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Favorite December Read Alouds

During the month of December many of my lessons focus on winter holidays around the world. These include books about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali as well as Christmas. Below are 30 of my favorite December read alouds. A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel After destroying all of the gifts and decorations at home, Bad Kitty escapes from the car on Christmas Eve and finds a new friend, who helps her learn the true meaning of Christmas. A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas by Pat Mora Text in English with some Spanish words. Presents an adaptation of the folk song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in which friends exchange gifts such as pinatas and a little girl receives a present from a secret friend whose identity is eventually revealed. A World of Cookies for Santa: Follow Santa’s Tasty Trip Around the World by

Favorite November Read Alouds

As we head into November I want to share with you some of my favorite November read aloud picture books for this month. I have included books about Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and of course turkeys! There are a few nonfiction as well as fiction books. Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet Tells the story of puppeteer Tony Sarg, the man who first invented the helium balloons that have become the trademark of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson Bear has come up with the perfect way to say thanks–a nice big dinner! When Bear decides to throw a feast, his friends show up one by one with different platters of delicious food to share. There’s just one problem: Bear’s cupboards are bare! What is he to do? Coming Home by Ruth Greg Follows the emotions of a young boy as he waits

Thank You Sarah! The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving Book Activities & FREEBIE

Thank You Sarah! The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book that I read every year to my third graders. It is a biography about Sarah Hale, the woman many call the “mother of Thanksgiving.” She was a writer and editor who lived in the 1800’s. She began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote thousands of letters and did not give up until President Abraham Lincoln agreed to make Thanksgiving a holiday in 1863. One reason I enjoy this book so much is that the author turns what could be a rather dry subject into something humorous and entertaining. The illustrations provide extra details to the story and are guaranteed to make your students laugh out loud. The story also provides some historical context including talking about slavery and some of the other issues important during this time. Since I do

Websites to Help Students Find Their Next Read

In this post I am sharing five websites to help students find their next read. You can use these websites yourself or you can teach students how to use them. Either way, they are one more tool that you can use to help encourage a culture of reading with your students. What should I read next? How many times have you been asked this question? I’m sure the number is in the thousands. And it is one of the most important questions we are asked. Helping students to find a book that they will love and want to read is one of the main reasons I became a librarian. I’m sure that’s true for many of you as well. And I will admit that sometimes this question can create some anxiety for me. Recommending a book to a child is a huge responsibility. I’m always afraid that if I

Simple Book Character Costumes

I have always loved book character costume day. In the past my school had this day on the Friday before Halloween. We were looking for a way for students to dress in costume while still focusing on education and not Halloween. A few times we also did it to celebrate Read Across America. These are my favorite ideas for character costumes for students! Most of the students really enjoy this day as well. But I quickly noticed that many students did not really understand what they were supposed to do. They did not understand that their costume had to also be the same as a character found in a book. And some parents did not take the time to discuss it with them either. The first year was a learning experience for me. I was constantly being asked by a student if there was a book with a vampire

Teaching the Research Process

We all know how important it is to teach our students information literacy skills: how to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information. There are several different research or information gathering models available for teaching the research process including the Big 6 and the FINDS model from Florida. However, I do not think you need to use a “formal” model as long as your lesson plans cover these important skills. Teaching the Research Process Starts Here Something to keep in mind is that a research project is more about teaching students the process of finding information, not so much the finished product. While language arts teachers might disagree, there are many ways to teach and assess writing skills. But with a research project, our students need to understand how to find relevant and trustworthy sources, read the information, and analyze it for their purpose. If you look at this picture

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Favorite December Read Alouds

Favorite November Read Alouds

Thank You Sarah! The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving Book Activities & FREEBIE

Websites to Help Students Find Their Next Read

Simple Book Character Costumes

Teaching the Research Process

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