Teacher Book Talk Tuesday #1– Whoot!

Whoot! Whoot! It is the first Teacher Book Talk Tuesday!!

Teacher Book Talk Tuesday is a weekly post starting today and going through August 22. That's right, twelve posts on favorite kid books, teacher books, and books for pure reading pleasure taking place in the summer when teachers can actually READ. And to make it better, this is a blogger linky party, so any teacher blogger can join up and share the good news about one of our FAV things in life– BOOKS! So let's GO!

I'll start with a couple kids' books first. 

Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo.

I don't know how this one escaped me for a whole year but I'm so glad to have found it. A little boy has a tiny elephant as a pet... what kid wouldn't like that! They are great friends and that little boy knows how to be kind. 

But there is a problem.

My kids were oh so engaged when we read this to see how the little boy was going to solve his problem. It gently lead to a wonderful discussion of what it feels like to be left out and how one can push back against exclusion. This book allows teachers to  broach the age old issue of "you can't play" in a time when the lessons are needed more than ever. I think you'll really like this one.  

This next one is just for fun.

Polar Bear's Underwear by Tupera Tupera.

Each year I save a couple special, silly books for the last weeks of school. Oftentimes they feature five year olds' taboo subjects, like farts, butts or underwear (stop by next week for the fart and butt books...). The kids are so off the wall by the end of the year, I say you might as well go for it. This one was an instant hit, as you can imagine. 

In the photo above I show that the book comes wearing underwear... the kids were delighted as I slid the book's underwear off. And that underwear sets the kids up to look for red underwear... which hides the punchline of the book. There are some rather silly animals with even sillier underwear hanging out in this book which features strategic cutouts. 

Super silly and super fun! Your kiddos will love it. 

This week my "teacher" book selections are for teachers to share with parents. 

Reading Magic by Mem Fox. 

Some of you may know Mem Fox as the children's writer of such hits as Koala Lou, Possum Magic, and Time for Bed, to name a few. Some of you may know Mem Fox as the reading guru from Australia. In this book, she is a parent educator, sharing her experience and expertise with children learning to read on their parents' laps. She doesn't just give the oh-so-valuable advice that parents should read to their children, but she describes the whys and hows so parents can help their kids love books and learn to read. I recommend this book at start of year parent-teacher conference time. It is not a Jim Trelease-esque list book of children's books (though Mem did indeed dedicate it to Jim Trelease), but it gives ideas that any teacher would pay to have parents follow. 

I love to loan Reading Matic to parents who think that reading to kids has become a bit cliched. I have copies to loan out– there is a newer version than the one I show which includes a chapter dedicated to boys and phonics. I love flipping through the pages of my worn copy as I talk about it because parents see all the highlighting and checks in margins that show it is a favorite of my own.  I highly recommend it to teachers to share with their school parents and I also recommend it to teachers who have young children of their own. Such a strong testimony to the power of parent-child bonding over a book.  

Here's the other book I recommend to my classroom parents. 

Raising Lifelong Learners by Lucy Calkins.

 

Yes, this is the same Lucy Calkins who heads up Teachers' College Reading and Writing Project and who authored Units of Study in Writing that so many districts use. 

This is also not a new book, but it is as pertinent today as ever, and unfortunately I find not near enough teachers and parents know about it. It is Lucy's only book written for parents. I found it years ago when I was a parent educator. I thought I had read every book on parenting and then I found this one. Lucy articulates what all parents want for their children, and she gives much food for thought AND very practical tips for raising kids to BE lifelong learners. I found it when my own kids were still pretty young and I LOVED it. I copy one chapter of to give to parents– the chapter on beginning reading– and the parents who actually read it rush out for their own copies. Just terrific. Teacher parents out there– grab this one for yourself, too. 

And since this is the kick-off post of the new Book Talk series, I'll share just one more... or eight.  

Yes, that is the whooooole Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It is one of my favorite book collections of all time. My aunt read the books as they came out, and then she started watching the Outlander series on Starz. I watched a few episode of the first season with her and I. was. hooked. I had a bunch of bookstore gift cards and I used them to buy the whole series in one fell swoop. A customer behind me, seeing my tower of books said, "Oh, I envy you. I wish I was just now reading them for the first time. You are in for a HUGE treat." And she was SO right.

Quite frankly, these books helped me make it through school last year. It took me about almost the entire school year to finish them– there is always SO much other stuff competing for a teacher's time September thru June, isn't there? I could only read them ten minutes each night before the book fell on my face as I read at bedtime. They provided the perfect distraction, letting me drift off to the 18th century to escape my everyday problems. WonDerFul. It is a complete bonus that the TV series is so well done. The casting is spot on... and yes, I too, am among the throngs in love with Jamie Fraser. To show you how rabid a fan I am, this was my Christmas gift this year.

DH Jonathan managed to get his hands on the oh-so-rare Funco Pop Vinyl figures of Jamie and Claire... and in the typical Jonathan style, he managed to craft a standing stone as well. 

 I can hardly wait for the next season that starts in September... quick! You have time to get far enough into the books, and to binge watch the two seasons thus far, so you can jump into the new season in September. I am not a TV binger and we only buy Starz for the months that the show is on, but it is TOTALLY worth it. Ahhh. Can hardly wait.

There are no affiliate links in my posts and that is because I know what it is like to be so addicted to books that I can't waste a dime. There is always the library, but sometimes I hate to wait. Luckily Jonathan and I see books as so essential we have a books line item in our family budget... so to speak... we don't really have a family budget... but we do buy lots of books. So when I shop, I shop for the best prices. That takes me into stores, on line, and always checking online at Abe Books for used copies. I love used book as much as new, and most books there are less than four dollars with fast free shipping. I also own a Little Free Library and frequent other LFLs in town. I have found some of my best treasures there.

Abe books and LFLs are greener ways to feed my reading addiction, as well, which makes me feel a little better about it. The books I don't LOVE, I pass on.   

Check below to see other bloggers who are sharing books today. And bloggers, to link up with Teacher Book Talk Tuesday, click on the inlinkz link, then be sure to grab this button below for your post and link it back here so everyone can find all. the. books!!!

Thanks for stopping by. I have 8.5 days left of school *sigh* and after that I hope to be blogging more... this summer's topic will be classroom design with tips I bet you haven't seen, so stick around. See you next time! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Reading and Writing Love

Five quickies on this almost-to-the-end-of-school Friday. We get out in three weeks. Am I counting the days? Am I counting the minutes?? Thanks Doodle Bugs for the Five for Friday linky. I include a Funny Kid Friday below, too.

1. We wrapped up our Mo Willems unit today. Ya gotta know about Elephant and Piggie, Knuffle Bunny, and Pigeon books, right?? If you don't, go look them up RIGHT NOW. We own several copies of ALL twenty five E&P books (book lingo in my classroom). I save them for the end of the year, not only because they are a happy note to go out on, I mean funny even for adults, but because at this point ALL my kiddos can read them... well, read them after they've heard them, and read them with a partner. And they do love to read them. From the teacher perspective E&P are especially good for teaching dialogue, talk and thought bubbles, reading details in pictures, punctuation... so much. We've made Mo hats to celebrate his unit before, but only with Pigeon. This time all the characters prance across the front with a little directed drawing help.

Mo hats!

To show just how much we connect with Mo and his characters, I share what I found inside one little guy's hat.

Mo love

Cracked me up. I have about seventy Mo books altogether and they were worth every penny of investment. Most are available in paperback now, so they are a bit cheaper than when they first came out. Our school library is well stocked, too, as they fly off the shelves during our unit. Ya GOTTA do Mo if you don't already.

2. When the kiddos have the whole room to choose from at free choice and they choose this, you know something is going right, eh?

They LOVE the window seat!

3. Speaking of books and reading, I am going to be doing a book linky this summer so we can share the book love.

Teachers can share favorite kid books, teacher books, and books they read for pure pleasure. I've started my list already. It's going to run on Tuesdays for twelve weeks from June 6 thru August 22. Please spread the word and remember to stop back here when it starts in less than two weeks now. Keep your eye open for the book button!

4. I found these at Target this week.

Fun, cheap, and LOOK what you can do with them!

They make the CUTEST little first day of school gift for incoming students! I know it is early to be thinking about BACK to school, but you want to do this. I include a letter to students on how to use the wishing star that goes out to incoming families in their school start-up packet. I am especially proud of this idea because although you find great ideas all over the internet, the wishing star came out of my own little head. I happily share it because it brought me big kuddos with my new students and incoming families this past fall.

And people, my resource is FREE! You can read about how I use it by clicking on the family letter below.

Then grab the FREEBIE at my TPT store by clicking on the pack.

5.  We wrapped up a letter writing unit today... not letter, as in alphabet letter, but letter as in written communication. Letter writing for my class is a "bend in the road" mini-unit in writing workshop. In the past I have done this unit earlier in the year, but I found it to be a great end of year unit to do right now, too. The kiddos are getting just a bit nostalgic... if five year olds can get nostalgic... as it slowly sinks in that our year is coming to an end and they are not going to see all their friends over the summer as they do now. We spent the last three weeks writing to all sorts of people, but especially to each other.  The classroom mailbox has taken on new meaning.

For our celebration we played with our food, so to speak. I gave the kids licorice strings and they "wrote" the two most useful words in letter writing– Dear and Fondly. They loved it.

I really relied on my Let's Write to Someone letter writing resource, one of the few products in my TPT store. It helped me remember what I do in this unit, and the anchor charts, stationery and postcard are really helpful. You might check it out if you are looking for a way to refresh writing in your last weeks of school. You can find it by clicking below.

Along with this unit came a little Funny Kid Story I share in closing.

A favorite guest teacher was in our classroom during writing time this last week. Even though she knows our kids well she was rather taken aback when one of the littles asked, "What is the F word?"

She got quite a chuckle when she realized he was after the word Fondly!

Have a great last few weeks, OR congratulations on finishing another successful year of teaching, whatever your case may be.

Click on back to Five for Friday! Thanks, Kacey, for helping us find each other!! And I sure hope that Five for Friday will be back next Fall!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Book Talk News

Teachers loooooove books! I am linking up with Forever in Fifth Grade to tell you about something coming your way. This summer I am going to sponsor Teacher Book Talk Tuesday.

Teacher Bloggers can review favorite books for kids, books for teachers, and books that are just for pleasure. Share from any category you like and as many titles as you like. I'll post the linky party every Tuesday for twelve weeks starting June 6 and running through August 22. Write your review and then grab the button to link-up.

There used to be a book review link-up several years ago when I first started blogging and I found lots of good books that way. I miss it and thought you might, too. You can even link-up for Show and Tell Tuesday and Teacher Book Talk at the same time. Hope you'll join me!! And I hope you'll spread the news of Teacher Book Talk Linky.

Click on back to see what others are Showing and Telling this month. Thanks, Stephanie!

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time!

Money is Money!

Happy Show and Tell Tuesday! Today I'm going to share two things... well, actually two similar things... so really one... but who's splitting hairs. Thanks to Stephanie for the linky!

We have a friend who is a financial planner. He sometimes shares advice, and one of his regular quotes is, "Money is money." That's his way of saying make it and save it when you can because even small amounts add up.

I think of him as I share info on two money making programs– Ziggedy and EBates. I use both of them because they are so darn easy and they do help put real money in your pocket. Ziggedy is a program that helps teachers raise money for their classroom. Every time I shop online a little Ziggedy reminder pops up when the store site is part of their program. I click the button, then shop, and then a small percentage of my total purchase amount goes into my account. I get a check every quarter. This program is only for teachers, and the money is to be spent on the classroom, but what you actually buy for the classroom is up to you.

You can ask parents and others to sign up to support your classroom but you don't have to. If you do, when they shop a small amount of their purchase amount goes into your account. I don't have a lot of supporters- a few parents and a couple close friends. I have been doing the program less than two years. I have received just over $100. I bought some iPad covers and am about to buy an external microphone for recording with the kiddos. Not grand, but appreciated.

EBates works the same way, but you don't need to be a teacher. Anyone can sign up and usually get between 1 - 6% of the amount of purchase. I have been participating with EBates for less time, but because they give you a ten dollar bonus when you sign up, I got a small check even starting the first quarter.

Ziggedy and EBates get the money they pass on to you by charging the participating companies a referral fee. I have yet to run into any kind of hassle with either program. No excessive amounts of emails or reminders, or anything. And you don't have to hustle or sell anything. You just get small checks for the shopping that you'd do anyway.

You can check out either program by clicking on the Ziggedy or EBates buttons in my sidebar to the right. I don't do advertising on the blog– maybe I'll change my mind in the future but I really can't stand to run into advertising when I'm reading. I don't begrudge people who write good content some compensation, I just find the advertising annoying to look at. I would be remiss not to share something that has worked for me, though. If you don't want to click on the buttons, which will give me five bucks if you join up, then that is alright, too. But do google and check them out... unless you don't do ANY online shopping, or you don't need ANYTHING for your classroom, it behooves you to know about them. And remember you don't have to be a teacher to participate in EBates.

Money is money, after all.

Now click on back to Forever in Fifth Grade for more Shows and Tells.

Thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Finds!

It's all my fault. You can blame me. I put my snow boots away on Monday and NOW look what came back!

Those are big fluffy flakes of snow coming down!

Grrrr.

As I write this it has turned mostly to rain, and nothing is sticking outside. But still. Some Spring Break. sigh

Enough on the weather. I link with Doodle Bugs Teaching today to share something I did for spring break... I went shopping! Check out what I found at both Dollarama (yep, I crossed the border) and IKEA. The IKEA items you will only find at IKEA, I think. But if you don't have a Dollarama nearby, I bet many similar items are in your local Dollar Store or Five Below.  If nothing else, reading today might just give you some new ideas on how to use common items. Buying new classroom stuff to spice up the last quarter of the year for not a lot of money makes my teacher heart happy, and will make my kiddos happy, too, when they get back from break. And I do have to admit, today's Five for Friday is more of a Quick Ten for Friday– there's lots you don't want to miss!

1.  I picked up a few cheap bunches of silk flowers.

They were $1.50 each, I think. The kids will enjoy a spring theme in their small world play.  I cut them up so there are little flowers to scatter about on the "green grass," and the stems and leaves can be turned into trees with a little plasticine to hold them up. I found these big leaves that will make trees and habitats, too. Plasticine bricks were also at the Dollarama– rather good sized bricks of one color, as opposed to packs that hold several colors, and which the kids muck together to make brown anyway. 

    

2.  These little shells will be fun in small world, loose parts, and our counting jars. I will use the cute jars for something else.

   

3.  I LOVE these letters, especially the small ones in the tray. 

There are four of each letter and they were only four dollars. I would have gotten more, but they only had two trays left. Letters are always handy for letter and word learning, but I think I'm going to put them out in loose parts play, too.

4.  More for small world play. 

The cutest little character erasers. Look! The pandas have already escaped from their neat plastic test tube jars... something else I will put to further use later.

5.   Google eye magnets? Are you kidding me.

I can see these popping up on the white board, the kids lap boards, lots of places. The pack was just $1.25.  It always feels like, somebody's watching me...

6.   How fun are THESE! 

Colorful emoji tacks. They belong on a special bulletin board display... which I have yet to make up– snort. But I Will! 

7.   I sure hope these are not just a Dollarama thing because I'm going to regret not getting more.

Very handy and inexpensive gadget bin boxes to keep bitsy bits in. One has adjustable compartment sizes, too– loose parts all the way. And only three bucks. Whoot! 

8.   I don't know about you, but I need lots of attractive trays and bins to use when I put out all these little parts, whether they are for small world or loose part play. 

I have round compartmentalized snack dip trays to use on our round tables. They are easy to find for just a dollar at the dollar store. However, we have two rectangular tables, too, and the round trays take up too much room. These long trays and the compartment bin trios were exactly what I was looking for. They will work well when lined up right down the center of the tables.

9.   Now for a couple IKEA items. Our green grass bases in small world play comes from this throw rug from Ikea. I didn't buy it on this week's trip, but I share it here because I saw they still have them and took a snapshot. Isn't it a lovely green grass color? And the knapp height is grasslike, too.

I cut the big piece into six pieces, making each about 10 x 15 inches, and less than two dollars a piece. And the back is really neat and easy to cut in straight lines. Even with lots of kid play they have not frayed at all. 

Here is a piece in action. 

10.  And this last little share I am really excited about. I know I have seen these at IKEA before, but just never thought about them. 

Note the size– 8.5 x 11. The exact size of a sheet of plain copy paper. My kiddos use this paper the most when creating freestyle in the Light Bulb Lab. Their creations will fit perfectly in these frames. I think I am going to find a place to hang two to highlight the "Artists of the Week." This little gallery won't be juried and everyone will get a chance to put things in, but it will be a little nudge for the kidpeople to do their personal best work, and give them incentive to look with a reflective eye at what their best work is. Teacher Happy!

AND I took off the backs and plexi on six of the frames and spray painted them black. (IKEA might very well sell them in black, but they didn't have any the day we were there.) 

These I'm going to use as simple empty frames. When put them out on the table top as part of loose play it defines the space nicely for kids and pushes them to design more in the space. The plexi pieces from the frames will be handy for some other project, knowing me. 

And BEST of all these frames are just THREE bucks each! Nice wooden frames, at this large size, and only three dollars. Whoot! 

Well, there you have it. Some people get out of town to warm and sunny places– I drive over the bridge in cold and dreary weather to shop for teacher finds. So much fun.  I HIGHLY recommend checking out Dollarama if you can get into Canada, or even look for these things in the States. If they exist in the world, they'll be coming to a Dollar Store near you soon! And as most of you know, IKEA is a teacher treasure trove and worth the trip. 

Hope you found some new ideas! Don't forget to PIN so you remember later. Scoot on back to Five for Friday now and see what other ideas you can find. Thanks, Kasey, for your weekly linky.

Thanks for stopping by!