MrsQuimbyElementaryResources

Celebrating Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss! Thank you for your wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL books! They are fun to read aloud; and supertastic to listen to......

And here is a new app to listen to reading!

This app is perfect for early readers! Click on the picture above to see this new app!

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is

The Lorax

The Lorax is a fun and entertaining book. Dr. Seuss teaches that nature and natural beauty is important to the world. "I speak for the trees"
Great book, great read aloud! This book would be perfect to celebrate Dr. Seuss, an accomplished writer of children's books. The so many lessons Dr. Seuss teaches in his writing. You might read his books during the whole month of March. His wit, humor, and rhyme are extraordinary. The Lorax can also be a springboard for writing about
Earth Day or the environment.

HERE is a sign for your classroom from The Lorax!

Student Responses:

Do you think Dr. Seuss wrote The Lorax to persuade, inform or entertain his readers?

entertains: "Dr. Seuss entertains us by having the character look funny
and writing the best books to make people happy."

Grab Your Reader Response Page HERE

You can find these reader response pages HERE

persuades: "to protect nature" informs: "to always be kind
entertains: "to make us happy"

What are your favorite Dr. Seuss books?

What is your favorite saying?

The very simple is extraordinary!

Valentine's Day Books for the Young Reader

Valentine's Day Books

for the Young Reader

A great day to read a good book!

What book are you reading today?

Lots of wonderful books to read. Choose one, or two, find your little one and read aloud. Here are some of my favorites:

Mouse is making Valentines for his friends. Read to find out all about his special friends.

It's raining hearts! and Cornelia Augusta knows just what to do! Read to find out!

Somebody loves you! I wonder who?

This is an adorable board book and the puppy has soft ears and he has lots of ruff to share. This book is a great book to share with toddlers.

And everyone loves Ollie! She is my favorite. What are Ollie and Gertie up to now?

You made download and print
my valentine card HERE

Happy Valentine's Day

Illustrated by Milena Kirkova

This is a great book to read to young readers on Valentine's week. Illustrations are beautiful. Read and find out where love comes from. The cover is really fun with all the beautifully illustrated circles. They are raised on the book cover...just got to LOVE this book. Check below to get a 'circle page' for your students to illustrate all the things that they LOVE. also grab a couple of 'heart maps'.... Have a very sweet Valentine's Day.

Here is a peek of some of the inside pages...

Now that is a garden I would LOVE to paint.

Simple, bold and bright! Just what I LOVE!

After looking at the beautiful cover of this book, make your own "LOVE Circle Page". Click HERE to get your page.

Show the favorite things you LOVE and make it colorful!

After reading this fun story, have your students complete a heart map.

Click HERE for this heart map to download and print.

Click HERE for this heart map to download and print.

Oh, and one more book before I go:

This book is a pop-up book and you will learn that people all around the world say I love you. Great book to show children all the many places in the world and all the people who need LOVE.

Abraham Lincoln

Lane Smith, author of Abe Lincoln's Dream, writes. A small schoolgirl goes astray on her tour of the White House, and she finds herself in Lincoln's bedroom and also discovers the ghost of the great president, Abraham Lincoln. They meet and go on a journey across America. Lincoln has many questions and concerns about the nation for which he gave his life. Smith spins his original tale adding humor and surprise. Illustrations are crazy, wonderful! This book is a great read aloud for February.

And what fun creating the presidents' portraits...here is a fun art activity from

Deep Space Sparkle.

Use Lane Smith's book as a springboard to make this great portrait of Abraham Lincoln. So prestigious.

This would make a great model for kids to draw Lincoln.

Click HERE to get this reader response sheet

"All About Lincoln"

For Best Results: Be Sure to hit 'fit to page' when printing

Happy Reading and Writing

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Gail Gibbons is one of my favorite authors. Students love her illustrations and all the information she writes about in her books. Read and listen!

Watch this video of Groundhog Day by Gail Gibbons.

Little Lila Groundhog doesn't want to go to sleep for the winter. Her uncle tells her that if she goes to sleep, she can be the first one to wake up in spring...and she will discover a big secret! She learns all about her shadow and hibernation. This is a delightful book for primary readers... a great read aloud. Sweet illustrations invite the children into the groundhog's household. Other winter animals happen upon the pages. Great book for story time!

Click HERE for Groundhog Art Activity

Click HERE

Teaching Science with Picture Books - The Story of Snow

The Story of Snow, by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, Ph.D., is a beautiful book and captures the wonder of winter and snow. Perfect reading for winter days and your exploration of winter, weather and science. The book teaches about snow crystals and the many shapes they can take. The book also includes instructions for catching those snowflakes... a great way to get kids and young scientists outside exploring.

Click HERE to get your teacher's guide to explore the science of snow.

See these short videos about SNOWFLAKES

Here is a great website with lots of information about snow. Click HERE to see! It's called snowcrystals.com. and it has books, science facts, videos, and activities. It is a great resource. The author of this website is Kenneth G. Libbrecht. He is a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). He studies the molecular dynamics of crystal growth, including how ice crystals grow from water vapor, which is essentially the physics of snowflakes.

Picture Books to Teach Science

Hibernation Station

by Michelle Meadows

Illustrated by Kurt Cyrus

The artwork on the cover grabs the children's attention right away... and the rhyming text delights them on every page. Children listen to all the rhymes and enjoy the beautiful artwork. A fun book to teach about animals, winter and hibernation.

Pattern, rhyme and beautiful pictures.

Winter Wonderland Door Contest - Merry Christmas

We decorated our classroom door and got 2nd place

in our 'winter wonderland' door contest !

Children were so happy to create, draw, paint, make snowflakes; and then a bit lucky to win. It was great fun....first, we used green and blue inks mixed with gesso and sponge-painted the background... next, we looked at some real-life cardinals in nature. Easy to find on the internet. Each student received a block of mixed-media paper to draw and color their birds. Just colored with red crayons and a bit of black for beaks and eyes. We talked about covering every white spot everywhere. Dark, dark, red, red! Then they made a branch for their cardinal to sit upon... we placed the cardinals on our background of blue-green white sponge painting.

And lastly, we made our snowflakes, so many. This was snow-much fun!

It was easy to cut out individual blocks of cardinals, snowflakes and branches so each child could bring home their artwork to hang in a window at home.

Merry Christmas from Lucky Room 13!

Thanksgiving Literacy Pack

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some fun pages for your students at Thanksgiving time. I made the clip art and hope to make some more for my resources and pages. Check back for some Christmas designs....

Included in this Thanksgiving literacy pack are a writing response page for A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. Grab your copy below.

Also included in the literacy pack are:

Four Square- to tell about the main idea and details about Thanksgiving (2 clip art designs)
general writing pages about Pilgrims (choice of boy or girl clipart)
Sequence page - "How to Make Pumpkin Pie" First, Next, Then, Finally
Writing facts about the First Thanksgiving
Then and Now Page - t-chart
Making New Words - make new words from the word Thanksgiving - students cut out letters and move them around their desks to make new words, next they record their words on their paper

A Turkey for Thanksgiving
by Eve Bunting

All the animal friends are invited by Mr. and Mrs. Moose for Thanksgiving dinner, but the only one missing is Turkey. They set out to find their friend, Turkey. Of course, Turkey thinks he will be ON THE TABLE, but he learns he has true friends and they all want him at their table. I wonder what they have for Thanksgiving dinner. Great read aloud at Thanksgiving time.

You can purchase this book from Amazon.com HERE then click HERE to use the writing response below with your students. Students will write or draw about the characters in the story, the setting, the problem and solution. Great lesson on story elements.

If you would like the entire Thanksgiving Literacy Pack click HERE!

Fun Thanksgiving clip art for your own resources and pages click HERE!

See my new clip art for Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Nest for Celeste

by Henry Cole

This story is a great read aloud.....

Set in the early 1800s on a plantation in the bayou country of Louisiana. Beautifully illustrated with the flora and fauna of the area, Henry Cole’s novel brings Celeste and her friends to life in this story about art, inspiration, and the meaning of home. Cole grabs the children's attention right from the beginning. Celeste is a mouse who lives underneath the floorboards of the dining room. One day she ventures out to the world above where she dodges a hungry cat and witnesses the art of hunting for the first time. She makes friends with a singing thrush named Cornelius. She meets an osprey who likes to talk and Joseph, Audubon's young apprentice.

Illustrations are WONDERFUL pencil sketches

All the while Celeste is looking for a new home. Where will she find one? In the toe of a worn boot? in Joseph's pocket? or in a dollhouse in the attic, which is complete with mouse-size furniture! In the end, Celeste discovers the true meaning of 'home' and your students will learn the true meaning of friendship.

“I have long been an admirer of Henry Cole’s contribution to children’s literature. With this first novel, he weaves a tale that, in addition to his delightful illustrations, has all the best ingredients—a sense of history, time-honored themes, and just the right amount of imagination.” —Julie Andrews

Click below for comprehension questions and teacher guide

Teacher Guide and Comprehension Questions

for A Nest for Celeste

A Brand New Year!

It's always so exciting to begin a brand new year!

Here are three photos of our classroom...ready and waiting! Monday morning twenty-three new third graders will begin a brand new year of school...their 3rd grade year. New books, new pencils and new friends!

Classroom environment ... is it important?

Classroom environment can create warmth and in turn promotes a sense of comfort. Adding color can bring life to a room. Organization and order give learners security and belonging; physical space and time are important to the school day. Where do I find ......? What time do I ....? Who will ....? What do I do when...? How will I ....? When will I...?
All of these are important to children. When the elementary classroom provides the answers to these questions, then the student is ready to learn and grow.

Carpet space provides the place to have morning meetings, to practice listening, to read books, to build class community, to address classroom etiquette and to interact and grow socially. An organized classroom library inspires reading and book choice. Carpet space also provides a great place for partner reading and movement. Tables around the room invite group work and a change of pace from desks.

Bright, bold and colorful bulletin boards are essential for teaching the big concepts. This board invites students to read their way around the world. How many continents can you read about? How many countries can you visit?

Desks are arranged in cluster groups. This encourages cooperative learning, builds a sense of class community and makes the best use of space. Ideal desk arrangements create opportunities for students to become actively engaged in learning. Tables around the the room allow space for movement during different times of the day. Group work at tables. Independent work at seats. Smart teachers move furniture when students need a change.

Enjoy the brand new year!

Enjoy reading new stories and books!

Enjoy learning new science!

Enjoy learning about people and places!

Read, think, reflect!

Ask questions, to get answers, to ask more questions!

Continue...