Read Aloud Books for Emergent Readers

Duck and Goose are about to go on a new adventure!  And so we come to find out that it is Duck who really wants a new adventure but Goose does not.  Goose likes the meadow and he is so content to stay right where he is perfectly happy. How would he know about new places?    and after all if you like where you are, why go somewhere else?

Goose finally agrees to join Duck and he finds out he LOVES the beach!  How would he ever know? 

but poor Duck does not have the same feeling....the sand's too hot on his feet, the roar of the waves is too loud.  Duck just wants to go back home.  Duck and Goose are wonderful characters that everyone can relate to...in this book, they come to understand that it's good to be open to new adventures...yet it is so nice to go home.

      Tad Hills is the creator of Duck and Goose books and also the famous How Rocket learns to Read.  He is from Norwell, Massachusetts and his grandmother is an artist also.  His mother, a 4th grade Science teacher, inspired his love of nature by frequently bringing home animals (including raccoons, owls and other not-so-tame creatures.  Find more books by Tad Hills, you won't be disappointed. His books are wonderful stories and springboards for reading-writing strategies for the young reader.

Happy Reading!

End of Year Memory Booklet

It's that time of year when students are thinking of summer and teachers are busy with grading, field trips, end of    year awards and                                                putting books away 

for the next year. But before you go, have your students make a great end of year memory book!

Find this "End of Year" Memory Book HERE... your students will be busy with all the pages and also have a nice collection of school memories when they are finished!

Click HERE to download your "End of Year" Memory Book.  It is appropriate for Grades 2-5.

Pages include portrait page of me this year, all about me, more about me,  favorites... books, subjects,  best friends, birthday pages, autograph pages, what I learned pages, my goals, summer reading lists, seasonal pages, field trips, holiday pages, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween,  and more! Pages are bright, bold and easy to read.  Some pages have color graphics and clip art but you can easily print these in b & w also.  Several days of fun activity in reading, writing and thinking.  Included are cover pages for grades 2-5 plus one that reads: "My School Memory Book" you may wish to use for multi-grade classrooms. 

Valentine's Day

field day

summer reading list

best field trip

Things I Have Learned




Your students will love collecting autographs from favorite school people.  Pages for summer plans and summer reading lists.

There are five different covers for your "memory book"  First Grade, Second-Fifth, and one that reads "My School Memory Book"

 

Get Your Beach Clip Art HERE

Enjoy your summer days!  Rejuvenate!  and Read for Pleasure! 

Thank You Cards for Primary Learners to Read, Color, Paint and Send

Writing Thank You Notes are Not a Lost Art

Writing a thank you note builds character and good citizenship.  We all like to know we are appreciated.  It's that time of the year to send out thank you notes to parent volunteers, chaperones, classroom helpers and friends.  And it's never too early to teach children to appreciate family, friends and others around them.   Here are some thank you notes that I made for children to read, color, paint and write their thank you-s.  There are six cards and they are easy to download, assemble and print.  

Each one has a bit of 

Click HERE to get your set of Thank You Cards

Below are some of the cards I made.  You have an option to choose the inside of the thank you card that you prefer.

Download the cards, assemble and then print 2 sides-2 sides.  Put on some classical music and have a quiet classroom of musical worker bees. 

Easy Writing Prompts for Journals

Writing Prompts for Journals, Power Writes, Fast Finishers and Quiet Moments

One idea for writing time... type up some writing prompts and tape them to wide craft sticks.  Place the "writing prompt sticks" in a clear container 

marked "Writing Prompts"

These are suitable for writing one page entries in a student journal or writing notebook.    When you need a filler or a quiet moment, choose a writing prompt stick....read the prompt to the class...and have your students do a 'power' write for 10-15 minutes.  Easy to add more prompts as you go.  They are always handy for when you might need them.

Perfect for independent writing, too!  use these writing prompts for 'fast finishers' ...after completing their assigned work, student chooses a writing prompt and writes in his journal or writing notebook. 

Get Your Full Set of Writing Prompts HERE

This is the full set of writing prompts already done for you.  You download, print, tape them to a craft stick, place them in a clear container.  It will take about 30 minutes or less to get these ready for your class; however you can use them over and over and keep them for many years.  These writing prompts are appropriate for Grades 2-5. 

Get a Sample set of Writing Prompts HERE

visit MrsQuimbyReads.com for lots of resources and information for primary and elementary students.  I have included resources, motivational games and insights for teaching preschoolers to 4th graders. There are pages on Literacy, Math, Social Studies, Class Management and Organization.       Be sure to check back as I am just getting started and will be adding more resources all the time. 

Writing about Book Characters

Writing About Characters

Who will you meet?  Writing about characters can be fun for kids and allows them to think about character's words and actions.  Characters teach us about all the wonderful attributes we might want to emulate; and also those attributes that we find displeasing to us.  

What kind of a character are you?

Children are interested in characters that think, characters that dream, characters that imagine, characters who have best friends, characters who do fun and exciting things, characters who have problems, characters who find solutions...where will your character take you today?  Go on an adventure with  Evangeline Mudd..... she will keep you busy and interested. Evangeline has had a very unusual childhood.  She learns to swing from rafters and can eat peanut-butter sandwiches with her feet!  Evangeline's parents are called away on a research trip to the

 Ikkinasti Jungle.  The mystery begins when they fail to return.  However, Evangeline sets out to find them herself!  She is dauntless, funny and very amusing!  Be ready to go on a wild adventure!

  

Oh, and the wonderful and amazing Clementine! Enjoy Clementine and the Spring Trip  Everyone knows someone like Clementine.  She's energetic, funny and very likable. She is off on a Spring Trip and everyone is invited to go along...open the pages and join her. 

Read these books aloud or have them available for your student readers.  What characters are your favorites?

Here are some pages you might like to use in your class while studying character traits.

Click HERE to get character traits page                 Click HERE to download this 

                                                                                      character trait page

Click HERE to download this page

Happy Spring!

World Poetry Day!

March 21   is   World Poetry Day!

Reading Aloud poems can be very exciting for children of all ages.  So many poems to choose from...ask your students to practice a poem to read aloud to the class.  They might find a poem that is joyful or funny; serious or sad; whimsical and wacky!  Let them choose.  Children will be able to develop listening skills as well as visualization skills by reading poetry.  Look high and low for that favorite poem to entertain your classmates... then enjoy the listening. Rhyme, rhythm, pattern, language, and fluency... the best writing is written in the fewest words.    Comments and questions are invited. Finally, complete a poem review page found below.

So easy to do!  1.) Gather your poetry books.  

2.) Provide time and opportunity for your students to read poems from the many different books. 

3.) Tell your students they must choose one poem to read to the class. 4.) Give them the time and place to practice reading their poems.   

5.)  Have your students read their poems 3x at home for homework.  Tell them they can read to their mother, father, sister, brother, dog, cat, teddy bear, goldfish, or whomever!  They like all the 'whos' they can read to... 6.) Read and listen to the poems at school. 

7.) Complete the 'poem review' page. 

Poetry!  Poetry! Poetry!

and Books about Poetry! 

and Poetry about Books!

Open A Book

Open a book

And you will find,

People and places of every kind;

Open a book

And you can be,

Anything you want to be;

Open a book 

And you can share,

Wondrous words you find in there

Open a book

And I will too,

You read to me,

And I'll read to you!

Read this book, Book Speak!  Use the book as a springboard to invite your students to write poetry about reading and books.  You will find wild and wacky poems about the magic you find in books.  The books themselves are the voice!  Characters, book jackets and bookstores SPEAK!

The author is Laura Purdie Salas and the drawings, illustrations and beautiful collage is by Illustrator, Josee Bisaillon.  Adventure, imagination and reading.... these poems encourage readers to find a new adventure within the pages of a book!

....Click HERE to get your poem review page....

After reading poetry, write some!

This pendant is available HERE

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!