Creative classroom reading displays that will get your students excited about reading!
Category: Book Corner
Extension Activities for The Wild Robot
The Wild Robot is a modern day tale of a robot that becomes stranded in the wild after an accident. This story is making it’s way across classrooms and into children’s lives, and with good reason. It’s a captivating comparison of technology and the natural world. As with all reading materials, they begin to take on more meaning when kids are able to apply what they’ve read in their lives and lessons. That’s why I’ve created this cross curricular extension activity package. It combines geometry and paragraph writing. Keep reading to get a peak into how you can use extension activities for The Wild Robot. 2D Shapes The first part of this package asks kidsContinue reading
6 Perfect Picture Books For Struggling Readers
For kids out there who struggle with reading, the thought of picking up a book can be daunting. Reading a book, whether independently or in a group setting, can either: a) cause a great deal of anxiety or, b) cause students to “check out”, leaving them to miss key details for comprehension. Whether students are struggling to read the words, or struggling to understand them, I’ve got a list of the 6 perfect picture books for struggling readers. 1. Press Here – By: Herve Tullet Press Here is a fun and interactive book that does not follow a traditional narrative format. Instead it presents readers with a series of instructions, for which the book garners apparentContinue reading
Free Book Study – Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud
When kids love a story (especially one with a moral, diverse characters and plenty of great language) I like to make it a focus of study. In that spirit, I created a free book study resource of Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud. The book study is meant to reinforce effective reading strategies such as: – Predictions – Mental Images – Inference – Making Connections – Summarizing – Identifying Story Elements The package includes 8 worksheets, with each one reinforcing a different reading strategy. This is a perfect way to get kids to make more meaning out of their texts and engage with stories. Give it a try and leave a comment telling me what youContinue reading
Book Study Freebie – Nightly News with Safa
For those of you who have read and enjoyed Nightly News with Safa, here is a free book study package for you and your students/kids! This is a cross-curricular book study and includes topics such as media literacy, writing with details, reading skills and character development. The package also includes two rubrics, and a student self-assessment section. Here are some snapshots of just some of the 13 pages in this package: If you like this package, please share it with friends, parents and colleagues. Also, feel free to submit some student sample work for a shout out on our Instagram and Facebook page! Happy Reading!
10 Children’s Story Books That Are Hilarious!
*This post contains affiliate links for convenient viewing* When the school day was winding down, my students would anxiously wait for their favorite part of the day: read aloud time! They would inch close on the carpet and excitedly strain their necks trying to catch a glimpse of our newest read. Even now, my daughter runs towards me with full force when I say the words “story time”! Kid’s absolutely love a creative book, especially if it can appeal to their silly imaginative side and relieve some tension from their busy day. Here are 10 children’s story books that are hilarious and will have your students or kids roaring with laughter and thoroughly entertained. MustacheContinue reading
Yasmine’s Belly Button Book Review and Lesson Ideas
Summary Yasmine’s Belly Button is an endearing story is about a young girl named Yasmine, as she gets ready for her first day of school. As she feels butterflies in her stomach about her first day, Yasmine notices her belly button. She begins to wonder why it’s there and embarks on a series of discoveries about the significance of her belly button. Yasmine’s mom tells her all about their connection as mother and daughter, and soon Yasmine realizes that everyone has a belly button in common! Thoughts This book is as much of a tale for mothers as it is for young kids. It will definitely pull on any parent’s heartstrings as it recounts much ofContinue reading
Book Review: Ish by Peter Reynolds (with Activity Ideas)
*This post contains affiliate links for convenient viewing* If you’re looking for a book to uplift and inspire young students, then Ish by: Peter Reynolds will do just that! Summary: Ish is a story about a boy named Ramon who loves to draw. One day his brother catches a glimpse of one of his sketches and mocks his work. This causes Ramon to feel a sort of dread, which eventually causes him to give up on artistry! But, all of his self-doubt comes to an end when he notices that his little sister has created a gallery of all his crumpled up art papers. He realizes that his work is a unique representation of the world aroundContinue reading
Book Review: Bismillah Soup (with Lesson Ideas!)
I recently had the pleasure of reading “Bismillah Soup” the first of two books to be released by emerging children’s author Asmaa Hussein of Ruqaya’s Bookshelf. Bismillah Soup is a book with many dimensions. It tells the tale of a young Somali boy named Hasan, who lives a humble life in a rural town. His family is struggling to put food on the table, so Hasan dotes an optimistic attitude and takes matters into his own hands! He promises his mom a fantastic dinner. Hasan can’t do it alone though, so he gets some much needed help from his local Imam and community members. Everyone chips in and contributes to what becomes a town feast.Continue reading
My Mouth Is A Volcano – Activity Ideas
*This post contains affiliate links for convenient viewing* There are some books out there that are worth the time and attention of your class. My Mouth Is A Volcano is one of them! It has some wonderful lessons for your students, which will set them up for future success. Take a look at some of these My Mouth Is A Volcano activities: Art – Word Depiction: If you’ve read the book, you’ll know that it is filled with wonderful words, that come alive on the page. Wouldn’t it be great to use this as an art lesson for your students? Show students how they can bring their creative artistry to portray words and their meaningsContinue reading