Resolutions and 13 in 13

My last link parties of the year. Resolutions with A Peach for the Teach and 13 in 13 with Miss Kindergarten.  I'm really not great at keep my New Year's Resolutions, but I'm going to try really hard for these:

I think they're pretty self-explanatory...

As for the 13 for 13, these were a little harder!

 

I'm just not a clothes horse, but my Skecher's Go Walks are so comfortable.

 

This one was tough. Only thing I could think of that I watched this year was Hobbit: Part one. I'm went and watched  Part 2 tonight with my husband and boys. It was great!

Can't wait for the next one.

 

Does House Hunters count? ha I love HGTV!

 

This one is easy. Ate there yesterday for the holidays with the family.

 

Traveling out of the county. Went to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving Break. LOVED IT!!

 

Refer back to #9, an early Christmas present.

 

 

I would so love to do this in my library.

 

Loved this activity with "Leaf Man".

November 7th 

Becoming a blogger and opening my TPT store.

 

The boys having fun on the beach in the Bahamas.

My new "happy place".

 

Getting to watch both my boys playing Varsity Basketball at the high school.

Get active! I'm getting older. I'm not going to live forever, but I need to be healthier for my husband and boys.

 

FAMILY - What on Earth is more important?

 

 

Have a great 2014.  

#IMWAYR for December 30

Yes, it's Monday. I've been a little slacker about posting this month. Life happens! I'm not going to apologize for placing family ahead of blogging. I'm sure my blogger buddies understand. My favorite linky:
 (It's where I get a ton of ideas of what to read next....) Check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

I've been trying to read all the books in my latest shipments from BTST and Follett Library. I need to get busy if I'm going to meet my fifth graders challenge of reading 300 books this school year. I did manage to read a few in between the holiday hustle and basketball games.

Easy Fiction:

The Story of Fish & Snail by Deborah Freedman.  If you don't have this one, I highly recommend it. Great little read-aloud.

Click, Clack, Boo! a tricky treat by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. Another cute adventure of duck and the barnyard animals. Not as great as Click, Clack, Moo but the kiddies will enjoy.

Bugs in My Hair! by David Shannon. I just love David Shannon. Who else could make a lice story funny? Will recommend to my Kindergarten teachers. It's that time of year again. My little school seems to have a breakout when the weather turns cold.

Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz, illustrated by Dan Santat. Loved this one! My husband, who isn't known for his children's lit appreciation, cackled on this one.  A great addition to my three little pigs collection of tales. Can't wait to compare this one with another pig tale. Maybe The Three Little Javelinas? They both have a female who saves the day.

Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow by David Soman and Jacky Davis and The Reader by Amy Hest, illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Cute snow stories.  Will add these to my January read-alouds.

Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clement. HILARIOUS!!! A great way to introduce my favorite genre to the young readers. Grandpa's teeth are "stolen" and creates a town crisis. So adorable.

Also read:
Journey by Aaron Becker
A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
The Worrywarts by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole
The Way I Act by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Janan Cain
Scaredy Squirrel has a birthday party by Melanie Watt
Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jill Barton

I enjoyed them. I just got tired of typing....

Easy Nonfiction:

Shep: Our Most Loyal Dog by Sneed Collard, illustrated by Joanna Yardley. I cried. It's a great story, just won't be reading this one out loud. My animal lovers will greatly enjoy this one.

Ants by Cheryl Coughlan
Sharks by Martha E. H. Rustad
Snakes Slither and Hiss by Fiona Lock
These will make great little reads for my beginner readers. I've been trying to locate more non-fiction titles for them that are AR (Accelerated Reader) to appease my teachers.

You Wouldn't Want to be a Pony Express Rider! by Tom Ratliff
You Wouldn't Want to be Sir Isaac Newton! by Ian Graham
For my middlers, I found two more You Wouldn't Want to be .... titles. I just love this series. It gets my students to read/learn history. Whoop Whoop!! (I was a history major in college.) I'm always on the look out for new titles in  this series.

Whew.  I need to get a couple chapter books read before break is over. The students will want to check them out. (House of Hades, Latest Diary of Wimpy Kid.....)

Keep Reading!

#IMWAYR for December 9

It's time for my "It's Monday! What are you reading?"  It's great to see what others are reading and get great ideas for my library. Link up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to see what everyone else has been reading! Life happened and I didn't blog last week. The following is what I read over the last 2 weeks.

I finally finished Red Pyramid by Rich Riordan. LOVED it! This one definitely ranks 5 stars. I totally understand why my Riordan books stay checked out. If you missed reading the Kane Chronicles, Red Pyramid is the first of the series. The Kane children discover their ties to ancient Egypt and must deal with the gods/goddesses from Egyptian mythology. I'm going to try to read Throne of Fire assuming the students don't beat me to it!

Over Thanksgiving break I read The Calder Game by Blue Balliett,  illustrated by Brett Helquist. Not a bad little mystery. Students may learn a little art history while reading this one. Great for your puzzle and mystery readers.

Picked up a few Mo Willems books I needed for the library. LOVE THEM! I'm personaly convinced the man is a genius! If you don't have the following titles, get them for your K-2 students. They all ranked 5 stars!

The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett. This one is great to go with your Three Little Pigs stories. I love Jan Brett! 5 Stars!

Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze! by Maureen Wright, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

Great story to add to my fall collection of read alounds. Big Bear thinks he is causing all kinds of things to happen by sneezing, but it's really the autumn wind. Cute story. 

Found Fox Tails: Four Fables from Aesop by Amy Lowry. This one will be great for my lower grade teachers teaching fables. Common Core really emphasizes  fables with 2nd grade. A much needed read for my fable collection. Beautifully done. 

Otis and the Tornado by Loren Long. I fell in love with Otis this summer. Can't wait to read this one to the Kindergartners. Will be a great story to read during Severe Weather week in the spring. 5 stars for this one.

Last but not least I read Babymouse: Dragonslayer by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm. I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels. BUT I get them for my students who love them. They will enjoy this one much more than I did. 

Keep Reading!

#IMWAYR for November 11

Yes, it's really Tuesday, but I'll pretend it's still Monday!

Since November is Picture Book month, I've been checking my stacks for picture books that I have not read. It's also been great for checking for repairs or weeding. I occasionally miss one during inventory at the end of the school year. I found a few that needed to be read.

Agatha's Feather Bed by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Laura Seeley
The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Henri Sorensen
Guinea Pigs Add Up by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson
You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy, illustrated by Amy June Bates
Jody's Beans by Malcahy Doyle, illustrated by Judith Allibone
Paul Needs Specs by Bernard Cohen, illustrated by Jeoff Kelly
Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Heather Maione
I Repeat, Don't Cheat! by  Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Arthur Howard
The Biggest Fish in the Lake by Margaret Carney, illustrated by Janet Wilson
Brush by Pere Calders, illustrated by Carme Sole Vendrell
John Patrick Norman McHennessy - the boy who was always late. by John Burningham
Papa Lucky's Shadow by Niki Daly
Magda's Tortillas by Becky Chavarria-Chairez, illustrated by Anne Vega
Hooray for Reading Day! by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Arthur Howard


I enjoyed them all. I must have excellent taste in picture books or I get really great recommendations from friends.

Favorites:

Still reading Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan...

Keep Reading!

Mallory in the Spotlight Giveaway

A couple weeks ago I was contacted to review a book, Mallory in the Spotlight by Laurie Friedman.

At first I was nervous about reading a book for an author and publishing a review. What if I didn't like it? What if I thought the book was terrible? What if nothing! I really enjoyed it. This book will be perfect for my second - fifth grader who love Judy Moody books.  Laurie Friedman writes this adorable series a fourth grader, Mallory, and her best friend, Mary Ann. I read book 14 in the series, Mallory in the Spotlight.

In this book, Mallory tries out for a part in the school's musical Annie. Mallory also learns a very valuable lesson about true friendship. I loved the way Ms. Friedman inserted little tidbits of information about musicals and defined terms for my students who have a very limited knowledge of the stage or a musical production. This book was full of girl drama which thrills my students.  I will definitely be adding Mallory books to my school's library collection.

Ms Friedman is graciously giving away a copy of one her Mallory books. Enter below to win. Good luck. I'm sure you will enjoy Mallory as much as I did!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep Reading! I will...

 

I Love "Leaf Man"!

Fall is my favorite season. Beautiful colors, great weather, football..... In the library I love to read fall/autumn stories. One of my favorites is Fall Man by Lois Ehlert.

A few weeks ago I read a cute post from Teach Them To Fly. It was all about creating leaf men like Lois Ehlert's book. It was one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments for me. There are plenty of trees/leaves around my school or my house. I finally got around to reading Leaf Man with my Kindergarten students. They had a blast creating their own leaf men or women.

 

 

 

I had them drying on one of the middle shelves when my first grade class entered the library. Well of course they wanted to create a leaf man or leaf woman. Naturally I had to make the activity a little more challenging. (I was running low on leaves...) First graders were only allowed to pick one leaf, but they could create whatever they wanted. Our leaf critters turned out really cute.

I loved the rat in the rattlesnake's belly!

 

Lovely "hungry" alligator.

It was very hard to pick my favorites to post!

Keep Reading!