Christine Balcarcel

It seems that no one is able to forget their favorite childhood book. When I was younger, my favorite book was The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. At the time it may have only been my favorite because of the bright and colorful illustrations. Today, however, I see that this story has a great lesson for young students.

The story is about a young fish that has scales more bright and beautiful than all the other fish. When asked to share his scales he refuses, because he does not want to lose his beauty. By the end of the book, Rainbow fish realizes that sharing his fins not only makes the other fish happy, but he finds joy in sharing as well. This story teaches students that it is more important to share, and to be a good friend than it is to have material posessions.

This is a great book to share with a kindergarten or first grade classroom because many students at that age will have trouble learning to share, especially when they are first starting out at school and having to share classroom objects with their new classmates.

Jennifer Wolff's Favorite Childrens Book

After reading the topic for this week's blog, I couldn't just pick one favorite children's book. Throughout my whole life I've loved reading. I was probably one of the "losers" in the class with my nose buried in a book. Now, I believe books are an escape; however, when I was in elementary school, depending on the age, I loved the pictures and tones of the books. When I was younger, like first or second grade, I couldn't read that well. I had to leave the classroom for speech and reading, so I was never with my classmates. I didn't want to be the only student leaving, so that would make me work ten times harder at home. Before bed, my mother would always read me a book. I remember my favorite, at this time, was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. After reading the books, my mom would always explain to me the importance of each book. I think that is why I loved the giving tree so much. She would explain that the tree was never selfish, and someone always has something to give, no matter how big or small. I could reflect this onto my life because at the time, I felt I was the "stupid" one. I would always think to myself, "why would anyone need my help?" My mom would explain that I always have something to give/help others with and I should always try. Therefore, I believe I can easily incorporate this book into my classroom. Even during the first week I would read this book to my students and explain that we want to have a "giving" atmosphere in the classroom. No matter how big or small, we can always help others. For a younger age, I could give them a picture of the tree, and they could draw it. I could even create a discussion between the students and each student could say something their good at, and could maybe help another.

My second favorite book during Elementary School was Holes by Louis Sachar. My teacher read this book to my class during fifth grade, and I remember always being intrigued. I have not read this book since fifth grade, but I loved it. I do not know if it is the way the author wrote the book, or if it was the way my teacher read it, but it was great. My teacher was the fun type that would always change his voice for different characters to make it more fun. I have never been the type of reader that likes a type of book like holes, but it opened my eyes to the possibility. I always liked the sappy animal, or princess books, and Holes was the first actual mystery book I read. I think I could incorporate this into my classroom if I'm at an older grade, and even just read it to my students. After I read a chapter, we could discuss what happened. The students could even fill out worksheets or split into groups and explain what they think will happen next to work on predicting. I think there is a lot I could do with this book, I would just have to dig deeper.

Here are links to amazon.com where I found the books:

http://www.amazon.com/Holes-Louis-Sachar/dp/0439244196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253031055&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Giving-Tree-Shel-Silverstein/dp/B000NY2R40/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253031111&sr=1-2

One Of My Favorite Children's Books (Emilea Bade)

One of my favorite books when I was growing up was King Bidgood's in the Bathtub. In this story, King Bidgood is in the bathtub and no one can seem to talk him into getting out. Throughout the book the entire court, including characters such as the knight, duke, and queen, try out their own ways to attempt to draw King Bidgood from his bath. In the end the page is the one to solve the problem and get King Bidgood out of the bathtub, I encourage you to read this story to discover what his solution was!
When I was growing up this was one of my favorite books that my mother read to me, and she will tell you that she had to read it quite often. I really enjoyed the storyline of the book, because hearing all of the character's solutions to the problem was entertaining. Beyond the storyline, however, I was also intrigued by the illustrations. The pictures in the book are from the Renaissance time period and they are extremely detailed with an interesting color scheme. The illustrations even have a dark Renaissance feel to them making you feel like you are there in that particular time period. The pictures were a large part of what made this book interesting to me and I never got tired of looking at them while my mom read me the story.
The story line of this book would be great to use in the lower grades because it promotes problem solving through a story. The students can see how all of the different members of the court had different ways of approaching the same problem. They can also see how when one solution doesn't work instead of giving up the court members came up with new ideas to try. Another skill this story portrays is working together because all of the court member's ideas were needed to solve the problem. The book can also be beneficial in the higher grades if students are learning about the Renaissance time period because the illustrations are very telling of the time period. Not only could this be helpful in history it could also be helpful if you are talking about the Renaissance time period in art. Because of all of these connections, this book would be beneficial for teachers to have because it can serve many purposes in the classroom.

This book can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/King-Bidgoods-Bathtub-Musical-Caldecott/dp/0152055789/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252973261&sr=8-1

Children's Literature Lesson: Hannah's Favorite Book!

As a child I loved to read; now I find that frustrating because I seem to never have time for anymore “free reading.” An absolute favorite book has always been “Love You Forever” by Robert N Munsch. The book tells of a young mother singing to her child every night after she made sure he was asleep. As “he grew and he grew” her words remained "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be.” Even after he moved out into an apartment she would sometimes visit and sing to him. At the end of the book it shows the once young child as a grown man picking up his elderly mother and singing to her but replacing the last line with “my mommy you’ll be”; he then returned home to his house and sang the original version to his new baby.
My mom has read this book to me countless times and created her own melody of the song the mother sings to her child. After my parents divorced when I was five I had a hard time coping but this was a book that as a child really showed me my mom’s unconditional love! It has always been something special the two of us have shared. (My three-year-old niece is also now an avid fan!)
While looking for a link for this book I learned of Munsch’s motivation to write it. He told of how his wife had two stillbirths and he continuously had this song in his head until he finally wrote the lyrics down and developed another story out of it.
While it can be viewed as an emotional book I think it may still be used sufficiently in the classroom. It repeats the song continuously throughout the book so it could be a great way to introduce repetition in poetry to the class. Young children frequently write stories about their family, pets and other sorts so after reading this book you could have them write a short story or poem about someone or something they are close to while using their own repetitious chorus as Munsch does in “Love You Forever”.

To purchase visit:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-You-Forever-Robert-Munsch/dp/0920668364

Jada's Favorite Book E342 Wednesday

Throughout my years of schooling I have read a countless number of books both for enjoyment and out of requirement. Most of them were decent, a few choice ones I would read again and there were those that one time was more than enough. The one book that has stuck with me as being my absolute favorite book is “I’m Glad I’m Your Mother” by Bill and Kathy Horlacher. My mother had been reading this book to me for so long that I do not even remember the first time I heard it. It has always just been there. The story focuses on reasons why a mother is proud of and thankful for her child. It uses several different combinations of mothers and children, of all different ethnicities. The reasons why the mother’s are proud are not over the top achievements, but the little everyday good they notice in their kids. Some of the reasons are, opening the door for a mother who has her arms full of groceries, helping a lost cat find its home or saying sorry when you have done something wrong. I enjoy this book because it shows kids that there are so many little things they can do, and that ultimately just being themselves, as the book ends along the lines of, “I’m glad I’m your mother simply because you are you” is enough. This book is a level 1 reader so it would be a simple book for students of a younger age, but also valuable for students in the older grade levels. It is a good book for getting students moving towards reading on their own as it repeats the phrase “I’m glad I’m your mother” followed by a new reason. It also rhymes, so perhaps, I, as the teacher could read one page and then the student, knowing the first phrase and that the second phrase has to rhyme, could more readily figure it out on their own. A reason I especially appreciate this book is that, as I said before, it represents families of all different ethnicities, hitting home that all people and children especially are valued just for being themselves. I like that it is a positive and uplifting book that shows that people sometimes do bad things, but that wrongs can be made right with a little effort. This book would be a great introduction to any mother’s day activities as well as an opening for conversation about what students do individually to help their families and friends. It would also be a nice book for around thanksgiving time as students think of reasons why they are thankful for their parents.

E342 Wednesday Kelly Reeder

This past summer I worked at an early childhood development center and found myself reading books to children all day long. Depending on the activities that we were doing each day, the teachers would choose a book that somewhat fit that event. One day our soccer lessons got canceled due to a storm, so we had to stay inside. That was the day that I found my favorite children's book of all time. The book is called Thunder Cake. Not only am I in love with the book, the author, Patricia Polacco, is also a favorite of mine. She writes many creative children’s books, but this particular one I found very interesting. It is about a young girl who goes to visit her grandmother during a very large storm. The young girl has always been afraid of thunder but knows that every time a storm comes her grandmother makes her famous cake, Thunder Cake. Even though the young girl is very frightened by the storm, her grandmother insists that she helps her run around their farm to help gather different ingredients for the cake. Since the girl loves Thunder Cake she is determined to help her grandmother gather everything she needs to make the cake. In doing this she has to go out into the storm to collect eggs and milk from the noisy barn. In the end the girl completes her task and they bake her favorite cake. Her grandmother helps her realize that she was very brave for facing her fears. Never again was the girl afraid of thunderstorms, but looked forward to them so that she can have her grandmother’s famous Thunder Cake.
The reason I loved this book was because it taught a very valuable lesson to children. It showed them that facing your fears is very important and that some of the fears that they have can be eliminated by simply facing them. I also thought that reading a story like this on a rainy day could help to calm some of the students who are afraid of storms.
At the end of this book the author gives a recipe for the thunder cake. I made copies of this recipe to send home with families. One little girl in my class liked this book so much that she actually made the thunder cake and brought it in for our class to eat as a special snack. Each time we had another rainy day the children would bring this book out and ask if I would read it to them.
This books can be purchased from this website--> http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Cake-Patricia-Polacco/dp/0698115813

e342wednesday

One of my favorite books as a child was The Giver, written by Lois Lowry. The book is about a perfect world, also known as utopia. Everything their lives are exactly the same and their lives are controlled by the community. There is no color, no hills, or no season changes. There are strict rules such as their spouse will be chosen for them, each family is assigned two children one boy and one girl, their careers are chosen for them, and when you become elderly you live in the house of the old. There is a speaker system that everyone in the community must obey.
As a child in this community all children born throughout one year becomes the exact same age of just plain one. They must follow silly rules that each year group (ex. sevens, eights, or nines) must obey. The children are given their bikes in a specific year, are allowed to wear their hair a certain way depending on their year, or wear certain clothes. The main character in the book is Jonas a boy who is assigned the most important career in the community. He becomes the Receiver of Memories and The Giver, the previous receiver will give Jonas all of the memories of the community. The Giver is the one who hold all of the previous memories such as color, sunshine, snow, sledding, war, and pain. He must give Jonas all of these sensations but throughout his training he must endure all of the physical pain of each memory. Once Jonas begins to understand how everything works and experience all the happy memories he decides he wants to share them with everyone. He comes up with a brilliant plan which is to leave the community and the memories will all be released to the community. Although they will initially be in a sense of panic and experience pain, their eyes will be opened to their own choices and new lives. Jonas's journey is hard and he deals with starvation and different outrageous climate issues. He knows in the end once he escapes his plan will work and be the best decision for his community.


http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780440237686&popup=0

Children's literature lesson

Throughout the years many books have caught my attention. In particular, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was my favorite. With the major themes including magic, mystery, good versus evil, and the problems that come with desires, J. K. Rowling creates a book that is hard to put down for children as well as young adults.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is about an eleven year old boy living in Great Britain, who was taken care of by his uncle after he was informed that both of his parents died in a car crash. Unaware of all his capabilities as well as the knowledge that he is a wizard, he repeatedly gets in trouble. Then one day, owls appear delivering Harry mail. Trying his best to keep Harry away from magic, his uncle attempted everything from closing off the mail entrance, to moving his family out of their house. It is then brought to Harry’s attention that he is a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry then is introduced to an entire other world; a world full of magic. He learns what really happened to his parents the night of the car crash. Harry is quick to learn that not every wizard is good, especially in the wizarding world. Through his adventure as a first year wizard, he makes friends and learns he is a natural at the game Quiditch. His friends and he are also curious about a sorcerer’s stone which allows someone to become immortal. Harry comes across challenges he has never had to dream about but with the aid of his friends he is able to protect the stone by wishing to find it without the thought of actually using it.
This book is one of my favorites because it incorporates many different ideas of fantasy. Nevertheless it is written in a way that the reader has a strong connection and is able to feel for Harry and his friends. Everyone can identify themselves as one of the main characters. In addition, the book is able to touch on numerous themes. In my classroom, one major theme which I would teach is the value of good versus evil. I would start off the class by making a chart and have all my students express to me what the good and evil character traits are. Then throughout the story, I would have them tell me what made the main characters good or bad based on the chart and add additional qualities if they were not listed. I will also have discussion time to elicit my students’ opinion on their favorite and least favorite parts. I would also have a question and answer time. I will read the first half of the chapter to the class and give my students time to finish it in pairs because some of the wording is a little more difficult. In My classroom, I will have a comfortable rug for reading, this way I will provide a very relaxing atmosphere and an enjoyable place to learn and read.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=harry+potter+and+the+sorcerer%27s+stone

Aimee Frantzen's Favorite Children's Book

My favorite book or more, book series, has been my favorite since I was a little girl. Eloise, the main character in the Kay Thompson book It's Me, Eloise, is a voracious little girl living in the Plaza Hotel in New York City with her nanny, and her array of dolls and pets. The premise of the story is that her mother leaves her at the Plaza with her nanny and goes on long extravagant trips and Eloise is left to cause all kinds of trouble. I absolutely adore Eloise because she is sweet, and simply put - a very cute troublemaker. My aunt bought me the book when I was younger claiming I reminded her of Eloise and for that reason I love it. The storyline is funny, witty, and silly, just like me!

Within the classroom I think I might use the book for an "About Me" type project in which I would have my students all pick out stories that reflected something about their own personalities, likes, and dislikes. I would try a project like this sometime in the beginning of school with my students and I would use Eloise as my example. I would also have this book readily available for reading in my own classroom library throughout the year. I say this because the book contains a limited amount of words on each page with a lot of pictures as well as language a child can relate to. My hopes would be that it is an easy read for students at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. Lastly, I really enjoy the message the book gives and I would want to pass this message on to my own students. It's okay to be silly! Eloise is her silly self, she does not try to be someone she is not. She is silly and that's okay!


http://www.amazon.com/Eloise-Ultimate-Kay-Thompson/dp/0689839901/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252718013&sr=1-2

Trisha Bingham's Favorite Children's Book

Ever since I was young, "The Giving Tree" has been my favorite book. It was written by the very famous children's book author, Shel Silverstein. The story is a simple one. A boy and a tree are very good friends. The tree gives the boy anything that he may need. When the boy is hungry, the tree gives him apples. When the boy is hot, the tree gives him shade from the sun. As the boy ages, his requests become greater. The boy wants to sail the ocean, and the tree sacrifices itself for the boy. The boy then cuts down the tree to build his boat. After sailing the seas, the much older boy returns to the current tree stump. The stump informs the boy that it has nothing else give. However, the boy just wants a place to sit and the tree can provide.
I really enjoy this book because of its message. The message is one of caring for others. The tree truly cares for the boy, and continually gives until there is nothing left. The book teaches the reader about the relationship between love and friendship. The tree and boy love each other and it shows itself. The tree just wants to please the boy, and the boy just wants to be with the tree. In my opinion, it's very sweet. Another reason that I like the book is that it can enforce a love of nature. Although the boy cuts down the tree, the boy is still very thankful for all that it has provided.
This book is one that I definitely plan on reading in my future classrooms. I think that I could read this book to teach the children about respect and friendship. Respect is something that needs to exist in the classroom, and the book is fun yet powerful way of showing children what respect looks like. I also want my children to make friends. The tree and the boy are great examples of what friendship should be, and my students could learn a lot from those examples. Finally, I want my students to love the nature that surrounds them. I can do this by explaining the love the boy has for the tree. It becomes a larger example of the love of the natural world.
"The Giving Tree" is an extremely famous children's book, and for good reason. It can be purchased at Amazon.com.

Natalie DiSalvo!

I have a list of tons of my favorite books when I was younger. The early years of elementary school, as I recall, had tons of good books that we either read as a class or the teacher read aloud to us. The two that really stood out to me were “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault and “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch. If I had to choose between the two books I guess I would pick “Love You Forever”. Both of the books are great and could easily be incorporated into a classroom, however, they would work best for Kindergarten or first grade (younger children). “Love You Forever” is about a boy whose mother would rock him back and forth and sing to him each night the same song (I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be). As the son got older, the mother would mention how she was frustrated with him but when it was time for bed the mother would still pick him up, rock him back and forth, and sing her song to him. The story continues through the son’s childhood to adulthood until the mother gets sick. Then, the book had a sudden turn; The son comes to his mother’s house, picks her up, rocks her back and forth, and sings the song his mother sang to him. The ending of the book has the son then come back to his house, pick up his newly born daughter, rock her back and forth, and sing the same song that his mother sang to him. This story gets me all teary-eyed when I read it because I think that it is extremely touching. I think that if a teacher could not find a way to integrate this book into a lesson, then the book should at least be accessible in the classroom for students to read during silent reading time. The book reminds children that no matter what, their parents love them no matter what. A teacher could incorporate this into a classroom when it is close to Mother’s Day. The student’s could make their mother’s a card and the book could be inspiration to them. The teacher must tell students from the beginning that the mother can stand for any person-such as guardians, siblings, fathers, etc. just in case some of the students do not have mothers present in their lives.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=love+you+forever

Lauren Schraut's Children's Literature Book

One of my most fond memories of reading while in elementary school was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. When I was in first grade, we read a number of his books since he was coming to visit our school. Because of this, I began to become very interested in his books.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about a caterpillar that is born and begins to eat vast amounts of food. I believe this book drew my attention, because this caterpillar was eating all types of food and it was quite funny as a first grader to see this animal eating all of this food.
This story is a great one to incorporate into your classroom as a teacher because it can really integrate a variety of subject areas into this one book. This book incorporates eating, numbers, days of the week, and science. When teaching about healthy eating, you can discuss what the caterpillar ate that was and was not healthy. Also, as a teacher I could have the students make a food guide pyramid and list where all the foods the caterpillar ate came from. We could discuss as a class or in small groups if they were healthy choices and possibly why the caterpillar got a stomach ache.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar incorporates science as well. It speaks of the life cycle of a caterpillar which you could use simultaneously while teaching that in the classroom. You can have your students do an art project that follows the life cycle of the caterpillar.
With younger grades you could practice the days of the week as well as your numbers while reading this story.
A very fun way to incorporate this story into art would be to act out this as a play that the students can perform for other classrooms in their grade level or if they have buddies from another grade. They could each have a role and play all the different foods and such. Even as a teacher a twist could be made to the story, you could have the students research what caterpillars eat and they could act out the story in the same way, but with foods that caterpillars would really eat in the wild.
Click HERE to purchase this children's book.