Tops & Bottoms

Here's a little riddle for you...

• I have a great moral found within my story. 
• I am filled with gorgeous illustrations. 
• I tie in nicely with farming and harvesting units.  
• I make a fun art project. 

What book am I?

 

 

Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens is a great read aloud in the fall when you focus on farms, planting, and harvesting crops.  You could also use this book in the springtime when your students are learning about seeds and vegetables.  This book is ideal for kindergarteners and older children but with just a bit of explanation, my class of older 4's and young 5's enjoyed it very much as well.

After reading Tops & Bottoms, we created some pretty vegetable prints. 

 

We had a tray of TOPS such as corn, broccoli, peppers, and green beans.

 

 

And a tray of BOTTOMS such as potatoes, radishes, carrots, and mushrooms.

 

My students loved painting with vegetables.  Especially the ones they don't like to eat! 

 

 

Once our Tops & Bottoms artwork was dry, we displayed them down the hall to create our own little preschool vegetable patch!

 

 

I'm joining Mrs. Jump's Class weekly We Love Books linky party!  Make sure you visit her blog to see what everyone's reading this week!

Book Talk Tuesday - Another Alpha Favorite

I'm thrilled Mrs. Jump's Class will be continuing Book Talk Tuesday throughout this school year!  It's a great way to find interesting books and activities to use in your classroom!

Today I am sharing ANOTHER favorite Alphabet Book!  In fact, I think I could share a favorite ABC book every week and never run out of titles!  I use alphabet books every single day in my classroom and never tire of reading about those good ol' letters!

 

Tomorrow's Alphabet is an incredible book that will really make your kids (and YOU)  think about letters.  It's not just another ABC book by any means.   Each page is a riddle to be solved and you must consider it's all about tomorrow.

 

When you read "A is for seed" your class will think you've gone absolutely crazy and they'll be frantic reminding you that seed begins with S and that A isn't for seed!  I always tell them it's what the words in the book say so it has to be true.  But they'll go on and on knowing it's wrong!

 

 

 

Until...you tell them A is "tomorrow's apple"!  Then they'll begin to get it!

 

 

Of course, they'll laugh & laugh when you try to explain "K is for tomato"...but they'll soon understand you need tomatoes in order for K to be "tomorrow's ketchup".

And how could "O is for acorn" possibly be true? Oh, yes!  It's going to be "tomorrow's Oak Tree" after it grows.

After you finish reading Tomorrow's Alphabet, have your class brainstorm other possibilities for what different letters can be today and what they'll be tomorrow.  Their ideas can easily be turned into a wonderful class book that won't be your typical Alphabet book!

Thanks for joining me today!  I'm heading back over to Mrs. Jump's Class for more Book Talk Tuesday! 

Book Talk Tuesday - A Lesson Found Within

 

I've discovered some wonderful books at the Book Talk Tuesday linky party hosted by Mrs. Jump's Class.  Today, I'd like to share a big book I bought at a yard sale from a retiring elementary teacher.  I hadn't heard of this book before and really wasn't sure I needed it but she insisted I add it to the stack of teacher stuff already discovered from her garage.  And who could possibly resist a $4 price tag for a big book in very good condition? Not me!

Once I was home, I sorted through all my treasures...with a little help from the Big Kitty, of course!

I began reading This is The Bear and The Picnic Lunch by Sarah Hayes.

This precious book is about a boy and his little teddy bear who want to have a picnic lunch together.  Throughout the story, it becomes obvious their picnic will be ruined by the boy's dog.  I knew the rhyming verses and the softly painted illustrations would capture the attention of my class.  But as I read farther along, I started thinking.  Asking question after question. 

 

How would I use this book? 

 

What time of year would I read it? 

 

Could I incorporate it with a rhyming activity? 

 

Or just read it for fun?

 

As I turned to the last pages, I discovered a lesson was right there within the book!

 

That sweet teacher, who had just retired and was letting go of all her precious resources, had used this big book to teach her class about speech bubbles!  Hand-cut from sticky note paper, she must have given her students one of the speech bubbles and instructed them to write what the boy, his teddy bear, or the little dog might have said at the end of the book! 

 

 

 

Such a clever idea and one I'm sure her students loved writing! 

 

I can think of quite a few other books I could do this lesson with, as well. 

 

Can you?

 

Thanks for visiting and be sure to browse what others are sharing at Mrs. Jump's Book Talk Tuesday.

Book Talk Tuesday - From ABC to XYZ

 

I dearly love all kinds of children's books!   So today, I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class Book Talk to share one of my favorites!

 

Here's the library of over 1,000 titles I've collected to use in my classroom...

 

You know what I never pass up at the Barnes & Noble bargain table, the used book store,  a neighborhood yard sale, or the local shelves of Goodwill???

 

Books...  Books... Books! 

 

Alphabet Books are extra, extra, EXTRA special to me.   I use them in the classroom to teach...well, to teach the alphabet.  Of course.  Even once my kids know all their letters & sounds and they're well on their way to becoming readers, the  Alphabet basket is quite popular when it's time to settle down on the reading rug. Every 3 or 4 weeks I swap out the Alphabet books to keep it fresh and interesting.  Here's my always-growing stash of Alphabet books...

 

Yes, that top shelf is beginning to sag a bit from the weight of all these wonderful books!  There are Alphabet books based on just about any subject you can think of...seasons, friends, feelings, animals, art, and nature.  Some have photographs while others are full of creative drawings.  Many books contain rhymes and some  have no words at all. 

 

 

One of my favorite Alphabet books to explore with a class is Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson.

 

It's a wordless book that quickly grabs your attention and draws you in page after page.  The kids practically crawl into the book as they get excited from finding each letter!  Every page is simply captivating! 

 

Here are D and E... 

made from a garden's edging and a traffic light!

 

J and K...

made from ornamental ironwork and pipes!

 

U and V...

made from a brick wall and telephone poles!

 

Alphabet books are much MORE than just letters! 

 

Now let's head over to Mrs. Jump's Class to see what everyone else is reading!