Thursday, September 1, 2011

Help me spend some money!

What a long week it's been!

Teachers reported back on Monday for a week of Professional Development. It was a good week- yesterday and today we got "refreshed" on the ways we could use the awesome technology my school has. The way it was set up was like a conference where you could choose your own sessions... so each hour, three different 45-minute sessions were offered and you got to choose which one you wanted to go to and we (the staff) were also some of the presenters.

So, yesterday I presented a session on ways to use free web programs for students to "jazz up" their assignments and then I did a session where I shared about 15 cool websites for teachers. We also had a session on our interactive white boards, our Wiis, document cameras, digital cameras, Google Docs, Edmoto, and Ipods. I really enjoyed doing PD this way and think my co-workers liked it too!

Last night was Open House and it was awesome! It was so great to see my kiddos again and meet my new ones... I'm super pumped about starting school next Tuesday.

So, the point of my post today... I feel like I should treat myself to $25.00 worth of books from Amazon to celebrate the successful (but long!) week. AND... if I can find the books in paperback, I can do their 4-for-3 promotion AND get free shipping if I spend $25!

I would love for you to leave a comment to suggest your favorite picture book and what you use it for. It could just be a book you love to read because you love to read it. Or maybe it's one that lends itself to an awesome lesson. Or maybe your kids just love to hear it!

Two of my favorite favorites to read are: Love the Baby by Steven Layne and Who Hops? by Katie Davis. Love the Baby is just super fun to read and great for making connections, teaching voice, and showing some character development. Who Hops? has a very lively refrain and is very silly. My kids LOVE it. But I already own both of them, so that's where you come in!

Thanks for helping me fill up my cart and add MORE books to my library! :)

16 comments:

  1. Some books I love:

    Apple Island or the Truth About Teachers
    -Wonderful! First read this during student teaching with a group of 4th graders! In this story, teachers live on Apple Island and you have 2 groups of teachers (I forget the name of each group). One group is teaching all students the incorrect things (wrong spelling, wrong math). Would make a great read aloud to younger-2nd grade- kiddos.

    Things Not Seen -Andrew Clements
    -About a boy who turns invisible and has to discover how to turn back to normal. Makes friends with a girl who is blind, but can 'see' him.

    Picture Books:
    First Day Jitters (Love!!)
    I've heard Last Day Blues is good, but haven't seen it. (It's supposed to go with First Day Jitters.)

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  2. I loved reading Mrs. Smiths incredible storybook! It's about a second grader who really doesn't care for reading until he gets a brand new hip teacher named Mrs. Smith who has a magical storybook that she reads from. The kids go crazy because when she reads the stories come to life in their classroom! I used it to launch my reading workshop and will use it again for visualization my kids went insane over the book even my busy bodies were constantly asking for me to keep reading!

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  3. I love Who hops! We always do a class book with it. Actually did it today. I want the book My Mouth is a Volcano so I can make a blurt chart. Also love Max's Dragon and Max's words.
    Have fun shopping.

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  4. Just a tip: students can get a free year of amazon prime...you just need a valid school e-mail address. Amazon prime gives you free 2-day shipping no matter what you spend!

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  5. I love Rhyming Dust Bunnies. So hilarious! I also love I'm Here by Peter Reynolds. It's a great book to use when you are talking about friendships and what to do if a classmate looks lonely, etc. Have fun shopping!!

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  6. I love to use Chrysanthemum. Students need to be proud of themselves. This book always gets me thinking about my made up first name and how others made me feel as a child. Certain things are not going to change. So step up and be proud.

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  7. I'm glad your Open House went well!

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  8. i second the "last day blues" but i'd save that for may :) there's another book that goes with it called "first year letters" and it's super cute!!

    i think you should get "duck! rabbit!" or "why are you so grumpy?" or any of tom lichtenheld's books, really! i borrowed "why are you so grumpy?" for a mini-lesson on seed ideas about feelings, and the kiddos still say "if you're grumpy for too long, a little birdie will come and sit on your lower lip"

    i'm also loving "maybe a bear ate it" but that one was only available for me (at b&n) in hardback. (babbling abby has a cute class book to go with it)

    OOH, and any of the "chester" books by melanie watt (melanie's cat loves his red marker and edits her story about a mouse, HILARIOUS)

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  9. Love this! It's always good to treat yourself to something, especially after all of your hard work! :)

    Hadar
    Miss Kindergarten

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  10. I love "A Camping Spree With Mr. Magee." I truly love reading rhyming books to my kids--and my first and second graders have enjoyed this book.

    Some of my other favorites are I'm sure common, but they are...
    *Miss Nelson is Missing (I love to read this and write our class rules together)
    *Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
    *Tacky the Penguin (and the other stories)
    *Seven Silly Eaters

    My list could go on--I truly enjoy reading children's literature!

    First Grade and Fabulous

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  11. One Duck Stuck
    Pout,Pout Fish
    I aint gonna paint no more
    all rhyming books, with a repetitive refrain. My kids love them because they can "read" them once they hear it once or twice.

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  12. Bird Child by Nan Forler . . . will teach kids to do something . . . . and you can dance the chicken dance at the end!!! You're Mean, Lily Jean by Freida Wishinsky will help them understand how others feel when they're bossy and exclusionary. . . . . and Share With Brother by Stephen Layne will help them navigate sibling rivalry, sharing, and caring!

    Barbara
    The Corner On Character

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  13. Ooooh I love to spend other peoples' money! Here are some favorites that are available on Amazon:
    First Day Jitters!
    How Full is your Bucket? and/or Have you Filled a Bucket Today?
    Any book by Mo Willems
    A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue
    It's Hard to be a Verb!
    My Mouth is a Volcano!
    The Juice Box Bully
    The Worrywarts
    The Worst Day of My Life Ever!
    and because I'm a faithful Laura Numeroff lover, I am pre-ordering If You Give a Dog a Donut!

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  14. Quiltmaker's gift by brumbeau, it goes so well with have you filled a bucket

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  15. Thanks for your suggestions! Here is what I ended up ordering:

    Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't!)
    What Are You So Grumpy About?
    The Seven Silly Eaters
    Miss Smith's Incredible Story Book
    Chester
    Fill a Bucket: A Guide to Daily Happiness for the Young Child

    Then today I picked up Big Anthony- His Story by Tomie dePaola to teach about point of view and The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School both from my local bookstore!

    Thanks for helping me spend some $$$$!

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  16. Books that I love reading with my kiddos:

    Eat Your Peas Louise!! By Pegeen Snow It's a very short book but it's one of those books that is very easy to do special voices and emote with when reading aloud.

    Any SkippyJon Jones book By Judy Schachner Cute stories and artwork. My youngest two LOVE these.

    Elmer By David McKee A great book to teach that it's OK to be different. Can easily be made into a classroom art project.

    Magic Tree House (the first 12 books; they get progressively more difficult after those.) By Mary Pope Osbourne These are great! They use a lot of sight words and are entertaining and easy for 1st-2nd graders to follow.

    Wildwood By Colin Meloy This one is fun with some outrageous humor (may be a bit too outrageous for 1st-2nd graders). The story is easy to read aloud and fun (because I enjoy irreverent humor!).

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