We Are in a Book!

For my book talk, I chose We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems. It is part of the Elephant and Piggie series and was published in 2010. In this book, the two main characters, Elephant and Piggie, discover that they are being read by a reader. The whole book is a dialogue between Elephant and Piggie. Throughout the book, they even make the reader read aloud words. I chose this book because I loved it as soon as I read it in our library at Rider. When I went into the field, I noticed that this book was a favorite of my kindergarteners. When my kindergartners had library, they all rushed to the Elephant and Piggie series to check them out. I like this books because it is a one of the most unique childrens' book I have read and it is humorous. Not only is a lighthearted book, but it shows the readers the structure of a book through Elephant and Piggie's dialogue. It is done in a fun way that the children do not even realize it. This book shows the reader where the page numbers are in the book, how the reader is reading Elephant and Piggie's dialogue through word bubbles, and how the book has an ending. Lastly, this book encourages the children to want to read this book again because at the end of the story, Elephant and Piggie ask the reader "Will you please read us again?"

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

By: Laura Joffe Numeroff 

Useful While in a Classroom Setting

- Helpful for creating predictions

- Cause and effect relationships

-Recalling the sequenced text

Activities

- Retelling story map

-Beginning-middle-end sequencing

-Write their own version of the story with them being the mouse

-Prediction charts

Big Pumpkin

I chose Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman and illustrated by S. D. Schindler because its theme is relevant for this time of the month. It has a witch, a ghost, a vampire, a mummy, a bat, and a pumpkin, which are all things kids see and hear about during October for Halloween. The witch plants a pumpkin seed and intends to make pumpkin pie. When the pumpkin grows to be too big to pick up, each character takes a turn trying to pick the pumpkin from the vine. Then they work together to pick it and it comes off and the witch is able to make her pumpkin pie that they all enjoy together.

I think this book would be great to use in a kindergarten or first grade classroom because of the rhyming and repetitive use of lines. It is something that will keep students engaged and I can use it to have the students help me finish a sentence if they catch on. Also, there is big illustrations on each page that depict what the words are describing so it can also be used for independent reading where a student can either read the words or the illustrations and have an understanding of what it is about (RL.1.7). Some standards that I would meet as a teacher in doing this would be to discuss who the author and illustrator are and what each of their jobs consist of (RL.K.6). Also, the students can write and/or draw a picture of an alternate ending or their favorite part of the book (W.K.6).

Ten in the Bed

  I choose the book Ten in the Bed, this book shows that everyone needs friends. It also ties in math with a real world lesson. Throughout the book there is addition and subtraction. At the beginning of the book there are ten animals in the bed. The main character is a little boy who keeps telling the animals to roll over. Everytime he tells them to roll over one falls off. This happens until he is the only one in the bed. That illustrates subtraction. Then the boy is lonely because he is the only one still in the big bed, so he tells them all to come back onto the bed. So the boy is no longer cold and lonely. They all go back to bed and back to sleep. 
   This book can be used at the beginning of a math lesson as a mini lesson. It can introduce counting to children before it is taught. It could be used as a read aloud in morning meeting to get the students thinking. They can try to make predictions on what they think will happen through out the story. Do they think he will end up sleeping all by himself or will his friends come back to keep him company. I like this book because it can be used in different subjects. I like that it can be used as a mini lesson before math or a morning meeting book that can reinforce making predictions.

I Wish that I had Duck Feet

I chose this book because everyone always wanted to change something about themselves, whether is was their hair or even if they had duck feet.  Throughout this book the little boy is wishing he had something that would make him special and would make everyone like him better.  First it was duck feet then it goes to deer antlers, whale spout, a long tail, and then an elephant trunk.  After he decides on one that he would want, he comes to the realization that if he had such a thing he would either not be allowed inside his own house or he would be put to work doing house hold chores, among other things.  At the end he decides that he would be all of the things he wished he had put together, and he would be called a Which-What-Who.  He soon thought better of that after he imagined himself being put away in a zoo.  In the end he wished nothing more than to just be himself, which was the best of all.
I would read this book to kids because it sends an important message to everyone at any age:  you don't need anything else to be one of a kind, being yourself is special already.  Since it is a Doctor Seuss book there is rhyming galore in it, so I would see if the kids would know what would be coming up at the end of the page.  I could also see if they could predict what would happen if he did have that elephant spout.  Would he be able to stay inside? There are also great illustrations in this book. The kids could come up with drawings for their own "I Wish that I had"  and then predict what would happen if they actually did have it.

The Teacher from the Black Lagoon

For book talk I chose a book from a series by Mike Thaler titled The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. I specifically remember being read this book in a library class when I was in grade school. For that reason, I loved it. It's a part of a series with similar titles and themes. For classroom purposes, I really liked the idea of using it as a first day of school read aloud. Many students are often very anxious about the first day of school, I know I still get nervous before meeting my new professors in anticipation of if rumors are true. That is kind of how the book begins, the boy finds out he has Mrs. Green, she "is supposed to be a real monster." As the story unfolds, turns out Mrs. Green is a large green monster, and she does not hesitate to breathe fire or use special powers. The remaining boy, falls asleep in class and wake up to a pretty blonde teacher, "I'm Mrs. Green, your teacher." He realizes it was all apart of some freakish nightmare all stemming from his apprehension of what his first day of school would bring. There are a number of activities and things to gain from this read aloud. Students can easily connect to this story, they can make real life connections and share what they felt on the first day of school either in writing or sharing during class discussion. Also, there are a lot of characters in the story that are other students and other teachers; students can compare & contrast different characters and could even illustrate what they looked like. This story in particular could be used for students to identify beginning, middle, and end of the book. For a younger group, illustrating a favorite part, or creating their own scary monster teacher could be a good follow up activity.

Is Your Mama a Llama?

For my book talk, I chose to read “Is Your Mama a Llama?” written by Deborah Guarino and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. The main character in this story is a Llama named Lloyd. He is on the search to discover his mother's identity and repeatedly asks his friends if their mamas are llamas. His friends are comprised of an assortment of animals including a bat, a swan, a cow, a seal, and a kangaroo – all of which do not resemble a llama. Near the end of the story, Lloyd sees his friend, Llyn, who is also a llama. Llyn explains to Lloyd that both of their mamas are llamas.

This book serves as a good resource for an elementary school curriculum. Since pictures play an important role in the story, it provides a great opportunity to discuss the differences between the jobs of an author and an illustrator. The story, begins with Lloyd asking Dave the Bat if his mama is a llama and Dave replies with a riddle. The rhyming words and riddles throughout the story allow the students to predict what type of animal Lloyd’s friends are. As the story continues, Lloyd asks if he is related to animals in which he shows no resemblance, providing a silly storyline with which students can read along. This story allows students to develop key prediction skills, which are useful when reading any work.