July Currently

I'm linking up with Farley for her July Currently....

 

I love love LOVE Bad Kitty books....I order every new one from Scholastic that I can :)  The same can be said for the Pigeon books (by Mo Willems).  These books are just FUNNY and they can be used for a variety of activities.  I always liked to use the Pigeon books in conjunction with several reading strategies....it's a great way to teach the kiddos to observe expressions and mood in a book, as well as characterization.  If you have not seen these books before, I highly recommend you check them out!  The pigeon even has his own website! (Click on the picture below).  Oh wait...I just found out Bad Kitty does, too!  Click on her picture as well :)

             

I have to be honest.  When we're given books during the school year to read, I cannot focus my mind on it and its often set aside or (gasp) I just don't read it that carefully.  I mean, come on...how many other things do I have on my mind to get done at the time? I like to save that time for summer reading (right now, I'm trying to get my hands on a copy of Daily 5.....I know there's some floating around our school!).

However, Strategies that Work (red book)was an exception.  I read the entire book ALL THE WAY THROUGH.  DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.  Yes, for me, that's pretty significant (I mean, I need to grab and reread the Comprehension Shouldn't Be Silent book that's collecting dust in my room!).  A few years ago, we were given the second edition (green book).  I don't know whether it's because I liked the first one so much or what....but I did not enjoy it as well.  They had different examples, but similar if not the same strategies.  If you can, get your hands on a red copy!

As for the maid, I think we all need that when we are home and our kids are home from school.  I thought it was bad during the school year!  Whew!  We're trying to keep it clean (as well as stick with a decent bedtime...that's hard too!).  The rest of it is pretty self-explanatory. :)  

 

Be sure to check out Farley's new rule....I'm finding blog hopping to be a lot more fun during the summer when I actually have time to do it, and I'm not exhausted! :) 

Free Books! :)

Okay, now that I have your attention (because what elementary teacher does not have an insane amount of books that could give hoarders a run for their money!).....have you heard of this great site called "We Give Books"? I was introduced to it this year for "Read for the Record," since our school did not have enough Llama books.


It has real books that are online that you can look at (as in flip pages) and read aloud.

A little backstory....Every Wednesday is second grade ice cream day where kids can purchase ice cream in the morning to eat after lunch. My kids know how fanatical I am about food on our carpet, so it used to be the ones with ice cream got to eat at their desks while the rest got to sprawl (usually a no-no) on the carpet. It was okay, but hard to make sure everyone got to see pictures, paying attention, etc. That's where We Give Books came in. After we read our book (and by the way, best part...each time you read a book, the website donates a book to a designated campaign), the kids feel soooo good we get to donate one to someone else, and they are always asking who's it going to (which is where we then pull up a map and find out...great cross-curricular activity!).

Anyhow, they have now started a campaign where your personal school can earn books! It's called "Read for My School." Of course, when we went to go do our story this past Wednesday, we couldn't even get on the site! (the campaign started that day, or the day before, I think). We then went to Storyline Online (the one where the actor's guild members read...very cool as well!) and got our book fix. I just checked the website and as of this post, it was working fine!

But I am getting myself (and most likely you) distracted....sorry, Friday brain drain.....All you need to do is sign up (you can do it thru a Facebook account, although I have mine thru my school email) and choose a campaign to participate! You can even create your own "library" of books...one of my favorites is "Good Night iPad" (a definite read for us bloggers!).

I hope if you haven't heard of this fabulous resource before, you'll check it out! :) I'm curious to know, though.....what are some of your favorite "animated/online storybook" sites? Those are two of my favorites, and I keep meaning to check out Tumblebooks (thru the local library) when I have time!