Flamingos and Butterflies: Quiet Bookish Weekends

What a beautiful, bookish weekend! I can feel the first touches of fall, and there is nothing I like more than curling up with a great book.

This has been a busy week that has ended on such a positive note.

I finally hung our Goal Banners! I love how they turned out! Both of my classes did an awesome job, and I giggled at some of our goals. You might see a lot of my early influence...oops...I must have really been harping on reading and writing, because MOST of us set goals to read and write more, LOL. Well, I can't complain about that!

Hmmm....I wonder if this is a little of
my influence as well...

I found these wonderful banners at Fifth in the Middle. Be sure to stop by her site and check these out!

This week was a focus of Common Themes in Literature and writing with Sensory Details...

We immersed ourselves in picture books full of sensory detail!

This next few weeks are some of my favorites in Writing Workshop. We have spent hours adding ideas to our notebooks, and now we are going to start adding some craft!

The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston is one of my faves for sensory detail, but we will definitely revisit this sweet story when we focus on figurative language. This lonely scarecrow has such beautifully written story. I share it every year!

Under the Silvery Moon by Colleen McKeown is another story full of sensory detail. We listen to the sounds of the night as a mother tries to sooth her little one with a lullaby. Again, purposeful language and detail are used, making this an easy choice as a mentor for sensory detail.

I was so happy when I stumbled upon the beautifully illustrated See the Ocean by Estelle Condra. I often use this to teach sensory detail, but in all honesty, the sensory detail is somewhat implied through the story of the little sister. So lots of inferring discussion can take place here as well. I love to share this so we open the door to all the many ways we can use sensory detail, even if we are not describing all that we can see with our "eyes."

I Need my Monster by Amanda Noll has been another fun and silly text full of excellent word choice! Such a cute way to show just much impact the right amount of sensory detail can add to a story. LOVE this story, but love the giggles and participation in evokes even more! Poor Ethan must have a monster under his bed to help him sleep.

We read many more wonderful texts...

Here is the outcome of all of that sensory detail!

Here is just one of the fun little read alouds I shared as we looked at common themes in books...

The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz puts a contemporary spin on this childhood classic, and I fell in love! Such rhyming fun! Dan Santat's lively illustrations add to the pace of this story, and although the kiddos will be doing a lot of predicting along the way...you can't help but root for these three ~~little~~ ninja piggies!

The kiddos have been making great recommendations to each other! The tickets are adding up...can't wait to see who wins a free book from this months book order.

I finally managed to stop by my favorite restaurant ever, KanPai, to use my yummy birthday gift. (Thank you very much to my sweet kiddos and parents!) It was lunch to go, but a little impromptu date with the hubby at an off duty job is always fun!

Look at all that sushi!
That's just the hubby's, LOL

Well, you know if I am anywhere close...I have to stop by my own little piece of heaven....

I never leave home without this baby! Look at how worn it is becoming..

I did manage to get a few great deals...and I know just which student is going to want to read The Zombie Chasers first. He has been asking me for zombie books for a while now.

Books-a-Million was a great start to my bookish weekend that ended with a relaxing couple of days buried in books. I have added to my own reading log and reader's notebook to share with the kiddos Monday morning.

Again, I am working hard to catch a number of different genres and levels to peak interests from as many kiddos as possible.

I finished The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey earlier in the week! I LOVED it! So good...it will be hard to wait for the next one.

A couple of other of my reads this weekend....

Of all the books that I read this week The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was by far my favorite! This is an adult book, so my kiddos won't be able to read it. I will however share what I can from it and what I loved about it! This is one Mr. Gaiman's first adult books in years, but it was just as fanciful and magical as any for children. I loved it!

As usual...I have been going on and on...thanks for making it to the end. :)

Just for sticking with me...here is a fun little PEP Talk! Love this kid! Let's get our "learn on" and be AWESOME!