Books Online

Before we left school for summer break, we talked about the importance of making time for Reading and Writing over the summer. Here are links to books to read online or print out to read in the car, by the pool, in bed, on a blanket in the park....or anywhere you want to read. Remember the more you practice, the better you'll get, so read, read, read!

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Reading Support Links...

Hello Kindergarten Friends...While you are home relaxing and getting ready to enjoy Thanksgiving parades and turkey; I have been busy with the first grade teachers finding fun links for you to enjoy at home or at school. These READING SUPPORT LINKS are intended to help you become stronger readers and writers. There are games, songs, videos and even downloads for your MP3 players or iPods. I also added the link to the sidebar here so you can always find it easily. Have fun and don't eat too much turkey! See you soon!

Poetry in Motion...

As part of our "Being a Writer" curriculum, we are exploring writing about things we can do. We read a poem called "Just Watch" by Myra Cohn Livingston. We thought it would be fun to act out the poem. Take a look at how some of our kids interpreted the poem. (Note: Michael, I am still working on getting your part to work...sorry!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fun With Buttons & Corduroy...

We've spent several days working with buttons. Yes, buttons! We've sorted them, counted them and even made a little book about them. We listened to a story called Corduroy, by Don Freeman. We also watched a video based on the book. We compared the book with the video version. We all agreed both were excellent. Some things we liked about the video include, Corduroy riding on a train, when Lisa came back to the store to get Corduroy, and how she decided to name him.

We finished up our Button Books and took them home to add to our reading libraries.

Maybe you can get some paper and crayons and make your own book about buttons!

You can see a sample of our little book here:

Another Counting Book...

I love sharing books with you! Nothing beats curling up in a comfy spot and reading a good book, but books online can be fun too. I like the fact that some books can be shared online. There is a site called Big Universe that shares books online with you. If you really like the book, you can choose to buy it for your own library. If you want to share the book, you can also email a link to your friend. If you find a book you think I might like, send me the link in email or include it in a comment below. I would love to see what you like to read.

At Big Universe, I came across another online book that encourages you to use your math skills by counting things you may see in the city or wherever you live! You'll need to click on the link, I am not able to place the book directly on the page.

This book is called: Counting in the City. Another interesting book at this site is called: Counting at the Zoo.

 Again, think of ways you can use your counting skills when you are out and about town. Maybe you can find things that you can count by 2's, 3's, 5's or 10's.

Opposites: A Fun Book

Here's another fun book from LOOKY BOOK. The author, Pamela Harris, uses lots of faces to show the concept of opposites. After reading the book, see how many opposites you can make in the mirror with your own face! ;-)

Cool Book...

A big Thank you for Katlin her sister, Addison and mom, Sue for meeting me for dinner at the Dogfather  tonight! MMm love those chili cheese dogs! ;-)

 This is a really cool ABC Book from LookyBook. (I LOVE that site) Every time you think you've seen every kind of ABC book there is, another great one comes along. This one is called ABC3D. Be sure to turn up the volume on your computer for this one. It's a video of the book. Wait until you see how they move from "V" to "W"... pretty cool! What a fun way to review letters!  What is your favorite letter in the book? I think the "U" is pretty neat!                                  

Fun in the city...

Hopefully you're all having a great summer. I came across this book at Looky Book and thought it might inspire you to think about numbers when you are out and about. 
This book counts 1-10, but I bet you could find even more numbers. You could take pictures and make your own book!

If you go into Chicago, you might consider going to the Chicago Children's Museum. Pssssst...just so you know... the first Monday of every month is FREE! Take the train, then a boat taxi and head over to the Children's Museum!

Writing in Kindergarten...

We are becoming such good writers. We are learning to use what we know about letters and sounds to help us write. At this point, our goal is not to spell every, single, word correctly. It is to get our ideas down on paper. To some, our writing may be hard to read. When you read our writing you may find it helpful to think of "Vanity Plates" on cars. Not every letter is included, but you can begin to make out the words. We also know our pictures need to match our words. We are also learning that good writers add details to their work. Writing is fun! Take a look at some writers from our P.M. Class:

Counting Books...

We are learning to count in different languages, but this is a fun book on how to count in English. Read and enjoy:
(note: for a larger version of the book, click on the eyeballs)

Here's a book on counting backwards:

You can visit the LookyBook web site for more fun books to read online or purchase. What's your favorite counting book?

Good Morning China...

Here is a cute book that you can read right here online. It is called Good Morning China, and was written & illustrated by, Hu Yong Yi. This is a lovely picture book that depicts the start of a day in China. Children are playing, an artist is painting, people are meditating, exericising, and otherwise enjoying a morning in the park. I hope you enjoy it.

Click on the "eyes" for a larger look at the book.

Jim Aylesworth Visits...

Yesterday we had a real "treat"....author Jim Aylesworth came to visit our school. We have read many of his books here at school. One of our favorites was his retelling of The Gingerbread Man. In it he wrote a new song for the Gingerbread Man. Be sure to listen to it in our video. Another favorite is The Old Black Fly. He shared with us how he was inspired to write a book about a big nasty fly! You can visit his web site for more details about Jim and all of his books. We didn't know he used to teach first grade! Wow! He even shared with us his next two books that haven't even come out yet. We can't wait to read them in class. It was so wonderful to meet Jim and have him share his books and thoughts with us. He is very funny and you can see by the children's faces how fascinated they were by him.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Samantha & Spencer...

Samantha and Spencer took good pictures of books on the book shelves in our classroom. Then Mrs. Blakely turned the pictures into a chart that we can read in our classroom. You can print out a copy for home and read along if you like: BOOKS CHANT.

(Dictated by Samantha)

Ice Storm...

Yesterday we didn't have school because there was lots of ice. We decided to make a chant for our charts about it. We used Flickr Storm to find images of ice storms and the morning class voted for the picture. The afternoon class recorded the chant at Voice thread. You can also print out a copy to read along with us at home. Click here to download or print out a copy: Ice Storm Chant.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy...

This is our first "play" from a book we read in class. The book is called: "Mrs. Wishy-Washy" by Joy Cowley. It was real cute and funny. Just watch our videos and see...
(A.M. Class,):
(If the video doesn't work, Click here: Mrs. Wishy-Washy (A.M.).

(P.M. Class.):

If the video doesn't work, click here: Mrs. Wishy-Washy (P.M.)

Proud AM Class...Add PM too!

Everyday we look at our message chart and we find the words we know. We put highlighter on the ones we know. Most of the time, we don't get all of the words. BUT TODAY WE GOT ALL OF THE WORDS!! We are so proud of ourselves!!

BOTH classes could read all the words today.

Note: The children dictated to me the words they wanted here today. They are getting very good at posting! :-) VERY nice job of sounding out and reading words kids!