Look At What Came In The Mail Today

I couldn't Wait To Open It: 

This is a brand new story.

This beautiful new story was written by a fellow teacher, musician, story writer, Kirk J. Mueller, here in So CA.  It is beautifully illustrated and would be a wonderful resource to use for sequencing events, re-telling a story, discussing story elements such as characters, setting, problem & solution, and learning about marsupials.  This book has it all!!!

You can talk about the beach setting.

You will LOVE they rhyming text and the whimsical illustrations.

You can talk about the author an illustrator.

It Includes Informational Text Too:

You can talk about the characters in this fiction book
 AND the real animals at the end of the book.

As an added bonus, there are all kinds of fun facts about animals, mostly marsupials, at the end of the story.  This is a great way to compare fiction and informational text all in one place.

You Can Find Out More Here:

Click any of the images to go to the web site for this awesome book.

CLICK HERE to see Kirk's website.

CLICK HERE to buy this new hardback book.             

CLICK HERE to buy this new soft back book.  

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See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

Please Come to My Party...

Thank you, I will if you invite...

Scroll to the bottom for non-Halloween ideas.

Do you love the story,  Witch, Which Come To My Party, as much as I do?  

It's by Arden Druce and illustrated by Pat Ludlow.

The illustrations are amazing and the story creates a "circle story" that ends up exactly where it began.

The illustrations are filled with hidden clues like the wolf hiding behind the tree.

My kids made their own version...

 ... to take home and read to their parents.  

But wait... you don't have to stick with the Halloween theme.  You can choose ANY THEME:

Thanksgiving, Christmas, any holiday, any story, nursery rhyme characters.  The choices are endless.

Here is an example of our Halloween theme:

Click the image.

They got to choose any characters they wanted, I wrote them down on lined Post-its, and they copied and illustrated.  

The pumpkin wanted to invite the cat, and the vampire wanted to invite the skeleton.

Since I am teaching a TK/K combination class, the T.K. kids got to create only 3 pages and the kindergarten kids got to create 5 pages.  Each character invites a new character, but the last one invites the very first character so the story can start all over again.  

They had so much fun thinking up new characters to invite.

The best part was that we got to have a nice discussion about CHARACTERS.  

We were able to complete 3-5 pages in a 30 minute small group setting.  Then, they got to read their own story to a friend before taking it home.  It was a huge hit!

Here are the new templates I made for you:

Click the image.

Just imagine writing this book with a nursery rhyme theme:  

"Jack, Jack, please come to my party."  "Thank you, I will, if you invite Jill."

"Jill, Jill, please come to my party."  "Thank you, I will, if you invite Little Bo Peep."

"Bo Peep, Bo Peep, please come to my party."  "Thank you, I will, if you invite Little Boy Blue."

You get the idea  :o)

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See you all tomorrow!

Palma :) 

Another One Of My Favorite Things

There Was An Old Lady...

Do you have lots of these books?  So do I and the kids LoVe them too.  Here is something that will make these books come alive and reinforce sequencing skills with your little ones.

There was an old lady who swallowed a....

1.  I make color copies on white card stock of all of the parts the old lady eats.

2.  I number them on the back so I know the order they should go in.

3.  I laminate them so they last for years. 

4.  I buy a clothespin bag (the ones that come with a little hanger inside) and decorate it to look like the old woman.  I found this one at The Dollar Store many years ago.  Use any decorations, pom-poms, lace, etc.  Just use a glue gun and secure them in place.  

Then, as you read the story, just have the kids come up and place the parts into her big mouth in the correct order.  The fun part is if the story says she sneezed or burped up all the things she ate and you can pour them out of the bag.  

Storage tip:  I keep the parts for each story in their own sandwich size zipper bag labeled with the name of the story.  All of the bags fit in the clothespin bag.  I hang the clothespin bag up on a hook and all of the parts are there in one place when I need them.  

Hope you liked today's tip.

(Can you tell that school has started and I can't post as often?  

It's back to my 10-12 hour days at school.)

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

The Cutest Tool EVER To Teach Sequencing From These Famous Books...

There Was An Old Lady Who...

We all have one, or several, of these "There Was An Old Lady..." books.  But how do you bring them to life?

You turn the clothespin bag into an old lady!

Well I picked up one of these clothes pin holders.  (I'm so old that I actually used these when I was a kid when I hung the wash out for my mom.)

The opening becomes her mouth and you can decorate her with anything you have on hand.

I have used this "well-loved" old lady for years!

You can even create hands and feet from construction paper and just laminate them for durability.

Remember, she is old, so give her some gray or white (cotton balls?) hair, maybe some glasses, and just go crazy with your glue gun.

Make colored copies of the things she ate on white card stock, laminate the pieces, and let your kids put them into her mouth as you read the story!  Number the back of each piece for a sequencing activity.   Store each set in its own Zip-lock bag.

You can find loads of other cool, no-cost or $5.00 or less, ideas on our Pinterest Boards.

Click the image to see ALL of our boards.  

Remember to "keep the FUN in the FUNdamentals" and 

I'll See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)