What We're Reading ~ Valentine Favorites

Check out what we're reading on this "love"-ly day!!

Franklin's Valentines by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark

Franklin is getting ready for his class' Valentine party, but he has lost all of his valentines.  He is so sad when he does not have cards to give to his friends.  In the true spirit of friendship, Franklin's friends reassure him that it's not what you give, but what kind of friend you truly are!

One Zillion Valentines by Frank Modell

Since Marvin and Milton do not have money to buy Valentines, they decide to make them for their whole neighborhood. 

 

Love, Splat by Rob Scotton   

Splat has a special Valentine in mind for a cute girl named Kitten.  But Spike also likes Kitten.  Splat tries to win her heart on Valentine's Day.

What stories do you like to share on Valentine's Day?

Alexis

Using Storybird to Write Stories

Do your students love to write stories, but hate to draw?  Do you teach little ones who can dictate a story to you, but have a hard time "writing" a story?  Are you a "non-artist?"  Then Storybird is for you!

This wonderful site can be used by all grade & age levels to write stories using beautiful illustrations.   

Early Childhood:  The class can choose an illustrator that appeals to them and use the pictures to dictate a story to an adult.

Elementary and higher:  At this age level, the individual students could choose their illustrations and write their own stories.  The program also has a feature where you can use your own illustrations.

 

The site is extremely user friendly.  The user can just drag and click the illustrations of their choice.  They can then type their words into the text boxes.  


Teachers:  This can be used to add your students' names to a class and the teacher can then add assignments that follow a theme that the students will create stories for.  There is even a fundraising component where the students' stories could be used to raise money for the school.


If you're anything like me, then you aren't the best artist.  Storybird is the site for budding writers without artistic abilities.

Have you ever tried Storybird?  How would you use it in your classroom or your home?


Alexis

A Thanksgiving Tradition Using Picture Books

Every year in my classroom I like to teach the concept of Pilgrims and Native Americans using picture books.  It doesn't matter what grade I teach, I always use the same stories.

 

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl is told through the eyes of a Pilgrim girl recently after the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock.  The students like to read this and compare Sarah's life to their own.

Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy is a lot like Sarah Morton, but told through a Pilgrim boy's point of view.  These two characters have a lot in common, yet are extremely different since boys had different types of chores to do and were viewed in a different light.  This book is interesting because there was actually a passenger on the Mayflower named Samuel Eaton.

Tampenum's Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times is told through the perspective of a Native American boy during this same time period.

The lesson:

• Each day in class, I read a different book.  We compare and contrast ourselves to the characters.
• Once we have read about Sarah Morton and Samuel Eaton, we create a Venn diagram to compare the two characters.
• On the third day, after we have read about Tampenum, we create a 3 circle Venn diagram to compare the three children.  
• On the final day, the children create character masks to symbolize the character that they liked best.  On the back of the decorated mask, the student lists the character's qualities that made them choose him/her.

These wonderful stories helped to bring the lives of Pilgrims and Wampanoags a little closer to my students.  The concept becomes more concrete after reading these stories.

How do you teach about the early settlers to the New World?

Alexis