Reading Week Activity 3

Books with a Snack

Every day each class will be reading a different book with a food to go with it. That food or snack is mentioned somewhere in the book. A book is assigned to each class and they are responsible for bringing in enough snacks for five classes to enjoy. I post a list of 12 books and teachers sign up for which book they will read each day. The list of books and snacks that we have used for the past five years include:

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff - cookies
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long - Swedish fish
Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner - tortilla chips
Big Al and Shrimpy by Andres Clements - Multicolored goldfish crackers
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann - Scooby snack crackers
Tough Boris by Mem Fox - giant goldfish
Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail - foil covered chocolate coins
Ralph's Secret Weapon by Steven Kellogg - cupcakes
Moon Pie Adventures by Tony DiTerlizzi - Moon pies
The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsurg - banana bread/muffins
The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow - Lemon Italian ice
My Life with the Wave by Catherine Cowan - Marshmellows
When the Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins - chocolate chip cookies
The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg - Fig Newtons
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer - applesauce cups
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey - mini blueberry muffins
June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner - baby carrots
Hey Little Ant by Phillip & Hannah Hoose - chips
How Much is a Million by Steven Kellogg - Goldfish crackers
It's Disgusting and We Ate It by James Solheim - String Cheese
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett - Hershey kisses
The Popcorn book by Tomie dePaola - Popcorn
Thundercake by Patricia Polacco - bite-sized cupcakes
Pickels to Pittsburgh by Judi Barret - mini cheeseburger cookies*
The Chocolate Covered Cookie Tantrum by Deborah Blumenthal - chocolate covered cookies
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett - Ginger Snaps
Walter the Baker by Eric Carle - pretzels
Miss Spiders Tea Party by David Kirk - cupcakes
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey - small donuts
Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James - fruit snack

*mini cheeseburgers are vanilla wafers, chocolate covered round graham cracker cookies, white frosting. (The white frosting is split in half. Add yellow food coloring to one half and green food coloring to the other half) Layer vanilla wafer(bun), green frosting(lettuce), chocolate cookie(burger), yellow frostingmustard), vanilla wafer(bun), to make a small cheeseburger.

Reading Week Activity 2

Door decorations - Guess our favorite book or character

With your class, pick a favorite story character or book. Place 4-5 clues compiled by the class on your classroom door. You can choose to list your clues, draw pictures or create a box of props. (The clues should be posted by Wednesday. Students will walk around the school either in groups or pairs on Thursday to guess your favorite characters. Answers will be given during announcements on Friday morning).

Examples of a list:
I am a woman.
I have crazy blond hair.
I am a teacher.
I travel to exciting places with my class.
Some of our expeditions have been to the moon and under the sea.
(Answer : The Magic School Bus Series by Joanna Cole)

Examples of pictures:
a big read dog house
a bone and a leash
Emily Elizabeth
(Answer: Clifford by Norman Bridwell)

Example of a box of props:
a wizard hat
jelly beans
owl
broom
two headed stuffed dog
(Answer: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling)

*I will try to post pictures of classroom doors soon.

Reading Week Activity 1

Here is a list of some of the activities we are using for reading week. We will begin with a Kick-off assembly to announce our theme, activities planned and the principal's reading challenge(if the students read so many books the entire school gets an award, such as visiting a local battleship).



Activity #1 - Book Trivia Contest

Each day during announcements a short selection from a popular children's book will be read. All students are to place their individual guesses on a slip of paper. These slips of paper are sent to the office and the principal draws one correct answer and that child receives a new book.(The passage is reread, the answer given, and the winner announced at the end of the day )



The book snippet and titles are as follows :

Monday - When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin. Then he'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache. When look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache. When he looks into the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. - If You Give a Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Tuesday - On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomachache! - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Wednesday - At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe. - The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Thursday - Nobody knows the real story because nobody has ever heard my side of the story. And that's when my nose started to itch. I felt a sneeze coming on. Well, I huffed and I snuffed and I sneezed a great sneeze. - The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Friday - Jack crawled through a hole in the tree house floor. Wow. The tree house was filled with books. Books everywhere. Very old books with dusty covers. New books with shiny, bright covers. - Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne

Note: The slips of paper are made up in advance and copied for each classroom teacher.

Reading week activities

I am currently composing a list of all reading week activities that we have implemented in our elementary school. It will include directions, examples and everything you need to get started. The activities include books with snack, a book trivia contest, guess our favorite classroom door decorations, a reading challenge and reading incentive day. The feedback from students and teachers has been wonderful! Please stay tuned.

A bit confused

I seem to be getting a bit confused as to where we are to respond (Bloglines, our own blogs, the class blog, or each others new blogs). I am actually getting more confused every time I open up a link, tutorial or lesson. I'm hoping as we go along it will all start to come together. I did learn how to add to my profile, which I've been struggling with. I guess the more you "play around" the more you learn and the easier it gets.

Still Tweaking

O.K. I'm still trying to get the hang of blogging. Please bare with me. I created a blog and added my first post as soon as I read our instructions for session two on the class blog and prior to reading the "How to" chapters on blogging (Weblogs:Pedagogy and Practice & Get Started by Will Richardson). That was my first mistake. I should have read first then created my blog. Needless to say I discovered that my first post was not blogging but journaling. If I'm understanding the reading correctly, true blogging involves reading content which you will be able to link to along with analyzing and synthesizing that information to fit your audience. One question I'm trying to answer is in reference to the content, am I reading only other blogs? Is it anything (article/journal) that is online? Can it be something I've read in an educational book that isn't on line? Also wondering how and where to add links on the blog. I'm going to continue to experiment and search for the answers to my questions. Wish me luck.

Welcome

Hello to all you fellow book enthusiasts. This is my first go at blogging. I hope to add current favorite book lists for children of all ages along with reading strategies to help the reluctant reader.