RE 3030 Book Reviews
Big Chickens Fly the Coop
1. Author/Illustrator: Leslie Helakoski/Henry Cole
2. Publication Date: 2008
3. Big Chickens Fly the Coop
4. ISBN #: 0525479155
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This story is about four hens who venture out of their coop to see the farmhouse, only to discover they arrive everywhere but the farmhouse.
7. Storyline: Four chickens agree that they should always stay home where it’s safe “except…we’ve always wanted to see the farmhouse.” As the hens venture out, time and again, they mistake other buildings and equipment for their destination and end up scurrying back to their coop. They almost give up, but then decide that chickens can be loud and dirty and wild. With determination, they make a pell-mell, treacherous dash through the field and arrive, at last, in front of the farmhouse. Each traveling catastrophe is met with clever rhyming vocabulary and the repetition of phrases, all of which move the story forward with just enough predictability to engage young listeners and beginning readers.
8. I like this story because I love farm animals. It is also fun to learn about chickens. Kids will enjoy all the catastrophes the chickens cause.
9. I think this book could be introduced to the class and read to the class as a group. Then have four children play the role of the four hens. It would be such a fun story to act out in front of the class. Kids will have a blast!
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Book Review-Week Fourteen
{ November 6, 2009 @ 2:11 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Never Take a Shark to the Dentist
1. Author/Illustrator: Judi Barrett/John Nickle
2. Publication Date: 2008
3. Never Take a Shark to the Dentist
4. ISBN #: 978-1416907244
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This is a book about things you would not want to do with certain animals.
7. Storyline: This is a colorful presentation of the silly things you want to avoid: shopping for shoes with a centipede, playing Double Dutch with a grasshopper, and definitely don’t hold hands with a lobster!
8. I thought this book was so cute. It’s funny, but it also teaches students about certain animals. One page in the book states that you would not want to shoe shop with a centipede. Then explain to the students that you would not want to do this because a centipede has 100 legs and feet! This book is a good way to teach young children about certain animals and their characteristics.
9. With this book, you could do so many things. An idea that I really like, is to have the students create their own book about things to avoid doing with animals. Kids should create their own ideas, and not use any from the story. For example, one kid could write “avoid being in the back of the line with a bee”. Students can think of any animal for their story.
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Book Review-Week Thirteen
{ November 6, 2009 @ 1:31 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I Knew Two Who Said Moo
1. Author/Illustrator: Judi Barrett
2. publication Date: 2003
3. I Knew Two Who Said Moo
4. ISBN #: 978-0689859359
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This is a counting and rhyming book.
7. Storyline: Each number is accompanied by a nonsensical verse built on words that rhyme with the number itself. This is a book that stretches a child’s imagination while bringing numbers, counting, and the concept of rhyming together in a playful, informative way.
8. I just thought this book was too cute. I loved how it used the numbers to develop the rhyme. Children will pick up quickly on the words that rhyme with one, two, three, four, etc. The rhymes are funny too, which makes if fun for the kids.
9. I think it would be a great idea to assign the numbers 1-10 to ten students. Have them come up to the front of the room and stand in order. Each child will read their page and tell which number they are. Soon, all the children will have each page memorized and know what each page says. Repeat this with students who did not get a number the first time. Then, have the students draw pictures for each rhyming word. Make a booklet with rhyming words. The pictures will help the student know what the word means.
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Book Review-Week Twelve
{ November 6, 2009 @ 1:04 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story
1. Author/Illustrator: Eve Bunting/Beth Peck
2. Publication Date: 1990
3. Title: How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story
4. ISBN #: 978-0395547779
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This is about a non-American family who comes to America for a better life and lands in America on Thanksgiving Day.
7. Storyline: A family of refugees flees its native country because soldiers have entered their country. They leave in a small boat and lands in America on a particularly appropriate holiday; Thanksgiving. On this special day, they have a special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.
8. I liked the story because it touched my heart. This family from the Caribbean Islands risk their lives to get to America. They have never even been to America, but embark on a dangerous journey to get there. They are so very courageous, and I think it would be a great story to introduce to students during the Thanksgiving Holiday. It gives them so much more to be thankful for.
9. I think a great activity to do with this book would be to have the students write what they are thankful for. You can tie it into the book by introducing the activity this way: ” The people in this story were thankful that they were able to arrive safely in America and leave the horrible place they came from. What are some things you are thankful for and remember on the special holiday of Thanksgiving? Have the students write a brief paper on the things they are thankful for and draw a picture. Post them around the room to remind them of all the things they should be thankful for.
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Book Review-Week Eleven
{ October 23, 2009 @ 1:52 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Mouse Paint
1. Author/Illustrator: Ellen Stoll Walsh
2. Publication Date: 1995
3. Mouse Paint
4. ISBN #: 978-0152001186
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This story is about mice who mix various colors of paint to create new colors.
7. Storyline: Three adorable albino mice come across three jars of paint. One is red, one is yellow, and one is blue. Thinking, in a typical mousy fashion, that the jars of paint are Mouse Paint, the three climb in. Next, they set about dipping their toes in other colors, creating whole new combinations. Thus, kids learn that when a red mouse does a jig in a puddle of yellow paint, his feet will eventually turn a bright cheery orange. By the end of the tale, the mice are painting all sorts of colors.
8. I like this book because it teaches kids about mixing colors to make new colors and helps them with counting.
9. I found an activity that the author of the book suggested. I really liked her idea. The students would create a rainbow collage. Using old magazines or shopping advertisements, cut out objects that are red, yellow, blue, green, etc. Then arrange all the objects to create a rainbow. Read the book before you start.
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Book Review-Week Ten
{ October 23, 2009 @ 1:29 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
1. Author/Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury/Michael Rosen
2. Publication Date: 1997
3. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
4. ISBN #: 978-0689815812
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This story is about a bear hunt that a family goes on. It is too cute.
7. Storyline: A father and his four children go on the traditional bear hunt based on the old camp chant: “We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We’re not scared! Oh oh! Grass! Long, wavy grass. We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh, no! We’ve got to go through it!” The family skids down a grassy slope, swishes across a river, sludges through mud and, of course, finally sees the bear, who chases them all back to their home.
8. I love this story and chant. It is so cute, and children absolutely love going on a bear hunt!
9. I actually have a CD with the bear hunt chant on it. I have used it many times in the Pre-K classroom at the daycare where I work. I think it would be great to have the students go on their own bear hunt. The words on the CD are not exactly the same as they are in this book, but after I read the book to the class, we could listen to the CD and go on our own bear hunt. While listening to the CD, the children move their hands and feet to the song. For example, when the children open up the door, they simulate opening up the door, and when they run they pat their hands fast on their laps.
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Book Review-Week Nine
{ October 23, 2009 @ 1:17 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar
1. Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle
2. Publication Date: 2008
3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
4. ISBN #: 978-0399250453
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This is about a caterpillar who turns into a beautiful butterfly.
7. Storyline: This story is about a caterpillar who goes on a journey from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. Kids love to take this journey with him by reading this book.
8. I love this book. I love the way Eric Carle illustrates his books. He is so talented. He is by far my favorite author. I also love how he designed the book. The storyline is great too. It teaches kids about the cycle of life for a caterpillar.
9. Use patterns of the life cycle of a butterfly and have students practice sequencing them. (little egg on leaf, little caterpillar on leaf, larger caterpillar on ground, very large caterpillar on big leaf, other leaves nearby have been eaten, caterpillar building a cocoon, caterpillar inside of a cocoon, butterfly emerging from a cocoon, and butterfly flying away).
You could also develop a Venn diagram to compare this book with The Very Busy Spider-another one of my favorites!
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Book Review-Week Eight
{ September 30, 2009 @ 1:21 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Baby Beluga
1. Author/Illustartor: Raffi/Ashley Wolff
2. Publication Date: March 17, 1992
3. Title: Baby Beluga
4. ISBN #: 978-0517583623
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This is a story about the Beluga whale that children can sing along with.
7. Storyline: This story is a song that children sing while they are reading. It is about a Beluga whale and his mother. It teaches children about the Beluga whale in a fun, exciting way. By far my most favorite book when I was growing up.
8. I have always loved this book. I came across it the other day when I was cleaning my book shelf. I also have the tape that goes along with the book, since it is a sing along. This book is just a fun book that all children will love. The tune is quite catchy, and children will remember it even when they are older.
9. This would be a great time to learn about whales. I think it would be a great idea to have a selection of fictional books about different types of whales for the students to choose from. Have each student choose a book and write a small report (five to ten sentences) about the whale they read about. Then they can share them with the whole class. If they want to draw the whale on their report, encourage that.
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Book Review-Week Seven
{ September 29, 2009 @ 3:48 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
1. Author/Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
2. Publication Date: 1970
3. Title: Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
4. ISBN #: 0-394-80622-0
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This book is about all the things Mr. Brown can do. He makes all different kinds of sounds.
7. Storyline: Mr. Brown finds the sounds that different things make: A bee goes buzz, buzz, buzz. He finds lots of different sounds things make.
8. I like this story because it teaches kids about all the different sounds things make. It is also a good time, even though they are young, to introduce the fifty dollar word: onomatopoeia. Although they are very young, this is still a good time, in my opinion to introduce this.
9. A great idea would be to have to students make an onomatopoeia book. Explain in detail what an onomatopoeia is: the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (as buzz, hiss) (Dictionary.com). Give them premade booklets with about 10 pages. Then have them use their name in their book, like Mr. Brown in Dr. Seuss’ book. Instruct them that they have to find ten sounds something makes for each page. They can refer back to Dr. Seuss’ book for help, but must come up with their ideas. Then they can go back and illustrate the book.
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Book Review-Week Six
{ September 24, 2009 @ 3:13 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Where the Wild Things Are
1. Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
2. Publication Date: 1963, renewed in 1991
3. Title: Where the Wild Things Are
4. ISBN #: 978-0-06-443178-1
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This story is about a boy who embarks on a journey to where the wild things are right from his bedroom.
7. Storyline: Max loves to dress up and pretend he is a creature. On this particular night Max is called “wild thing” by his mother. He is sent to his room without eating supper and his room becomes a forest. He goes on a journey to where the wild things are and becomes king of the wild things. But, he becomes lonely and smells delicious food, so he leaves the wild things and returns to his bedroom, where he finds his supper, still hot.
8. I like this story because it is all about imagination. Max has a great imagination and he invents a story from his own bedroom. I think kids have great imaginations and should use them whenever they can. As we age, we lose a big part of our imaginations and creativity. I think kids should embrace this.
9. An activity that could be done with this story is to have the students create their own adventure, like the one Max went on. They should be descriptive and tell me everything about their adventure: where they went, what they did, if they came back, who was there, etc. Encourage them to be very creative and write about anything they want. Then have them share their ideas with one another. Also, have them draw illustrations to help tell the story.
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The Very Busy Spider
1. Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle
2. Publication Date: March 15, 1989
3. Title: The Very Busy Spider
4. ISBN #: 978-0399215926
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: This book is about a spider and how she spends all day spinning her web.
7. Storyline: This colorful picture book describes a spider’s day. Blown onto a farmyard fence, she starts to spin a web. The other animals ask if she wants to play, but in every case “the spider didn’t answer. She was busy spinning her web.” The book is touchable: elements including the strands of web are embossed on the pages and you can follow them with your fingertips.
8. I liked this book because it is repetitive. I also like it because the spider web is raised up in the book and you can actually feel it!
9. A couple of semesters ago our Music 2021 teacher read this book to our class. Instead of just reading the book though, she sang the repetitive part in the song, which is “the spider didn’t answer. She was busy spinning her web”. I think that is a great way to get kids excited about reading. Mix it up a little bit for them. Once they learn the repetitive part, they will be able to sing it on every page. This is also a great book to read when learning about insects. This would be a good time to have them learn about spiders; their habitat, eating patterns, web patterns, etc.
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Book Review-Week Four
{ September 18, 2009 @ 12:09 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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At the Beach
1. Author/Illustrator: Anne Rockwell/Harlow Rockwell
2. Publication Date: March 1, 1991
3. Title: At the Beach
4. ISBN #: 978-0689714948
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud
6. Topic: Things you find and do at the beach. There’s so much to do at the beach! There are sand castles to build, seashells to gather, sandpipers to run with, and a picnic lunch to enjoy in the shade of a bright beach umbrella.
7. A young preschooler accompanies her mother to the beach and in a first-person narrative describes familiar beach activities such as putting on sunscreen and chasing sandpipers.
8. I liked this story because it gets kids excited about reading because it is a book about the beach. All kids love the beach. Most kids look forward going to the beach every year.
9. I think it would be good to read this book at the beginning of the year right before summer or at the end of the school year right before school lets out for the summer. You could read this book at the beginning of the school year and have the kids discuss what they did at the beach this summer or what they would do at the beach (incase students did not get to go to the beach). Then you could have them draw a picture of what they did. If you read the book at the end of the year, you could have your students write a story about what they will or would do at the beach this summer. Then have them draw a picture. This book would work great in August or June!
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Book Review-Week Three
{ September 8, 2009 @ 2:06 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Dinorella-A Prehistoric Fairy Tale
1. Author/Illustration: Pamela Duncan Edwards/Henry Cole
2. Publication Date: 1999
3. Title: Dinorella-A Prehistoric Fairy Tale
4. ISBN #: 0-7868-1173-0
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud, Ages 5-9
6. Topic: This book is a fairy tale about a dinosaur, Dinorella, who has two evil stepsisters. She does all the work around their den, and when it is time to meet the Duke Dudley for the dance, her stepsisters do not allow her to go. Then, a fairydactyl turns her into a beautiful dinosaur and she wins the Duke over. This book is another version of Cinderella, only it is about dinosaurs.
7. Storyline: Dinorella is dying to go to the dance, but her dreadful stepsisters, Doris and Dora, declare she is too dowdy and dull. Dinorella is stuck in the den until Fairydactyl arrives and bedecks Dinorella with some dazzling diamonds. Dinorella departs for the dance, but on arrival witnesses a dastardly deed, involving the duke and a disgraceful deinonychus. Dinorella must carry out a daring plan to save the day.
8. I think this book would be a great book to read during a study about dinosaurs. I looked through the standard course of study for grades K-6, and couldn’t find anywhere where they talk about dinosaurs. I am not sure if it is in the curriculum, but I know I learned about dinosaurs when I was in elementary school. Anyways..I think it would be fun to have your students pick a dinosaur from a list of dinosaurs and develop a name for them; like in Dinorella. They would then make up a story about their dinosaur; making sure to describe their dinosaur in detail. Encourage them to be creative and make up any kind of story they can think up. Also, have them draw pictures to help tell the story. You could then publish these in a hard back book for the students to keep.
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Book Review-Week Two
{ September 3, 2009 @ 9:37 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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A House is a House for Me
1. Author/Illustrator: Mary Ann Hoberman/Betty Fraser
2. Publication Date: September 6, 2007
3. Title: A House is a House for Me
4. ISBN #: 00142407739
5. Level/Grade Level: First Grade, Second Grade
6. Topic: Describes places where people, insects, animals, etc. live.
7. Storyline: This book is about where everyone and everything lives. This book is a rhyming book about houses. Some are familiar and some are surprising.
8. I liked it because the students get to learn about all the places where people and things live. It talks about bees living in a bee hive and ants living in an ant hill. I also like it because it rhymes.
9. I think that a great time to read this book is during a science lesson about animals. In second grade you learn about animals and insects and their habitats. Have the students become an insect. Let them be any insect or animal they want. Have them write a short story about the house they live in and describe what it looks like. They MUST use describing words when writing about their house. First grade really focuses on describing things when writing. Also, have them describe what is inside their house. They also need to draw a picture of their house. Then they can all share them in front of the class by reading their descriptive story and showing their picture(s).
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Book Review-Week One
{ September 3, 2009 @ 5:49 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Cock-a-doodle-doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo
1. Author/Illustrator: Giles Andreae/David Wojtowycz
2. Publication Date: 1999
3. Title: Cock-a-doodle-doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo
4. ISBN #: 0-439-20735-5
5. Level/Grade Level: Read Aloud/Kindergarten
6. Topic: The story introduces children to all the animals you will find on a farm.
7. Storyline: The story takes you through a typical farm-yard and introduces you to all the animals found on a farm. It has a clever storyline and each page rhymes. The story teaches the children what each animal does on the farm. The chickens lay eggs, the cat sleeps and waits for mice, etc.
8. I liked the story because I love farms and everything about them. I love all the animals on a farm, even the stinky ones. My boyfriend lives on a farm and has lots of cows. I also liked the fact that all the pages rhymed. I wanted to stomp my feet and clap my hands while reading it. It just had a great, flowing rhythm to it.
9. I would first read the book to the class, showing them the pictures and get them acquainted with all of the animals on the farm. I would then read it and have them clap their hands as I read; just to make it more fun to read. After they were familiar with the book, I would have them write their own story about animals on their farm. I would instruct them to write a story about what animals they would have on their farm and what a day on their farm would be like. I would encourage creativity. I think it is reasonable to require at least five animals on their farm, and one sentence per animal. I would also encourage illustrations; and require at least three illustrations.
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Daddy, Where Did the Words Go?
{ September 3, 2009 @ 5:14 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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- Is it a good idea to have young, beginning readers use their fingers to point to words as they read (finger-point reading)? Why or why not. I believe that is a good idea to have them use their fingers. I feel that young readers often use their fingers to connect letters in a word. For example, if a child is trying to sound out a word, they may use their finger to point to each letter and sound it out, then connect all the sounds to form the word. Finger-pointing also helps the children keep up with where they are and what word they are reading in the sentence. My 4-year-old niece has begun reading and she finger points. It seems to work well for her.
- Do most kindergarten students know what a word is (have a “concept of word”)? I would like to believe that most kindergarten students do know what a word is, but I cannot say that most do. I believe that before a child enters school it is the parents duty to teach them the meaning of a word. Unfortunately, not all children are exposed to the same things at home. But for the most part, I think most kindergarten students do have a concept of a word.
- Do most kindergarten students know what a phoneme is (an individual sound unit, often represented by a letter in writing)? I don’t think that most kindergarten students know what that is. I believe that is learned in school. Even if they can already read they may not know the meaning of that word.
- How do children become aware of words and phonemes? I believe that they have to be exposed to these things at home, preschool, and at school. Children can talk before they can read. They learn a lot of words by just hearing them spoken. Toddlers know the meaning of the word “no”. They are exposed to these words from birth. I work at a daycare and a 10-month-old will often drop things and say “uh oh”. She knows that because it fell she can say “uh oh”. She knows when to use that word.
- What happened with Jack’s finger pointing? Jack ran out of printed words to point to before he had run out of words to say.
- What differences are there between speaking and reading? According to the article, “A spectrographic examination of utterances spoken at a normal rate reveals that words are not separated by pauses or other obvious word boundaries; that is, there are usually no ‘spaces’ between successive spoken words, as there are in printed text”. When we speak we pause between phrases, not words.
- What is phoneme awareness (phonological awareness)? The ability to consciously attend and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language. A child understands that a spoken word can be conceived as a sequence of sounds.
- Describe the 4-stage model of early literacy. Stage one is beginning constant knowledge. Neophyte readers begin using letter-sound knowledge to attend to the first letter or sound of a word. At this stage readers are able to begin matching spoken words to printed words while finger-point reading familiar text. Stage two is the concept of word in text. The reader examines words in text and each word’s orthography provides important information to the reader about phonemic properties. The reader connects the first letter and the last. The third stage is phoneme segmentation ability. As the beginning reader stabilizes this match between spoken and printed words, attention might now be freed up to examine the internal parts of the word. The fourth and final stage is word recognition. In Morris’ final stage, the reader’s ability to fully segment a word into its constituent phonemes provides the necessary foundation for an increase is sight work knowledge. (Flannigan 6, 7).
- Describe what this means: “It is not in the telling, but it is in the very act of reading that Jack will actually learn how to read.” p. 10. It is not in Jack’s favor to tell him what the word is. He needs to be able to identify the first letter, which will help him recognize the word. For example, the word Sam. If he sees an S, and knows what that letter is, he will have an easier time reading words that start with S because he already knows what that is and what sound it makes. You learn how to read by actually doing it. The best way to learn how to read is to practice reading and learning letters and the sounds they make.
- What instruction helps develop beginning readers’ awareness of words and phonemes? The student must develop a concept of word in text first. A study done by Morris found that, children may profit most from instruction in a sight word vocabulary after they have attained a solid concept of word in text.
- Go back and look at the questions you answered BEFORE you read and adjust your answers or elaborate on them. Briefly describe here how you have changed your thinking about the process of learning to read. In question one, I wrote that it is a good thing to have then finger-point. I still feel that it is a good thing, but children had to understand word in text first. That is not something I realized. They do have to know where and when to pause. I really didn’t realize that most students did not know a meaning of the word “word” when they enter kindergarten. I guess they speak words, but don’t really know what a word is. I believe that we can teach students what individual sounds mean, which will help them learn how to read.
- What questions do you have from the article? List them here. Are teachers around the globe implementing word in text before they expect children to know sight words? Do all teachers implement this in their classroom?
