Category:

April 14, 2014

4/13/2014

TK: One Bean, by Anne Rockwell; This Is the Sunflower, by Lola Schaefer; Grandpa Green, by Lane Smith; maybe Max’s Chocolate Chicken, by Rosemary Wells

K: The Umbrella, by Jan Brett; or Score One for the Sloths, by Helen Lester (contrast with Sloths, by Julie Bach—a nonfiction book)

1st: The Honeybee Man, by Lela Nargi (contrast with Bees, by Kevin J. Holmes--a nonfiction book)

2nd: Meet the Dewey Decimal System and begin using our catalog

3rd: Pierre the Penguin, by Jean Marzollo; "researching your animal" quiz; plus a very special video clip

4th: Continue When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

5th: Continue (finish?!) Schooled, by Gordon Korman

April 22, 2013

4/22/2013

DK: Plants -- The Ant and the Grasshopper, Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley; Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth, by Mary McKenna Siddals; Planting the Wild Garden, by Kathryn Galbraith; The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown; Farm Fresh Cats, by Scott Santoro

K: Cannon: Earth Day: The Cloud Spinner, by Michael Catchpool; More, by I. C. Springman; Vavao & Schneck/Vanderpool, Zorro Gets an Outfit, by Carter Goodrich, and Dog in Charge, by K. L. Going

1st: The Cloud Spinner, by Michael Catchpool

2nd: The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart; and Grandpa Green, by Lane Smith

3rd: Review “Parts of a Book” and PowerPoint on “Which Reference Book?” (CDE MSLS 1.3.l)

4th: The Camping Trip that Changed America, by Barb Rosenstock; then a guide words question using the encyclopedia!

5th: Miss Ladybird’s Wildflowers, by Kathi Appelt; we'll have a wildflowers matching game on hand for anyone who wants to play

April 15, 2013

4/15/2013

DK: Honey in a Hive, by Anne Rockwell; Caterpillars, by Marilyn Singer; Clara the Caterpillar, by Pamela Duncan Edwards

K: Rain Forest -- Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme, by Marianne Berks

1st: Earth day -- Trees: Arbor Day Square, by Kathryn O. Galbraith; contrast with nonfiction* tree books, discuss differences (CDE MSLS 1.3.g);
*nonfiction books--Why Do Leaves Change Color?, by Marian B. Jacobs; Be a Friend to Trees, by Patricia Lauber; Trees, Leaves, and Bark, by Diane L. Burns

2nd: Fletcher & Smith: “Which Reference Book?” for 2d grade; Barney & Moriyama: Fairy tales and Earth Day -- Bigfoot Cinderrrrrella, by Tony Johnston, and also show link for Children’s Film Festival

3rd: Earth Day--Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker

4th: Romines--Guide Words PowerPoint, browsing for nonfiction titles; Rumble, short discussion of Newbery Medal; Hart—Guide Words PowerPoint
All 4th-grade classes: Guide Words / Index contest begins!

5th: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer; trailer for film at SXSW
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/sxsw-william-windmill-trailer-introduces-423296
William Kamkwamba at Ted Talks
http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html

April 8, 2013

4/7/2013

DK: Insects: Miss Spider’s Tea Party, by David Kirk; Old Cricket, by Lisa Wheeler; Centipede’s 100 Shoes, by Tony Ross; The Wacky Wedding, by Pamela Duncan Edwards

K: Rain forests: A Little Book of Sloth, by Lucy Cooke; Letters from Around the World: Costa Rica, by Patrick Cunningham

1st: Earth Day: Animal Conservation – Tarra & Bella: the Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends, by Carol Buckley

2nd: Preparing for STAR testing -- Parts of a book (CDE MSLS 1.3.g) website and online game; also Youtube: “The Joy of Books”

3rd: Earth Day: Animal Conservation -- Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins

4th: Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea, by Tony Johnston

5th: Preparing for STAR testing – “Which Reference Book?” PowerPoint; Guide Words PowerPoint (seen last year)

April 23 to 27, 2012

4/22/2012

DK: Seeds, by Ken Robbins; Planting the Wild Garden, by Kathryn Galbraith; Farm Fresh Cats, by Scott Santoro

K: The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton

1st: Blackout, by John Rocco

2nd: A Place for Birds, by Melissa Sweet

3rd: Sparrow Girl, by Sara Pennypacker

4th: Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins

5th: Ahrens--Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins; Curry and Warner--TBD

April 16 to 20, 2012

4/15/2012

DK: Insects--Roberto, the Insect Architect, by Nina Laden; Clara Caterpillar, by Pamela Duncan Edwards; Army Ant Parade, by April Pulley Sayre

K: Bird, Butterfly, Eel, by James Prosek; AND Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope

1st: Poetry/adopt a pet--Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, by Lee Wardlaw; extra time, something from Once I Ate a Pie, by Patricia MacLachlan

2nd: Ancestor stories--Grandfather's Journey, by Allen Say; OR Two Brothers, by William Jaspersohn; OR When Jessie Came Across the Sea, by Amy Hest

3rd: The Good Lion, by Beryl Markham, adapted and illustrated by Don Brown (introduce literary response method)

4th: The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy), by Barbara Kerley; primary vs. secondary sources

5th: Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins

This week's links

5th: All these links are listed in Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins
List of endangered species, at www.iucnredlist.org
information on endangered species, at www.arkive.org
World Wildlife Fund, at www.wwf.org
Conservation International, at www.conservation.org

April 18 to 22, 2011

4/17/2011

DK: The Matzah Man, by Naomi Howland; What the Sea Saw, by Stephanie St. Pierre; The Umbrella, by Jan Brett, OR Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do you See? by Bill Martin, Jr., OR Max’s Chocolate Chicken, by Rosemary Wells

K: Cannon & Schnek/Freeman--All the Way to the Ocean, by Joel Harper; Vanderpool & Vavao--The World That We Want, by Kim Michelle Toft

1st: Syverson, Hicks, Harding--The World That We Want, by Kim Michelle Toft; Price, a visit from the Roundhouse aquarium

2nd: Fletcher & Smith--The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, by Dan Yacarino; Moriyama--no time for a read-aloud; Barney, a visit from the Roundhouse aquarium

3rd, 4th, 5th: Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter; Rumble and Moreno, a visit from the Roundhouse aquarium; Warner & Ahrens--review of Using Guide Words in reference works

This week's links:

The Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium

The Cousteau Society (2nd)

About the making of the illustrations for Here Comes the Garbage Barge (3rd, 4th, 5th)

What the Sea Saw, by Stephanie St. Pierre

The World That We Want, by Kim Michelle Toft

Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter

April 11 to 15, 2011

4/10/2011

DK: National Poetry Month, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr., for rhythm; Ten Black Dots, by Donald Crews, for rhyme; One Leaf Rides the Wind, by Celeste Davidson Mannis, for stanza, line length, and form (haiku); spring is here, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

K: Frederick, by Leo Lioni; Swimmy, by Leo Lioni

1st: Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf, by Judy Sierra

2nd: Fletcher, Smith, Moriyama: Hotel Deep, by Kurt Cyrus; Barney: The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, by Dan Yacarino

3rd: Hooper, Hunt, Horowitz: National Library Week, That Book Woman, by Heather Henson
Moreno: Here Comes the Garbage Barge, by Jonah Winter, with film about the making of the book

4th: Romines, Hart: Basho and the River Stones, by Tim Myers;
Rumble: Here Comes the Garbage Barge, by Jonah Winter, with film about the making of the book

5th: Wabi Sabi, by Mark Reibstein

This week's links:

Recommended for grades 2 through 5, for National Poetry Month:
Educational Technology Training Center "Instant Poetry Forms" online poetry generator

The Cousteau Society (Mrs. Barney's class)

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (E FLE)

That Book Woman, by Heather Henson, illustrated by David Small (borrowed from the County of Los Angeles Public Library)

Wabi Sabi, by Mark Reibstein, illustrated by Ed Young (E REI), nominee for the 2012 California Young Reader Medal