Read-Aloud Tuesday! Oct 28

Welcome!  It’s my third year of reading aloud in my son’s Montessori classroom (ages 3-6), and the second year of blogging about the books we share.

It’s almost Halloween, which means some special, spooky stories!  Plus a special wind-themed story, as it’s been very, VERY windy!

Click Clack Boo: a tricky treat by Doreen Cronin

Farmer Brown doesn’t like Halloween – not the creepy sounds, not the trick-or-treaters, nothing.    When he hears unexpected sounds outside, he huddles down in bed and hides – until a quack, quack, quackle noise draws his attention.  The gang of animals, including clever Duck, is back in this sequel geared for young readers.  Be sure to read Click Clack Moo: cows that type, too!  Share with ages 2-6.

Dog and Bear: tricks and treats by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

In three short stories, best friends Dog and Bear prepare for Halloween: they shop for costumes, welcome trick-or-treaters, and do their own trick-or-treating.  Each story is perfectly pitched to the audience: Bear mistakes his reflection for himself, Dog misunderstands what “Trick or Treat?” really means, and their costume choices are identical.  Every Dog and Bear book is welcomed by kids, and it’s one of our favorite series in our home.  Share with ages 4-7.

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

Jasper Rabbit’s done it: he’s been eating tons of free carrots from Crackenhopper Field, and now they’re following him!   These creepy carrots are in his house, in his bedroom…but no one else can see them?  What’s a rabbit to do?  With one of the more clever endings I’ve seen in a picture book, this one garnered rave reviews from the students.  Peter Brown’s black/white/orange illustrations are spot-on and add to the dramatic, creepy tone.  Highly recommended.  Share with ages 3+.

Windblown by Édouard Manceau

What happens when seven shapes – pictured on the cover – are arranged?  They form a chicken, or a bird, or a fish!  Each animal believes he is the true owner of the shapes, but it’s the powerful wind that’s blown them together and that leave the shapes, disassembled, so the reader may continue the creation.  This minimalist title would go great with a printed set of Manceau’s shapes for readers to engage with after the story.  Share with ages 3-8.

Halloween-ish Picture Books

While pulling books for the Halloween display at school, I realized that some of the best titles out there aren’t traditionally thought of as “Halloween books”…but they fit perfectly in the category.  From nonfiction to folklore, beginner readers to award-winners, these books are decidedly Halloween-ish: a bit spooky, a bit scary, but nary a mention of the candy-and-costume holiday.  With common Halloween characters and themes, these titles are perfect for those in need of a non-Halloween book or looking to mix up their October reading selections.

Note: J-girl and my boy H, watching me download pics, commented positively on almost all of these books.  These titles have kid-approval!

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

A young bunny, happily stealing carrots from the local patch, gets an unexpected surprise one day: the carrots seem to be following him!  Caldecott Honor Award.

Hoodwinked by Arthur Howard

Young Mitzi the witch is desperate for a creepy pet and is unprepared when a cute, cuddly furball shows up on her doorstep.

I  Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

When Ethan’s under the bed monster, Gabe, goes on vacation, he’s unable to sleep and must interview other scary types to fill in until Gabe returns.

A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart

An engaging nonfiction narrative about the importance and usefulness of bats within our communities and world.

The Tailypo: a ghost story retold by Paul Galdone

After its tail gets chopped off , a faceless creature haunts the woodsman until the tail is returned.  NOTE: VERY SCARY. Share with ages 8+.  A classic folktale.

Bone Soup by Cambria Evans

When no one shares food with Finnigin, a hungry skeleton, he persuades a town of other creepy creatures to cook up a pot of tasty Bone Soup. A version of the classic folktale Stone Soup.

The Monstore by Tara Lazar

Zack visits the Monstore, hidden underneath a candy shop, hoping to find a monster scary enough to keep his sister from entering his room.

Fly Guy and the Frankenfly by Tedd Arnold

Young Buzz falls asleep one night, dreaming that his pet Fly Guy turns into Frankenfly!  An I Can Read book perfect for emerging readers!

Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace

A vampire girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and perseveres with hard work and the support of her family.

Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott

A young boy takes over his dad’s barber shop each full moon, giving haircuts to the scariest guys in town.

Library Lessons: Oct 28 – Nov 1

Kindergarten:  The day after Halloween!  Observation day!  Week 3 of our Arthur Howard study!  Phew.  I saved Hoodwinked for this week as one final Halloween treat.  Goals included: author / illustrator, spine label information, and introducing the nonfiction section of the library.  Since the story featured pets, I highlighted the 600’s.  Additionally, K’s just began studying animals in their classroom and were introduced to PebbleGo Animals in the computer lab.

Based on this week’s list of words / phrases used to describe the story, I know one area to work on: not allowing the words funny, cool, and interesting to be used.  Labeling a story in just a handful of descriptive, specific words is a hard skill for the K’s.  Maybe 3 different words / phrases (rather than 5) would be better…

Oh, and the observation.  It didn’t happen (minor building emergency).  However, I chose this week to tape myself teaching, as watching a video of yourself at work is The Best professional development for any teacher / librarian out there.  I mentioned this to my principal later in the afternoon, and she will accept the full video in lieu of coming in.  This is either good news or bad news…

2nd Grade:  Teaching on Halloween is tough enough.  Add costumes and classes that fall either directly before or after the classroom party, and that’s what I had this year.  Enter a 2013 WCCPBA nominee:

Now, it’s not a Halloween story…but the art, design, color and overall creepiness worked perfectly.  My students *loved* this book.  I love this book.  Afterwards, I asked students to consider this question: How would the story have been different if it had been illustrated with all the colors, not just black/white/orange?  Would it have been better?  Worse?  Why?  A quick think-pair-share later, and almost everyone agreed: less is more when it came to the colors used.

Being cognizant of the holiday – and the level of distraction – reading, we watched a couple of short videos after reading:

Peter Brown explains his artistic process for Creepy Carrots!  I only showed a bit of this one, as I know I have some students who are easily scared.

With almost all of my students partaking in trick-or-treating, Scaredy Squirrel’s tips were well-received.  Bonus: all of my Scaredy Squirrel books got checked out!

3rd Grade:  Three classes the morning of Halloween…one of which also had a field trip immediately after library class.  Good thing I had a solid lesson planned: week 2 of accessing Destiny.  This week’s goals: independently log in to Destiny, do one of the following (a) place a hold / (b) write a review / (c) make a recommendation, locate and use MyQuest to access inbox,  log off.  I modeled all of the expectations before sending the students off to their work stations.

Each student had a computer, and there was lots of focused work for about 10-15 minutes!  One of the major teaching points during the lesson: if students want to get a recommendation, they should write a recommendation to another.   I model this with the students, as I always have lots of recommendations in my inbox.  If someone takes the time to write to me, I should write back.  Students watched as I modeled this expectation.  As I say, it’s simply good online etiquette.  All students received a Destiny bookmark to take home, as they can access the catalog from any Internet connection.