Can You Find Your Way Home Again?

Have you ever thought about where you live? You live in your home...but where is your home? It's in your neighborhood...but where is your neighborhood? Where Do I Live? by Neil Chesanow uses easy to read words and colorful illustrations to explain to children exactly where they live. Chesanow takes the reader on an adventure that starts in their bed room, in their home, in their yard, in their street, in their neighborhood, in their town, in their state, in their country, in their continent, in their world-then moves out to their planet Earth, the solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the universe. Then the book traces back through the universe all the way to the house where you live! This book helps to explain the importance of where we live and where we call home. 

Chesanow's nonfiction book is great to use in the lower grades like kindergarten when they are learning their address. Where Do I Live? correlates with the GPS standard, SSKG3 The student will state the street address, city, county, state, nation, and continent in which he or she lives because it gives students a perspective about where they live starting with their bed room and expanding to North America.  Students will enjoy reading this book to learn where they live. Teachers can use Where Do I Live? to explain to their students that they live in the same country and state but some may live in different towns and neighborhoods. Everyone has a different house number and street address. Teachers can even use this book for social studies vocabulary. The book has simple words to describe and define a street, neighborhood, town, state, country, and continent. For example, "your country is: a group of fifty states." Chesanow includes a few fill-in-the-blank sentences about  "How much do you know about where you live?" on the last page of the book. The fill-in-the-blanks include "This is the number outside my home _______, This is the name of my street_________, This is the name of my state _________." Students can fill-in-the-blanks to answer where they live. This is a great book to educate children on where they live! Where do you live?!

A tadpole is a baby frog!

Where do frogs come from?

 

 Children are very curious and want to learn about the world around them. They ask questions that we don't always want to answer like the classic, "Where do babies come from?" Wendy Pfeffer answers the question of "Where do frogs come from?" in her book From Tadpole to Frog. This book describes the amazing metamorphosis of a tadpole into a frog. The setting is at a frog pond and we see how the tadpoles change into frogs throughout the year. On a spring night you hear "Ba-ra-rooooom...ba-ra-roooooom...ba-ra-rooooom...." the male frogs are calling their mates. The female frog lays thousands of soft jelly-covered eggs in the pond. In about ten days the eggs hatch and the pond comes alive with thousands of tiny tadpoles. During the summer and fall the tadpoles are swimming and eating. When winter comes, they burrow under the mud at the bottom of the pond and sleep. Spring comes and wakes up the tadpoles. Tiny hind legs begin to sprout. The legs grow longer and stronger while the tail grows shorter. Tiny front legs begin to grow. All summer the tadpoles constantly change- lungs develop, mouths and eyes grow larger- until they become frogs. Now the tadpoles are frogs that can use their hind legs to swim and hop around on land. All frogs begin their lives as tadpoles but From Tadpole to Frog focuses on bullfrogs.The back of the book describes different kinds of frogs and has a map of where bullfrogs live throughout the United States.

From Tadpole to Frog is a great book to use in your classroom to introduce the frog life cycle. It correlates with the GPS standard S2L1.a Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a butterfly, because the book explains the frog life cycle. Pfeffer's book introduces the basic science concept of the frog life cycle and builds on it using a step-by-step method.  From Tadpole to Frog explains how frogs begin their life in jelly-covered eggs, tadpoles hatch, tadpoles grow legs and lose its' fishy tail, and lungs develop. The tadpole has become a frog! The colorful illustrations are great for children to see the tadpole to frog process. From Tadpole to Frog is a stage 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science book. We guarantee children will enjoy reading this book to learn about where frogs come from!

One for me...one for you!

Can I have a piece of pie?

How Many Ways Can You Cut a Pie? by: Jane Belk Moncure is about a squirrel who bakes an acorn pie for the pie contest. Her two friends, Mouse and Frog, come by wanting to eat the delicious pie. Squirrel tells them "This pie is for the pie contest. If I win, I will share my pie with you." When the three friends go for a walk in the woods, Pig eats the whole acorn pie! When the friends come back Pig presents Squirrel with a ribbon and says "You win my pie contest, your pie was the very best." Mouse and Frog are mad because they wanted to eat some pie,  Pig gathered more acorns so Squirrel could make another acorn pie. She cut it into four pieces, so everyone had a fair share.

How Many Ways Can You Cut a Pie? is a great book to use in your classroom to introduce fractions. Squirrel promises to divide her whole pie equally among all four of them. This book could be used to teach the CCGPS MCC3.NF.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b because it presents many different ways to equally cut a pie. At the beginning of the story, Squirrel promises to "cut the pie in two pieces....one half for her, one half for Mouse if she wins the pie contest." When Frog comes over he wants Squirrel to "cut the pie in three pieces...one piece for you...one for Mouse...and one for me?" At the end of the book, Squirrel cuts the second pie into four equal pieces; one for her, one for Mouse, one for Frog, and one for Pig. The back of the book has more ways you can cut a pie and illustrates how to write a fraction. The illustrations throughout the book show how to equally divide a pie as well. The top number (numerator) tells the whole and the bottom number (denominator) tells you how many parts a whole is broken into. 

1 pie in  (numerator)

   7 pieces (denominator)

Never Judge A Book By It's Cover!

Have you ever judged someone on their appearance before getting to know them? 

In the wide blue sea swims Big Al, a big-hearted fish who is as friendly as he is scary-looking. While other fish swim together in schools, Big Al swims alone. He  wants to swim with the other fish, but his big eyes, his huge size, and his mouthful of sharp teeth scare away all the other fish. Big Al tries different tactics to get the fish to like him but nothing seems to work. Big Al seems destined to swim alone, until a fisherman's net drops silently around all the fish. He bites a hole in the net and allows the fish to escape, but he is caught. Because of his hideous appearance the fishermen throw Big Al back into the ocean. The grateful fish welcome Big Al as their new friend and hero!

Big Al by Andrew Clements is fantasy because it tells a story about fish with human characteristics. The fish talk, laugh, and joke with each other. Big Al cries big salty tears when the other fish are too frightened to be his friend. In this short story, Big Al copes with issues and challenges in his life that offers readers a window into his human-like conditions. Big Al shows contemporary life-the joys of friendship as well as the challenges of making friends-for readers. Big Al's appearance is both his strength and his weakness. His appearance frightens all the other fish but his sharp teeth cut the net to save the little fish. His scary appearance made the fishermen throw him back into the ocean instead of killing him. Big Al has a very original plot that is believable and appropriate for the intended audience. His controversial issues are presented openly and honestly. The conflict in this story is person or fish against society. The ocean is the setting of the story and the author draws the reader in making them feel like they are swimming around in the ocean as well. The illustrations are alive with the magnificent colors of tropical fish. The limited third-person point of view in this story  focuses on the perspective of Big Al. The readers get a good sense of how he thinks and feels. The underlying meaning of the story is being accepted for who you are and the importance of friendship.  Big Al is full of expression, from his longing for friendship to the fierceness of his courage. This realistic fiction book tells us that true friendship is based not on what someone or "some fish" looks like, but on the depth of one friend's devotion to another.

Handsome Inside and Out!

Who could ever learn to love a beast?

  
The fairytale begins on a cold, stormy night, an old woman begs and offers the Prince a rose. When the Prince selfishly tells her to go away the beggar magically changes into a beautiful enchantress. She cast a spell on him, turning the Prince into a hideous beast and his servants into objects. The spell would only be broken if he could learn to love another and earn that person's love in return before the last petal fell off the enchanted rose. An inventor's daughter named Belle lived in a small village, not too far from the Beast's castle. Everyone in town thought Belle and her father, Maurice, were strange except the handsome hunter Gaston. He intended to marry Belle but she was not interested because he was conceited and selfish. One day Maurice sets off to the fair to try to win first prize for his newest invention. Unfortunately, he gets lost along the way and separated from his horse. Looking for help, he wanders into the Beast's enchanted castle. The Beast soon discovers Maurice and takes him prisoner. When her father's horse returns home alone, Belle knew something was wrong. She sets off to find her father and soon she also wanders into the Beast's castle.  She finds him locked away and begs the Beast to let her switch places with her father. The Beast agrees and tells her "But you must promise to stay here forever." In time, Belle and the Beast became friends. One day, Gaston and the villagers break into the enchanted castle to kill the hideous Beast. They were surprised to find the enchanted objects in the castle defending their master and their home.  Gaston and the Beast fight. Gaston falls off the castle roof, but not before badly injuring the Beast. Belle finds the Beast lying on the floor dying. While crying she confesses her love for the Beast. The Beast and the enchanted objects magically transform back into their human forms. Belle and her prince danced together, knowing that they would both live happily ever after.

Traditional stories are characterized by many of the same elements found in fiction, but these elements typically possess unique qualities that help distinguish the two genres from another. "The Beauty and the Beast" is a fairytale with a predictable plot and vague setting. The story starts with "Once upon a time" and is concluded with the phrase, "live happily ever after." The characters are symbolic; Belle is all good and Gaston is all evil. The Prince was selfish at the beginning of the story but love had restored kindness to his heart. The motifs in the text are magic, journeys, and transformations. The enchantress uses magic to cast a spell that turns the Prince into a hideous beast and his servants into objects. Belle's love transforms the Beast back into a Prince and his servants back into their human form. The old woman beggar transforms into a beautiful enchantress when the Prince turns her away. The Beast has a magic mirror that allows him to see whoever he wants when he looks in the mirror. He also has an enchanted rose that cannot be touched. The fairytale also includes journeys. Maurice travels to the fair but gets lost along the way and becomes the Beast's prisoner. Belle sets off to find her father. Gaston and the villagers journey to the enchanted castle to find and kill the hideous beast. The enchantress possesses supernatural powers such as the ability to cast spells and transform people or things. "Beauty and the Beast" is great to use for traditional literature because it is considered fantasy.

BUZZ! BANG! SHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Let's have one day for girls and boyses 

When you can make the grandest noises"

If there was one day to make noises, how would you make the grandest noise? Would you "Toot a whistle, kick a can, Bang a spoon against a pan?" "Noise Day" is one of the many poems in FALLING UP by Shel Silverstein. The poem is about all the grandest noises girls and boys can make for "One day a year do all of these, The rest of the days-be quiet please." "Noise Day" incorporates elements of sound  like rhythm, onomatopoeia, and rhyme schemes to highlight storytelling though using vivid and auditory words. The rhyme scheme is a,a,b,b,c,c,d,d,e,e,f,f,g,g,h,h,i,i,j,j,k,k.

"Use a drill, drive a nail,

Turn the hose on the garbage pail,

Shout Yahoo-Hurrah-Hooray,

Turn up the music all the way,"

There are numerous examples of onomatopoeia in the poem like "Screech, buzz, clang, yahoo, hurrah, hooray." Rhythm is the heartbeat of the poem. The words and lines are organized so that the rhythm pushes the poem forward. Yell, scream, sing, and whistle are the noises we'd make if given an entire day to make the grandest noise!