Can no longer ignore the truth....Happy Labor Day!

Teachers in New York City know that Labor Day is the final toll bell to our vacation.  We can no longer ignore it.  The end is here.  Come the Tuesday after Labor Day, teachers from NYC will officially be back at work.  

As I sit here and contemplate my summer, I have to admit that I had a great vacation.  I got to spend great time with my family, I created some great resources (if I say so myself) and most importantly I started my blog.  It is quite gratifying to see that I still like my profession.  I reread my posts and it makes me happy that after 10 years and all the changes education has and is going through, my enthusiasm for teaching and children's literature is apparent.  I look through my library and I see a book I haven't seen in a while and I get excited like its a present I forgot to open.  Sounds silly I know but I do believe that at the core of any quality education is great quality literature.  So here is a book I did stumble upon today:

There are not many words in the pages of this book.  Wow! Tunnel! Wow people! Wow! Well you get the idea.  It is the illustrations.  I love them because they are huge!  Its what you imagine you would feel looking at say NYC when you were say 3.

Mr. Neubecker has written a few Wow books -  Wow! America! Wow! Ocean! and Wow! School!  The illustrations are phenomenal and just as wonderful as the ones above.  A must for your library.  

Ok here's to enjoying these last free days of summer.  I got my coffee and I am going to sit on my front steps with my triplets.  Happy Labor Day!

 Until next time!

Just a quick addendum

OMG people!  I just did a quick search of the book The Donut Chef by Bob Staake and look what I got!!!!

 

Donuts from donutchef.com.  Bob Staake's website.  Oh the things you find when you search.  The littlest things really do bring joy! LOL!!!

Until next time for real!

Summer is officially O V A!

People,
I have been so busy just getting it all ready for the new school year.  I think all educators would agree that September should be the start of the new year.  We should wear hats, party blowers in hand, and scream HAPPY NEW YEAR!! on the first day of school.  There is a feeling that is hard to explain but it is shared by parents, kids and teachers alike.  Its a mix of excitement, sadness (summer is gone), anxiety, and hope.  Its a new start to teach differently, to try something new or improve upon what worked the year before.  There is also a bit of teacher anxiety, how many of those"trying" ones will be in your class?(you know at least one).  How long before they learn the rules and routines?  Will I like the new curriculum being implemented this year across NYC?  Monday I go in for some lovely professional development (hope you got a taste of the sarcasm), so my summer is officially ova not over but O V A!  I went in on Thursday to move furniture and get an idea of where I want things to go (I am in a new room this year).

My goal is always to be more organized.  It is a struggle for me.  I am organized in certain areas of my life but teaching can be quite messy!  My plan book looks good.  Updated my data binder for the year.  Got my centers together.  Classroom decor is pretty much done too so I decided to look at my files of teacher created materials and clip art and freebies and really try to put those little zip drive thingys in order.  I didn't get far before I decided to Pinterest instead but I did come across a nice little freebie that I created for one of my many favorite read alouds.  Here is the book:

Oh what a great story, its rhyme is sure to keep your kids attention and its just a fun book!  There are two donut shops competing for customers.  They will stop at nothing to beat out the competition.  Here are my favorite words from the story:

"It wasn't long before the sweets

Looked not at all like donut treats.

They'd lost their taste.  They'd lost their soul

They'd even lost their donut hole!"

It takes the cute Debbie Sue to teach the donut chef and the whole town really that less is really more and simple is best.  I love this book so much so  that I created a mini unit in my TPT store and its a freebie.  This book needs to be in every elementary teacher's library.  I read it every year.  Click below to get my freebie.

Donut Chef Mini Unit Freebie

Until next time!

We are in Business! Children's Books about Economics and Business.

People!
I am a mother of a college age son!  Lawd!  I still cannot believe that he is in his dorm.  I look over at the love seat where he usually sits and its empty.  I miss him so!  And even crazier is how profound the feeling is when I eat or feed the triplets.  Did my first born eat?  Did he eat a good meal?  Did he drink his coffee?  He's probably not snacking as much.  It is a turn in the road for me as a mom and the transition is not easy.  The part of life I gave him isn't mine and my boy is out there in the world living his life.  I am no longer his major lifeline...he is but I am his biggest supporter and that will never change.  Ok there I go again, enough already Lena lets move on to BOOKS.

So I just finished my unit on literacy and economics.  Every year my class works on this unit.  We become business owners of imaginary eateries.  We learn about alliteration and menus, money, business plans, saving, spending, banks, checks, donations, accounts, storefronts, customers, advertising, bosses, employees/workers, customers, weekly specials, coupons, etc.  We always have a great time and it teaches great life skills, business/economic concepts and vocabulary.  We set up shop and student partners patronize each other's imaginary eateries using guest checks, menus and coupons.  If you are interested, you can look at my unit in my TPT store.  Here is the link:

We are Open for Business!!!

There are so many wonderful children's books about business and economics.  Books that are great read-alouds that kids love listening to over and over.  Here is a list of the books that I use in conjunction with the unit above.

Ok I am off to watch TV, laminate and look over at my empty love seat missing my boy!

Until next time.

ROAR......Great Dinosaur Picture Books!

Hello People,
I have been busy getting ready for my new class.  Here in NYC the kids do not actually come back until September but teachers are slowly finding their way back to their school for lovely PDs and classroom set-ups.  I have laminated my heart away and am now velcroing (is that a word?) my last vacation days away. But who am I to complain?  It is a blessing to spend my summer with my own kids.  They are growing so quickly.  My first born is actually going away to college this Saturday and I know that I will be one H O T M E S S!!! He is not even leaving the state but leaving our home is enough for my heart to feel as if the boy is going to another continent.  

Okay lets get to easier more enjoyable topics.....BOOKS!  I was once again looking through my books and came across my box of dinosaur books. There are so many fantastic children's books about dinosaurs, both nonfiction and fiction.  Below are just some of the dinosaur books out there for children. These are most of the read alouds I use in my thematic unit.

As a teacher, I am big on words and vocabulary and the dinosaur theme has such great vocabulary that is continuously supported throughout the unit.  It is so gratifying when your kinders are using such complex words such as: paleontologist, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, prehistoric, fossils, biped, quadruped, feeder, classify, etc.  Dinosaurs are one of my favorite themes.  I love it so much I created a literacy unit that you can find here in my TPT store.  Check it out and tell me what you think!  The first one to leave a comment and an email can have it for free.  (I just started this blog so I may just be my only follower but hey you just never know!)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dino-Discoveries-A-Literacy-Unit-Your-Students-Will-Dig-823428


Well until next time, I feel the need to go make sure my son has enough socks and underwear and shampoo and toothpaste before he leaves for dorm life!

Printing, Laminating and Cutting....oh my!

Summer is winding down and its time for this teacher to get it together so I have printed my new center stuff and after 10 years of teaching I did something incredible, fantastic, stupendous, phenomenal.  I ORDERED MY VERY OWN LAMINATOR!!!  Did you get that?  Do you understand?  Do you comprehend the depth of what this means?   This means that I laminate while I am in front of the TV.  I laminate as soon as I create and print.  I am an official laminator!  Exciting stuff people....exciting stuff.

A midst my printing and ordering a laminator I also ordered a book I needed to add to my library which reminded me about the other wonderful books written by the same author.  I think Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan is a wonderful author.  Her books are infused with community and responsibility and the core belief that one person can ignite change.  I absolutely love all the books I have read by her.  My favorite is Grandpa's Corner Store.

Lucy is worried that the mega stores are going to put her grandpa out of business.  This story is a wonderful depiction of the importance of community. It takes a village to build a life. Lucy is able to pull the neighborhood together to save her Grandpa's corner store.  There is a great map at the end that will also lend to so many great lessons in your classroom.

Another great read aloud by this author is City Green.

The city condemns and demolishes a building in Marcy's neighborhood.  Marcy is so upset but sets to clean and plant seeds in the vacant lot.  As she works, Ms. Rose, her neighbor is right along side her cleaning and planting.  Their energy is infectious and before long we see the other neighbors volunteer their time, supplies and resources to turn that ugly lot into a beautiful community garden.  Again is Ms. Disalvo-Ryan's theme of community and volunteerism.  It takes a village to build a life.

One other great book, that again depicts the importance of volunteerism is Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen.

Uncle Willie brings Andy to the soup kitchen he comes to serve everyday.  He considers the folks he helps as guests and works to make it a warm inviting place for all who come to get a meal.  You feel Uncle Willie's compassion and it shows kids that there are many ways to help in your community.  It is heartwarming.

Lastly, I just ordered this book yesterday.  I have never read the book in its entirety but from what I see it infuses important themes of community as well.  It is Castle on Viola Street.  

Andy and his family live in a cramped apartment.  They are given the opportunity to help build a home for a family (think habitat for humanity) and eventually build a house for their own family.  I can't wait to get it in the mail!

If you do not have any of her books, they are a must for your library.

Until the next time.

If I Had a Robot...

it would clean and cook for me everyday for sure.  It would bathe my dog Gandolf once weekly too! But I digress If I Had a Robot by Dan Yaccarino is a great read aloud.  If this little boy had a robot, it would do any and everything the boy did not want to do.  The robot would take his bath, eat his lima beans and even help him be the master of the universe!  This book gives the kiddies a chance to use their imagination.  

I have used this book in my class for many years.  My kiddies create their own robots out of art materials.  They write about their robots.  We talk about machines and levers and buttons and ......well you get the point!  Its a great book to teach so many concepts and the kids just love it.  What bunch of kinders wouldn't love anything robots? Here is link to grab my robot writing pages freebie for the book or for any robot book you may already have.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Robot-Writing-Freebie-809893

I hope you and your kiddies enjoy it!

Until the next time!