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Mentor Text for Making Inferences

Book Talk Tuesday: Making Inferences with Du Iz Tak by Carson Ellis

We are working on Making Inferences this week in second grade.  Making Inferences can be tough for second graders, so we practice a lot! This week we are Making Inferences with Carson Ellis’ Du Iz Tak! This beautifully illustrated book is sure to be LOVED by your class. A series of bugs (speaking bug no less) find a sprout and are curious to see what it is all about. They decide to put it to use but have to contend with a spider, a bird, and a flower.  All the while there is a caterpillar who is going through metamorphosis

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Snappsy the Alligator

Mentor Text for List Writing

This week I am talking about Snappsy the Alligator!  (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book!) by Julie Falatko. Mentor Text for List Writing Book Talk Tuesday: Snappsy the Alligator book with fun, list writing reading response! Check it out! My kiddos LOVED this book!  Poor Snappsy didn’t want to be in this book, yet and annoying narrator is following him around describing his every step!  My kiddos LOVED this book!  Poor Snappsy didn’t want to be in this book, yet an annoying narrator is following him around describing his every step! I love it that you can find some

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Read Aloud: Shy with Free Reading Response

Book Talk Tuesday: Shy with a Free Reading Response

Welcome to another Book Talk Tuesday!  I am so glad that you stopped by! This week I want to talk about Shy by Deborah Freedman.  I found this book in a list of the best books of last year by the Nerdy Book Club!   You can find their post about this lovely book HERE. So, without further ado: Oh my goodness!  This is an absolutely beautiful book!  The illustrations are gorgeous. This is a book about Shy, who is, as you can probably guess…shy. He prefers to live between the pages of a book.  His favorite books are the

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They All Saw A Cat Activity

Book Talk Tuesday: They all Saw a Cat

They All Saw A Cat Book Talk Tuesday Today I want to talk about a wonderful book called: They All Saw Cat by Brendan Wenzel.  Hang in there!  I have a little freebie for you at the end! 🙂     This lovely little book is all about perspective.  As you go through the pages, the cat doesn’t change, you just get to see the cat from the eyes of the other characters in the story. This book is a wonderful way to introduce the concept of perspective to your students.  Each character in the story who sees the cat

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Book Talk Tuesday (on Wednesday): A Unicorn Named Sparkle!

Hello again!  Today I have a fun new book to share!  A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young.  I also have a freebie Story Map to go along with the story at the end of the post! Unicorn books are very popular now a days!  This is an adorable little book about a little girl who sends off a quarter to get a unicorn that she plans to name Sparkle When her unicorn shows up, it isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but she grows to love her less than perfect unicorn friend!   This book has a lot

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read aloud for character traits

Fun Read Aloud for Character Traits

Welcome back for another Book Talk Tuesday!  This week I want to share with you an adorable book by Kate Beaton: The Princess and the Pony!       Fun Read Aloud for Character Traits! If you have not yet discovered The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton, you need to go out and get it RIGHT NOW!  Don’t worry…I’ll wait.   This book has it ALL!  Warriors, battle, intrigue (new square balls), cozy sweaters, and the cutest, roundest, pony (who has a bit of a farting problem).  What more could one want in a book? This is such

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Fun Christmas Read-Aloud!

I LOVE reading Christmas stories to my students!  Especiall so with this fun Christmas Read-Aloud by Jan Brett: The Animals’ Santa! Fun Christmas Read-Aloud: The Animal’s Santa! The Animals’ Santa is beautifully illustrated Christmas Story just like all of Jan Brett’s books! It is a story of Little Snow and his brother discussing the Animals’ Santa. Little Snow is not sure that he believes that there is an Animals’ Santa who brings all of the animals gifts at Christmas. My kiddos really enjoyed this story!  When we finished reading, we did a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the Animals’ Santa with

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Christmas Read Aloud: Rock Star Santa!

Christmas Read Aloud

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  So, it is time to talk about a fun Christmas Read Aloud! Book Talk Tuesday today is about a great Christmas read aloud: Rock Star Santa by Gayle C. Krause.   This is a fun rhyming book about one kid’s dream about a-rockin’ Christmas Eve concert starring Santa and his Rockin’ Reindeer!   This is a great book to talk about making predictions, endings, and even a little letter writing! I have made a fun bookmark reading response to go with this gem.  On the front, your students can create their own

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writing a description with beanie babies

Fun Writing a Description Lessons with Beanie Babies

I really enjoy teaching writing a description to my second graders! I make it highly engaging with Secret Snacks, Beanie Babies, and technology! 1. Writing a Description of a Mystery Snack As a team, we start with each class choosing a “mystery” snack.  I do a whole mini-lesson about using our senses to write a description.  Then, they get their paper with the graphic organizer, and a snack, and go back to their seats to write.  Of course, they also get to eat their snack!  The next step is to come back together to write a detailed description of the snack that we shared.

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The Care and Feeding of My Classroom Library Part 1 : Organization!

I have been a teacher now for 17 years.  My biggest passion as a teacher is teaching children how to read and love books.  When you walk into my classroom, the first thing that you notice (besides the bright orange couch) is my book collection.   I have a problem passion for collecting books for my classroom library!   So, just for fun, a rough estimate mind you, I probably have over 2,000 books in my little classroom library.  I believe the best way to get children interested in reading is to give them a choice in what they read.  Of

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Book Talk Tuesday: We Found a Hat.

Today’s Book Talk Tuesday is about this great little book by Jon Klassen called We Found a Hat.  He is also know for two other “hat” books:  I Want My Hat Back and This is Not My Hat. I love them all! This book is a lovely tribute to friendship in three parts.  “We” are two turtles who come upon a hat.  It looks good on both of them, but there are two turtles and only one hat!  They decide that they will leave the hat and try to forget about it and move on with their lives.  This is

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Stop, “I Don’t Know What to Write About!” during Writer’s Workshop!

  Hello all!  Thank you so much for stopping by!   Today I want you to stop for a moment and re imagine Writing Prompts. Usually when I think of writing prompts, I think of a narrow, specific task that the students need to address.  What if I told you that Writing Prompts could be fun, scaffolded, and engaging?  What if I even told you that your kiddos would ask for them during Writer’s Workshop or Writing Centers (even your most reluctant writers)?       Let me introduce: Pick a Prompts and Story Starter Cootie Catchers!   First up:

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