Tomorrow will be Totally WRAD!

WRAD

We are so excited for World Read Aloud Day! (WRAD)   Truthfully we are combining celebrations of Dr. Seuss and World Read Aloud Day.  We have decided to share our love of reading with our class by having a couple guest readers come in and share their favorite Dr. Seuss books and utilize technology by listening to someone famous read a book.   I found this really fun site run by the Screen Actors Guild called Story Online. Each book is paired with an activity guide and the videos are high quality.  Check out a couple below.  I hope you take the time to celebrate World Read Aloud Day and change the world by instilling a love of reading in our future!

When Pigasso Met Mootisse


Romeow & Drooliet

A few of my all time favorite Dr. Seuss books are:

See this book on my Shelf I love this read aloud for modeling character voices, to talk about how character's can change, and for teaching about the importance of caring and conserving our resources.

See this book on my Shelf! I love using this book at the beginning of the year to discuss emotions and how we all feel a variety each day.  We discuss how feelings are not bad and all feelings are allowed.  We then discuss how to properly handle and express our feelings so that we all remain in a safe environment.

See this book on my Shelf! I love this story when addressing how we should treat others.  This is a great character lesson book with "The Zax", "Too Many Daves", and "What was I Afraid of?" included.

Hoping Everyone has a WRAD day!!

                                                       

Tuesday's Tech Tip: Grab a Great Read and Share it TOO!

Check out Shelfari!
I stumbled upon this great widget on Kristin's blog The Readbox.  It's called Shelfari.  Cute, right?!  For a book lover like myself I love the idea of sharing the great books we are using and or planning to read.  This widget allows me to share books with others who will hopefully be enticed to take a look and maybe even read.  Short and sweet (according to wikipedia) Shelfari is a social cataloging website for books. Shelfari users build virtual bookshelves of the titles they own or have read, and can rate, review, tag, and discuss their books. Users can also create groups that other members may join, create discussions, and talk about books, or other topics. Recommendations can be sent to friends on the site for what books to read.

Another fun and intriguing aspect to shelfari is that you can sign up to be an amazon associate and generate earnings for your advertising efforts that may lead to purchases.  Bonus!!  Visit the links above to find out more about how Shelfari can be added to your blog or stop by my shelf to check it out at My Shelf  in the sidebar of my blog!


                                                       

Reading with Reflection and Response at any Age

From Silly Sally to Pumpkin Town, reading is an integral part of any classroom.  Just as important is what you do to extend the reading experience.  I believe that no matter how simple, engaging the brain in multiple ways through creation (pictures, crafts, discussion, silly songs, etc.) take reading and understanding to a whole new level.

We had such a great time exploring rhyme and the letter "S" this week.  Now, I realize that I may have extremely high expectations of all my students...but it never fails to surprise me when they meet or exceed them!  After reading Silly Sally to my class I showed them how to respond through drawing.  Then I showed them how they could label their pictures if they wanted to.  Keep in mind that these kiddos are fresh fours and check out what they did!

For Freebie templates visit my TPT shop and download today!

  

Gettin' Techy with It!

Web OVERLOAD!
With SO many inspiring and innovative resources available to us at the click of a mouse, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and simply withdraw into our comfort zone of the "tried and true".  To help myself utilize more of these resources, I've decided to start collecting them in one place....I know, "what took me so long?"....sometimes it's the simple things that take me a long time to get :-)

So here's to collecting!  Feel free to share your amazing finds in the comments and we just keep adding!!





© Photographer: Thanatonautii |
 Agency: Dreamstime.com

Tired of False Starts?! Check out this Rubric!

It is the most frustrating stage children go through on the road to literacy!  The stage I am referring to, is the one between word calling and comprehending.  It's that fun stage where your child can sit down with a chapter book and 30minutes later come bouncing 'round the corner announcing "I'm Done!"....AHHHHHH!

Did you read? No, I mean REALLY Read?

This past year I had the pleasure of implementing a true reading workshop in my 1st grade classroom.  I was tired of seeing my kids read the words but not read for meaning....basically missing the boat on what real reading is all about.  A couple of years ago I attended a small group training on Reading with Meaning right from the start by Debbie Miller, not to be confused