K-3 Book Reviews, Puppets, Colouring, Clip Art
Inside: Book review of Red Sings from Treetops plus follow-up activities. Hello! I have the most glorious book to share with you today. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do. Title: Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors Author: Joyce Sidman Illustrator: Pamela Zagarenski Publishing: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2009 Theme: Colours, Seasons, … Read more
Have you read Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms? I just finished it and was VERY impressed. Probably, like most teachers, you’ve heard about Finland’s amazing education system and how extremely well their 15-year-old students perform on PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). This book, by Timothy D. Walker is a first-hand look at what goes on … Read more
Inside: Directions for some super cute llama art project. Hello! My friend Michelle had her Grade 1 and 2 students draw these ridiculously cute llamas! Have a look. Aren’t they the sweetest? I just love their beautiful eyes and eyelashes. Directions: Michelle found a picture of a llama and did a directed drawing with the kids. ‘m assuming they were … Read more
Inside: Mother’s Day pendants kids can make. I’m updating this post because it’s almost Mother’s Day and this gift is my most favourite of all! My friend, Michelle, gave me this fabulous idea for a Mother’s Day gift: Shrinky Dink pendants! To start off I gave each child a piece of paper with 4 circles. They made 4 practice designs … Read more
Inside: Lots of tried and true ideas for classroom management. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. After almost 3 decades of elementary teaching I’m now one of the many practicum supervisors for our local university. I only started recently and while it has some challenges it’s also a lot of fun. I really enjoy the teacher candidates: Their enthusiasm for … Read more
Regie Routman is my all-time, hands-down, favourite teacher-author. I collected and read all her books during my teaching career and highly recommend her books to new and seasoned teachers. Here’s one of my favourite quotes: We can’t teach a first-rate reading lesson with a second-rate book, and we can’t effectively teach craft in writing without outstanding literature. Neither can we … Read more
In celebration of Earth Day I have a round-up of Earth Day Activities for young children. If you’re personally interested in taking some earth-friendly steps in an attempt to reduce our pollution, be sure to have a look at the Earth Day Network. They have a campaign going right now with the aim of reducing plastic pollution. Even if you … Read more
Inside: Book review of The Wild Robot. I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a chapter book on this blog, but after reading The Wild Robot, I absolutely HAD to share it with you. I’m really surprised I didn’t stumble across this book a lot earlier because it’s been around for two years and I LOVE Peter Brown’s picture book My … Read more
Inside: Review of a children’s book by John Lennon, Imagine. Title: Imagine Author: John Lennon Illustrator: Jean Jullien Publishing: Clarion Books, 2017 Theme: Peace, Love, Equality Age: 4-12 Summary (from the book flap): Join one little pigeon as she sets out on a journey to spread a message of hope and tolerance around the world. Featuring the lyrics of John … Read more