K-3 Book Reviews, Puppets, Colouring, Clip Art
Barbara 
Inside: Sea Otter Inlet Book Review and Activities Looking for a fabulous book about otters? You’ll love Sea Otter Inlet. Title: Sea Otter Inlet Author & Illustrator: Celia Godkin Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1997 Intended Audience: 6 years and up Topic: (Non-fiction) Kelp bed ecology, otters Synopsis (from Amazon): Award-winning author/illustrator Celia Godkin explores the world of the sea otter … Read more
Teaching writing to my first graders is one of my favourite parts of the day. Most of my ideas about effective writing instruction are gleaned from years of reading Regie Routman, Lucy Calkins and Katie Wood Ray. These women don’t know it, but they are my cherished, personal mentors. I strongly believe (as do the authors above) that the single … Read more
Today I’m sharing a math game and then some of what we’re doing with our Ocean unit. MATH We’re reviewing our doubles facts right now. Our game for tomorrow is “Flip and Double” and it involves Smarties! How fun is that? Just click on the image below to grab your own copy. It’s easy to play and the directions are … Read more
Hi Everyone! We’ve just begun an ocean unit in my class and I have a few activities to share with you. You can download a free pdf file with a research sheet, 11 poems, and a science experiment. The download is below. I LOVE studying the ocean. We live on Vancouver Island on the West Coast of Canada so it’s … Read more
I’m joining Tammy, my new bloggy friend from Forever In First, in her Saturday Sayings! The quote in the image above comes from Katie Wood Ray’s Wondrous Words. I found this book a few years ago and just devoured it. In my mind, this particular quote sums up the entirety of Katie’s book and the essence of the writing craft. … Read more
Inside: Book review and activities for In One Tidepool Title: In One Tidepool ~ Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails Author: Anthony D. Fredericks Illustrator: Jennifer DiRubbio Publisher: Dawn Publications, 2002 Intended Audience: Primary age Theme: Ocean, Habitat, Tidepool animals Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Synopsis: This is a rhyming text with vivid descriptions of life in tidepools, from sea stars, to anemones, to … Read more
I’ve been trying to make our lessons more playful. So Friday morning, I decided on a whim to let the kids fingerpaint. I couldn’t find any in the school, so I squirted a bit of blue and white tempera paint on a finger paint board, then mixed in a dab of dishwashing liquid. I thought it might add to the … Read more
Last week when I was at a workshop, my TOC and very good friend, Bev, had my kids playing with the parachute. Oddly enough, I have avoided this wonderful activity for years and years. I’m not really sure why. But when I got back to school I asked the kids about it and they said they LOVED it! So we … Read more
Here’s one of my favourite books: Me and Mr. Mah. It’s a powerful inter-generational story of friendship. Title: Me and Mr. Mah Author: Andrea Spalding Illustrator: Janet Wilson Publisher: Orca Book Publisher, 1999 Genre: Realistic Fiction Theme: Intergenerational and interracial relationships, loss, friendship, memories Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Synopsis (from School Library Journal): “After his parents’ separation, Ian and his mother move far … Read more