Amelia Bedelia! Remember her?

I introduced the kids to a new storybook character this week.  It's Amelia Bedelia!  One of my favorites from when I was growing up.  She's most famous for taking "figures of speech" and "everyday sayings" literally.  For example...if someone tells her to "jump in the car" she will actually get into the car and begin to jump up and down.  The kids never get tired of her silly behavior.  I highly recommend adding some Amelia Bedelia to your library collection.

Owl Moon

Today we read a book called "Owl Moon".  It's a Caldecott Award winner from 1988.  I found this video of the Author reading it aloud.  I thought the kids might enjoy hearing it again tonight.  Listen to how the author uses her voice differently on each page.  Also, keep your ears open for "Million Dollar Words".  Can you catch any?  Oh!  One more thing...a book order came home in the kid's backpacks today.  Owl moon is one of the selections if you're interested.  It's part of the Caldecott pack!  Keep your ears open for any owls calling tonight.

Book Review...kinda

We're just finishing up our latest chapter book called "James and the Giant Peach".  Each day after recess I spend about 20 minutes reading aloud from a more advanced book than the kids can typically read.  The kids get to just chill out and color or rest as they listen.  But boy do they listen!  This is a great time for them to hear what good readers should SOUND like.  I use my voice in different ways.  I get loud at times and quiet at times.  I talk about things that just happened on a certain page.  I ask questions about what might happen later in the story.  I read quicker or slower depending on the story.  I talk about big beautiful words that the author decided to use.  It's a fun...but valuable...part of our daily schedule.  So, at home remember that sometimes it's just as valuable for you to read a story than it is for them to read to you.  We can show them why they're working so hard to learn how to read.  Because reading can be fun!!!  So anyway, ask the kids about James and the Giant Peach if you want.  They should be able to tell you a thing or two.