Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Amara and the Bats

Amara and the Bats models ways student can channel their concerns for the environment into civic action. Its not uncommon these days for young readers to be aware of challenges facing our planet's ecosystems and their most vulnerable creatures. Amara and the Bats by #KidLit4Climate campaign founder, Emma Reynolds aims to inspire the next generation of… Continue reading Amara and the Bats

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder

If you’ve just started school or are seeing the first day come over the horizon at the end of the month, you’re probably building community in your new classroom by learning about and celebrating each other. Add Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder to your collection of identity-affirming read alouds for primary readers!  Feder’s playful… Continue reading Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love

In my second grade classroom this year, we are weaving together our literacy goals of understanding character traits with our social emotional learning goals of understanding our own identity. Picture book characters are such a great vehicle for both! By learning about characters’ identities, we learn the language to help us describe our own. And… Continue reading Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Rose’s Garden, written and illustrated by Peter Reynolds

This precious fable features Rose, a character who uses imagination, purpose and patience to build a community that is beautiful in every sense of the word. The plot involves Rose traveling in her teapot to a new land, a barren urban setting. She makes a plan to transform her new home. This eventually involves the… Continue reading Rose’s Garden, written and illustrated by Peter Reynolds

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2AjM5bekCjY Hello Friends. I trust that all of our homeschoolers and students are well. As we continue to fill our days with the best reading, writing, and drawing adventures, I thought I’d share this one with you; “Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table”. This tale was written and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. Auntie… Continue reading Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

The Ladybug Race

Enjoy a read aloud of, The Ladybug Race, written and illustrated by Amy Nielander and published by Pomegrante Kids, a division of Pomegranate Communications, Inc.  This amazing wordless picture book tells the story of ladybugs racing to cross a finish line first, but wait, there is a bigger lesson here than who is the fastest...what… Continue reading The Ladybug Race

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, by Chris Van Dusen

Chris Van Dusen's beloved characters of Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee win the heart of every reader! In Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, Van Dusen has this duo head off for a day's adventure of fun on the water. Their day of boating takes an unexpected turn when one playful whale… Continue reading Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, by Chris Van Dusen

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

Kids love Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae, but they love it even more when it has sounds and songs. After reading this aloud to a first grade class recently, the students all stood up and cheered. The book was front and center at their meeting place on the rug, but Novel Effect, a free,… Continue reading Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

The Three Billy Goats Buenos by Susan Middleton Elya, Illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez

Today I asked my youngest daughter, Alice, to join me as we read The Three Billy Goats Buenos, written by Susan Middleton Elya and illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez. Alice has been in her pajamas all day because school is closed for the next two weeks due to the Coronavirus. It was a nice break in… Continue reading The Three Billy Goats Buenos by Susan Middleton Elya, Illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez

Blog Posts, Read Aloud

A Read Aloud of One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia

Hi Readers, Isatou Ceesay is one of my heroes. She cleans up the environment in her community, she creates her own business, and she makes beautiful things. Here is a read aloud about her written by Miranda Paul. I hope you don't mind that Ranger and Hoppy are listening too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLQ_zBBMXSs&feature=youtu.be Do you want to… Continue reading A Read Aloud of One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia