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Alexander

7/24/2016

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I'm really glad that I've introduced Liliana to the world of Alexander.

The first time we read the book together, she kept repeating, "terrible, no good, very bad day." The reading teacher in me wanted to tell her that's not how it goes and that she forgot horrible, but the mom in me overrode that thought. Thank God. 

I'm thankful that I've introduced Liliana to Alexander because when I am the one having the terrible day, we can pull that book out and read it together. The same goes for her. Sometimes she will pick it off the shelf because she is having a bad day. And, sometimes, Liliana will even ask me if my day will get better. I'm glad she's so sweet and thoughtful.

And honestly, reading this book usually makes my day better. In my classroom, I used to leave the book on top of a pillow in the corner with a sign nearby labeled, "Australia." Any kid who needed to get away and go to Australia, could. It was a great self-managing behavior tool.

Today, our puppy has diarrhea and just farted something awful. Our cat is still jealous that we have a puppy. The cat is on happy pills because otherwise all of his days would be terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Everyone else is napping in the house, except me - I am on puppy diarrhea watch at the moment. I've even already gotten to do puppy poopy laundry today. I get to bring puppy poop to the vet tomorrow too. 

I know it's not really a terrible day and that actually I'm pretty lucky and that really the puppy is having a terrible day, but sometimes, I can relate to Alexander and his desire to go to Australia too.

I'm sure Liliana and I will read this book later and it will lead to reading the other book that she loves...
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​Which is, by the way, exactly how I will feel as I'm walking away from the vet's office tomorrow.
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When Speaking of Big Things, Use Small Words

7/20/2016

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Liliana taking a picture walk through Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold.

​I cannot take credit for the name of this tip. It comes compliments of William Pope.L, an artist. 

​Last week, I took a break from writing a quick literacy tip on purpose. There is a lot going on in real life that is tense and I wanted to give myself some time and space to be uncomfortable, engage with others, reflect on my own thoughts and actions and be ready to re-engage. I think it's important to do this in order to grow and learn as adults and be ready to teach our youngsters. 

In order to teach, I need to understand. I spent time listening and learning from others - hearing the fabric of our country speak. I am talking about the state of race relations and power structures in our country.
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And...Lily's Ideal Bookshelf

6/26/2016

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And, what would the Ideal bookshelf posts be without Liliana's ideal bookshelf list. Here is her list at the moment. Remember, she's three so she revisits this list often. Every few weeks we talk about this bookshelf and if anything needs to be added to it or removed from it.

Without further adieu...
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1. Puff, the Magic Dragon
Hands down her favorite. Liliana loves the song, she loves the pictures, she loves Peter Yarrow. 

She recognizes when it becomes the sad part of the book and then reminds herself that she's had friends move away and it all ends up okay. 

I think she personally identifies with Puff and uses the book as an emotional tool.

Books can do that for you - give you language and help you feel better about being lonesome sometimes.
2. Chester's Way
Let's be honest, Lily likes this book because there is a wackadoodle character named Lilly in the book.

She loves this book which makes my heart smile because I LOVE Kevin Henkes. 

This book is about a duo who does everything together and are not very nice to new girl, Lilly. But when Lilly saves the day, they all become fast friends.

Kevin Henkes does a great job showing how to positively change a situation and even has a bullying episode in the book without giving away language that the bully would use (we don't need to model that in our reading with kids). 
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3. The Kissing Hand
This is such a sweet tale and I have a hunch Liliana likes this book because it makes me melt.

Little Chester raccoon (no relationship to the above book) is going to school and is nervous. I used to read this book to little kids on the first day of school so they were reminded that their parents loved them, even though they were in class with me. 

Chester raccoon even has a sweet surprise for his mother.
4. Swatch
I've written about this book before. So what else is there to say?

Strong female character, beautiful use of color, great vocabulary in the book.

​Lily seems to know the book by heart. We read it every week consistently.
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5. Knuffle Bunny
Liliana likes this book because it's something she can relate to. We live in Brooklyn which is where this book is set. We do our laundry in a laundry room and she helps out. She's even had to wash her favorite stuffed animals before (although never lost them like Trixie does). 

I love the illustrations meshing with real life photography work and the story is sweet.
6. Corduroy
This one came out of left-field. I did not hype this book at all. But here it is (and for the record, I do like Don Freeman books, especially Dandelion).

Secretly, I think she wishes she could go to the store and buy her very own stuffed animal too!
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7. The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts
This book has it all - animals, peeing, pooping and real learning.

Liliana's favorite fact?

Flamingoes pee on themselves to cool themselves off. 

Who knew?!

Even better, the author is releasing a pack of postcards in the Fall. Goes great with the tip on writing postcards! 
Enjoy!
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Quick Literacy Tip: Give a Book an Award

5/11/2016

 
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As always, these quick literacy tips are for little kids all the way up to big kids. I have tips for all age groups, so keep reading! And, tips for teachers doing this in the classroom. 
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Not all books are created equally. Some books are fantastic at creating the story, immersing you in the story and just telling the story. And some books have great illustrations to help you enjoy the story more.

​These are the Caldecott Award winning books.

In the last few weeks, Liliana and I have been going through Caldecott Award winning books. Because, as she starts her reading journey, why not include some of the best?

Caldecott books range in reading levels, so we had to stick to the lower end of the reading level spectrum, so I wasn't completely over her head, but I did include some more complicated stories. And remember, books that are awarded the Caldecott Medal are geared toward children 14 and younger.
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Quick Literacy Tip: Sing Out Loud

4/13/2016

 
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Photo Credit: Lori Cannava
I was reminded of this tip tonight. After I our little girl climbed into bed and was situated with her millions of stuffed animals and tucked in just right, and I left her to slumber, I heard her over the monitor, "I need a lullaby."

So, I went back to her room and sang her a song.

Singing and reading are a lot alike. Even for big kids. 

It's calming. It's lyrical. It has cadence. It has meaning. It helps make meaning. It's expressive.

Singing is after all, is reading with a tune. 

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Complex Storybooks for Little Readers

3/28/2016

 
Winnie the Pooh
Once we get past the board-book and very simple storybook phase with kids, we really want to dig in with thoughtful stories. Trouble is, not all storybooks are useful for teaching critical thinking skills. Many of our old favorites like The Very Hungry Caterpillar are too simple to teach critical thinking. There isn't much of a plot, there isn't much to discuss and there aren't many characters.

As children get older and school-aged, we want to captivate their attention and dazzle them with what the world could be. Through books. We want reading to be magical.
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If we want our children to turn into imaginative, critical-thinking grown-ups, we must expose them to complex storybooks - books that require the reader to infer character thoughts and motivation. And then, the reader needs to connect those thoughts to why a character acts.

The books listed below are some of the best complex storybooks for little readers. The reading levels exceed our youngest readers, but when read aloud or read together, these books are appropriate for young children. In no small part, because the illustrations in all of these books are compelling and aid in comprehension. They are all Caldecott Award winning books.
Without further ado, here are some of the best complex storybooks for little readers:
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
1. Owl Moon
This is a perennial favorite for a reason. It is beautifully illustrated but also has an elegant story to go with it.

It's a heartwarming tale of going owling. The child's father takes his child owling at night, where he must be quiet and brave. 

But it's worth it in the end, when they see an owl fly overhead, land on a tree branch and look directly at them. 

​It's a nice way to talk about things that are calming, nature and things we love. Also, there is running thought commentary on the part of the child in the book.
Guided Reading Level O
2. Finding Winnie
This is the true story of how Winnie-the-Pooh came to be. It's heartwarming and includes complex text.

There are photos at the end of the book of the real life Winnie and her first owner (the author's great-grandfather). It's a fun way to introduce Winnie-the-Pooh or expand on an old favorite.
Guided Reading Level: M
Bonus! A good companion text to this is...
Now We Are Six
While this hasn't been put on a Guided Reading level scale, the writing puts the text at partway through 3rd grade level difficulty.
Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick
Locomotive by Brian Floca
3. Locomotive
This book also won the Robert F. Sibert award for informational texts for children.

This would make a great read-aloud with your child who is younger. It's also a long enough book, that this could take you more than one reading to finish, maybe even 3 readings all put together.

It's a higher reading level, but appropriate for younger readers, type of book. It is a beautiful non-fiction book for young kids, which can be hard to come by. It will be especially good for train lovers.
Guided Reading Level: O
You may also want to check out his other titles Moonshot about Apollo 11 (Level N) and Lightship (Level O) about anchored boat lighthouses.
4. Snowflake Bentley
Snowflakes are miracles to little Wilson Bentley. He loved them so much, he wanted to capture them - in pictures. If he could do so, he would be the first one.

His endeavor to capture snowflakes via photography led us to two discoveries - all snowflakes are unique and each one is naturally beautiful.

The woodblock cut prints in this book especially add to the story in this book. That this story combines reading with a scientific endeavor makes it all the more worthwhile. It is a non-fiction book appropriate for little readers, with a more complex reading level.
Guided Reading Level: N
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Wilson Bentley's website
The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Moridcai Gerstein
Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Mirette on the High Wire
This is an awesome, true story of a tightrope walker who put a cable between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. He tightrope walked across the two towers and then some.

The story would come across as almost fantastical to young children, but it really did happen - which makes it all the more awesome.
Guided Reading Level: Q
Mirette meets a famous tightrope walker who has been sidelined because of fear. Of course, once she knows what he used to do, she wants to learn to tightrope walk too. And she does.

Once she learns, she encourages The Great Bellini to abandon fear and try again too. Youthful spirit shines through in this book.

While The Man Who Walked Between the Towers is non-fiction, this book is fiction and would make a nice comparative study.
Guided Reading Level: P
Complex Multi-Cultural Books for Little Readers
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
This is a fun story and an interesting way to explain why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. There are animals who talk, explanations given, and different-than-the-rest kinds of illustrations.

It is a beautiful and entertaining folktale.
Guided Reading Level: N
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
This is a straight-forward rendering of The Little Red Riding Hood, except the wolf comes to the children.

Once the children realize it is a wolf who has come to visit, instead of grandma, they trick the wolf into leaving them alone.

It has a bit of an abrupt ending, so be prepared for that. 
Guided Reading Level: S
This would make a great read-aloud, especially in a fairytale unit and with children who know the western version.
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Bonus! This is another spin on a classic fairytale that will satisfy more sophisticated readers.
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Guided Reading Level: Q
Lon Po Po by Ed Young
A Story, A Story
This is the folktale about how it all began - how we got all of our stories.

Ananse must complete 3 arduous tasks in order to receive the box full of stories from Nyame, the Sky God.

Ananse completes the tasks and releases the stories to the world.

Guided Reading Level: O
A Story, A Story by Gail E Haley
Always Room for One More
Always Room for One More
This is a Scottish folk song that is put down in book format, so there are some unfamiliar words. There is a glossary at the back to help the reader (as well as the tune to the song, if you'd like).

The story is a good behavior lesson - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's about a Scotsman who invites every passerby into his house - until, it explodes! 

They gather all the pieces and build a larger house to fit the family, new guests and friends.

This would make a good read aloud book with your child, so you can help with some foreign pronunciations.
Guided Reading Level: P

​Enjoy!

Reading Picture Books with Big Kids

3/20/2016

 
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Think about the good storytellers in your lives.

Even though you've probably heard them tell the same stories over and over, you still listen to them - even as adults. We like being "storied" to. Histories were passed on this way. Great storytellers are still passing on their family histories this way. There is a romanticism with stories, radio shows, podcasts, audiobooks and oral histories.
Kids like being storied to, too. Even big kids. If you're not a gifted storyteller yourself, you can still use picture books with big kids to tell stories. Even though they can read them for themselves. ​All you need is a good storybook, a story with some layers and good inflection. These stories are great as is, but can also be a great springboard into issues like homelessness, immigration, death and racism.

Eve Bunting is an especially good storyteller who includes many facets to her stories, but I've included others for your perusal. 
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Storybooks with added layers:
  • Fly Away Home: This is a picture book you can reader to younger kids but ultimately is about homelessness. You can expand on this picture book by talking about larger societal issues.

  • Smoky Night: This hits upon the L.A. Riots and a family's need to flee urban violence. It speaks to the coming together of an unknown community against violence, all in one book.

  • Crazy Hair: A whimsical rhyming book about crazy hair. This book can be used to discuss first impressions kids have about others.

  • The Wreck of the Zephyr: A beautiful picture book which you can use to talk about the toughest of topics, death.
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  • The Curious Garden: A fun tale of a boy growing a garden. This books speaks to environmentalism and watching things grow.
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  • A Day's Work: A touching story of a young boy who helps his grandfather find work, even though he doesn't speak English.
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  • This is Not My Hat: A tale of stealing and getting it back. This is a great book to springboard into heavier topics like stealing, righting a wrong and reparations.
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  • Mr. Tiger Goes Wild: A fantastic tale of a tiger who wants to be his own. A great story of uniqueness and compromise. This is a good story for kids who are coming into their own and feeling left out of their community. For a bigger picture conversation, talk about people who are bullied or ostracized as minorities.
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  • Mr. Lincoln's Way: This story is a straightforward bully story. Mr. Lincoln teaches tolerance and how to encourage others to be more open. But this story also turns the bully on its head, and shows that the school bully also has something positive to contribute. This is a great story to introduce the ideas of prejudice and consequences.

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