Christmas Break Catch Up - Part II

Still catching up!

Whew...it does not pay to get behind in blogging...

So many pictures to share! Let's start with our class Christmas tree.

A friend sent me a picture of something similar and recommended I try it for my class. I am sure it is a Pinterest find. This was our version. :)

I have so many favorite picture books. Well, at least that's what my kiddos tell me..."Mrs. Dunn you always say they're your favorite"...

This one is a classic, and by sharing it, I know that I am probably not sharing anything you haven't already taught with this a dozen times over.

But seriously, I just can't help myself. I LOVE Dr. Seuss! You are never too old for a good ol' life lesson wrapped up in some magical rhyming fun!

Now...around this time of year everyone pops out with their Elf on a Shelf craziness....I mean my kiddos come in every morning,"Mrs. Dunn last night my elf...."

I have never been an Elf on the Shelf kind of girl, but after reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, I had to pull out my Grinch.

Since my husband always calls me the Grinch of the family (long story there, probably something to do with ripping the Christmas tree out of the house each year on his birthday, the day after Christmas...;) ... I digress... since I am the Grinch of our family, I have a soft spot for the fuzzy green fellow. A couple of years ago, I picked up my very own Grinch from Kohl's. I just love the Kohl's Cares program, and if you have taken my class tour, you have no doubt seen the results all over the shelves.

Well....I pulled out our very own Grinch and mischief ensued!

 

The kiddos LOVED it, so I put up with the distraction for their sake. Those that know me closely know just how difficult of a task that was for me, but I have no doubt that Mr. Grinch will probably make an appearance next year. We had some great writing ideas for our notebook thanks to his crazy antics.

I have to share a couple of books for you, and then I am off to catch up on other all too often neglected tasks.

First is a throw-back to last year...

I want to revisit my ALL TIME favorite Christmas picture book, Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed.

Mr. Breathed has perfectly narrated the tale of his father ~ the self-proclaimed Red Ranger of Mars. This sour-faced little boy is sent to spend Christmas on the damp little island of Vashon were in the end the true meaning of Christmas and faith prevails over "promises hatched by those who weren't very good at keeping them..." and other such twaddle.

I just had to share a few more pics...my kiddos LOVED it!

Funny what belief in someone can do!

 

Red Ranger Came Calling, Berkeley Breathed

If you were to ask most anyone at our school what my favorite Christmas book is, I would not be surprised that they could tell you The Red Ranger Came Calling. They might even ask you a favor in return...to tell me to stop showing them my beloved book over and over again! Again, I just can't help myself!

Now for a great chapter book....

Last night I read a great little dystopian tale...

A friend of mine posted about this book on her Instagram, and I thought I would give it a try! Only $2.99 on Amazon Kindle...whoohoo...I am so glad that I did. 

In Stung by Bethany Wiggins, we follow Fiona as she struggles to come to terms with the foreign and shattered world she awakens in...When the honeybee population collapses, bio-engineered bees cause a worldwide pandemic, and a government botched cure shows that man should be careful how much it plays with mother nature. 

You must have noticed by now my weakness for a good dystopian book. This one was different from so many others that I have read, and I love it for that!

Well...with that ladies and gents...I will say goodbye for now....just until we play catch up again. ;)

Happy Reading, friends!

Springing into Earth Day

Happy Spring! Such a pretty day! I sure am loving the cool, gentle breezes and the smell of my blooming wisteria...even if trying to contain the wild, aggressive vine takes a lot out of a person; I should emphasis TRYING since it refuses to cooperate. ;)

Sweet jasmine, too!

This week was slow and easy for the most part. Well, as easy as it can be with me aching to get back into my class. Our student teacher has begun his full teach, and boy do I miss my sweet kiddos.  Mr. Hall is doing an awesome job, but sometimes it takes all have not to walk back in and selfishly take over reading James and the Giant Peach.

My kiddos are enjoying one of my all time favorites! I just love the mischievious magic of Roald Dahl. The language and characters of James and the Giant Peach are so fun and full of life that I can just imagine them as being real. Only Roald Dahl could do that!

Reading this treasure has become an annual event for my class. So much so that as I greet my new students each year, I am always asked about James and the giant peach party they have heard of in rumors passed by siblings and friends. Each year when we complete this story, we celebrate by watching the movie (don't get me started on the movie though ~ NEVER judge a book by its movie!) and eating all things peach! Peach ice cream, peach yogurt, fruit salad loaded with peaches, peach candy, fresh peaches ...you name it ~ we try it!

 

I will be sure to post pics of this year's celebration!

Because I have not been in my room much this week, I have lots to share from my teaching partner, Mrs. Whitt. She has both of our kiddos gearing up for Earth Day, Monday.

 

We sure have some talented kiddos in our rooms!

This is how my kiddos came back to me from Mrs. Whitt's
after planning ways to save the earth! :)

In honor of Earth Day, I have a few great picture books to share.

Of course one cannot think of Earth Day without thinking of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss! I love sharing this with my kiddos each year, but usually Mrs. Whitt beats me to it. ;) Seuss has a way of really driving home his message wrapped in the magic of fanciful language and creatures, and I just love the magic of his messages! 

The next book I have shared once before in a previous post. I love this story for a number of reasons. How perfect it is for reaching for and achieving our dreams, but it fits just as perfectly in the celebration of Earth Day! I love following Liam's quest to be outside and turn our busy and sometimes gray world just a little bit greener. The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is a beautiful masterpiece with its creeping, green gardens!

Still in honor of all things green and earthy I have to share a new addition to my library. And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano and illustrtated by Erin E. Stead is a breath of fresh air! I enjoyed this sweet story even more that I thought I would. Just as with The Curious Garden, we follow the patient hopes of a sweet boy tending his garden. Erin E. Stead is an amazing illustrator and this sweet story is now one of my spring favorites!

I have enjoyed a little reading myself this weekend. I picked up The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch. I am a huge fan of the Dystopian genre, and this is a great, action packed read! ....Can't wait to do a book talk on this with my kiddos tomorrow! 

With that I will say good afternoon: for now...until next time :) I am off for a walk with the hubby and a little more reading for the night...Happy Reading yourself!

Commitment and One Love

The sound of rain outside and the savory smell of beef stew in the crock pot has made for one happy, happy girl this morning. I am blessed to have a relaxing moment to blog and reflect on our week. We had a busy but somewhat normal week. The normalcy of calm and structure helped us accomplish much.

My kiddos are loving these stories...

We are still enjoying The Lightning Thief, more and more each day actually. This has prompted me to buy many more titles in the series as students are clamoring for more! If I have a kiddo asking for a title, I make it my goal to have one ready to put in his hands. (Hence the hoarding tendencies :) 

This time of the year tends to be a bit on the crazy side as we have all become comfortable with each other and sometimes bad habits tend to take root. Last week we took a few minutes during our morning meetings to reestablish some of our commitments to each other and discuss what we might add to this list.

Our Commitments

    

   

Above are a few of our morning messages for the week. I love our messages for a number of reasons. I love getting to connect with the kids on a personal level, all the while slipping in academics here and there. We have focused much on kinds of sentences, prepositional phrases, parts of speech, figurative language and misc. punctuation issues.

Friday's message in particular cracks me up because although I did not require students to respond, after finding that I did not feel well, most kiddos left me a little note of get well....such a precious, sweet class I have!  Their kind thoughts seemed to have work; I am happy to say that I am feeling much better at the moment and have fingers crossed that tomorrow morning will having me feeling more myself.

 

I have much to accomplish this afternoon once I pull myself from my blog hopping! I am still working on some final edits on more than a few research papers, along with responding to many letters in reader's notebooks. As much time as it takes, these letters are one of my favorite things. I love seeing how my kiddos think as they read! So cute some of their think!

Now of course on to some sweet picture books...

I want to start with one that I just had to read last week after the tension of not only a math and reading district wide assessment, but the following frustration of a writing assessment. Not only are my kiddos frustrated with testing, but their poor teacher is missing teaching them! For this alone, I had to share with my kiddos Hooray For Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss, with the help of Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith. I hope to one day be as free and confident in all that I teach so that all  might call me Miss Bonkers.... LOL!

I do believe that it was just last week that I mentioned how Dr. Seuss was never one to stray from making a moral stand for what he believed in ~ and oh how I love his writing for it!    How appropriate then to share one of my other Seuss favorites... Yertle the Turtle. Everyone gets their comeuppance in the end, and Yertle is no different! A plain little turtle named Mack gave Yertle the Turtle, king of them all, a lesson he would not soon forget. Seuss pulls you so easily into the themes of his stories...Yertle learns, as we all should, to be happy with what you have.

The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill and Laura Huliska-Beith is a soft look at bullying, a conversation-starting look at bullying. Mean Jean herself is the recess queen and no one moves without say so from her. This rhyming frolic through the playground opens our eyes to what just might make a bully. A light-hearted look yes ~ but a definite conversation starter!

One last picture book for the night... this one is a sweet addition to our library from the last book fair. I picked this one up for a number of reasons. First, I love Marley's song One Love, but you know what a pushover I am for a good note from the author. Cedella Marley goes on to explain what influenced her to create a picture book, One Love, inspired by her father's song of the same name. We really enjoyed this cute little story, and we loved even more listening to the inspiration behind it later, such a fun little brain break for us. 

One last thought before I tackle my stacks and stacks and stacks of paper LOL....I want to shout out to Deb at Primary in Idaho for sharing our blog with her followers. She had many nice things to say about our own little corner of the blogging world, so be sure to stop by and check hers out. :)

Happy Reading!