Billie: Definitely! It is completely relatable for the children (especially those that have siblings.)

Did you have a favorite part of the book?

Billie: I absolutely loved the illustrations. They were so detailed and fit the story perfectly! I also really liked how the book ended, Jen stuck by her sister because that is what family does. No matter how much your little sister is annoying you, you still can love her. I think that is a great message to send to children!

Cami: I loved the ending too! As badly as Jen wanted to get far away from her she decided in the end that she wanted to stay right by her side because she loves her sister.

Do you think this book would be more beneficial in a read aloud setting or a small group setting?

Cami: I think this story would be great in a read aloud setting. It would be a fun way to introduce a lesson on measurements! You could read the story then in a small group setting you could discuss the different forms of measurement.
Billie: Personally, I think that it be beneficial in both areas. I think that it would be a great lesson introduction to get the kids excited and interested. But, I think that you could also use it again in the small group setting. I think it would help the kids to have the book in front of them, because on the bottom of the pages where distance is discussed it includes a little example box. The examples are a great tool to help kids who are more visual.

Are you having a hard time getting your kids interested in measurements? This book is the perfect example of using children’s literature for engaging children in all subject areas, not just language arts. We hope that you will find this book beneficial in your classroom