Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hello Genius series

Hello Genius is a new series to me, despite being published by Capstone Press almost a year ago!  All of the books in the series were written by Michael Dahl and illustrated by Oriol Vidal. 

Absolutely love the series and the simple lessons each book teaches!  The books are also slightly repetitive, (enough so to be efficient, yet not overwhelming) and ideal for pre- and beginning readers!  Definitely want to get my hands on remaining 8 titles!!! 

From the back cover page:
This book promotes: self-care, animal recognition, speaking skills and first words

Children will likely enjoy the fact that Duck's way of using the potty chair is flying by and trying to aim!  At the end of the story, after Duck has learned to sit ON the potty chair, Mommy reminds him to wash his "feathers."

From the back cover page:
This book promotes: manners, first words, speaking skills and animal recognition

While at first little penguin is very demanding in attempting to get his needs met, Mommy (or Daddy) Penguin is adamant in insisting that little penguin say please first.  After a while, Little Penguin catches on and everyone's happy in the end.

From the back cover page:
This book promotes: manners, first words, speaking skills and animal recognition

Despite little bear being awfully demanding in having his needs met instead of being self-sufficient, he does use his manners, remembering to say thank you after all of his requests are met!

From the back cover page:
This book promotes: self-care, animal recognition, speaking skills and first words

Little Pony wants to be "Just like Dad" - from eating a lot each day right down to brushing his teeth, Little Pony imitates dad's motion - learning an important aspect of self-hygiene in the process!


 Also in this series:





If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Literacy Activity Bag #2 - Monsters

Sharing the 2nd of my take-home literacy activity bags with you tonight!  This one focuses on monsters - with an emphasis on counting, number recognition and social-emotional awareness.

 Contents:
 These are the two books that are the focus of the "Monster" themed activity bag.  Ten Furry Monsters is intended to help children with counting practice through 10 and introduction to the ideas of addition and subtraction.  Glad Monster, Sad Monster was selected in the hopes of getting parents/guardians talking about those feeling words that children's so frequently seem to lack and to get families as a whole, thinking of ways to handle the different emotions appropriately.

To go along with Ten Furry Monsters, I used the Klutz Pom Pom Monster Salon to create ten furry monsters!  I think these will be a hit!  The monsters are included in the kit for practice counting 1-10 and to be used to introduce children to the concept of adding and subtraction through manipulation of the objects.  (While not intended for this purpose, I'm sure they'll also elicit lots of vocabulary usage!!!)

Also included in the kit is an activity for Playdoh Monsters, intended to help children with fine motor skills.  I included 5 small containers of playdoh and a small craft box with a variety of materials that could be manipulated along with the playdoh to create Playdoh Monsters.  I really think this activity will be a hit, but playdoh will likely have to be replaced on a regular basis and the materials inside the kit will probably need restocking periodically. 

Last but not least is the Build-a-Monster game.  This game has players rolling the die, counting the number of dots and then using that for number recognition, finding the numeral and then following the directions on the director card.  For example, when a player rolls a 1, they select the body for their monster.  If they roll another 1 at any point in the game, the play advances to the next person.  The object is to be the first person to collect all of the parts they need to build their monster.  All of the body pieces (except the main body) are laminated and contain a Velcro dot on back to adhere to the felt body.  The game is stored in gallon-sized Ziploc bag. 

Again, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave a message if you're interested in purchasing any of these kits and I'll make them available for purchase!!!







If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

New Reads for a New School Year

A new school year has lots to offer in the way of new reads from HarperCollins Publishers - there's something for everyone!

Hale, Bruce.
Clark the Shark.
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

Clark the Shark learns a valuable lesson at Theodore Roosterfish Elementary School - there is a time and a place for everything.  The lesson is learned after Clark becomes just a little too enthusiastic about everything at school - talking louder than everyone, munching on everyone's lunch, playing too rough at recess.  When his friends start to steer clear of him, Clark is suddenly left wondering why.  His teacher, through her use of rhyme finds a way to appeal to Clark to consider his actions and think of others at the same time.  Clark takes the idea and runs with it, eventually gaining back his old friends and helping out a new student at school as well! 

The book is a lot of fun and a great story - would make for a great book if there seems to be animosity that exists in your own classroom!  However, although being geared for children between 4 and 8, I'd hesitate to use this with the younger crowd, as some of Clark's actions might set a minor fear in their minds about what could possibly happen to them at school.  Wouldn't want to scare children before they experience the whole school-idea!


Drummond, Ree.
Charlie Goes to School.
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

This is a great book to use when introducing children to the concept of home-schooling, especially if it's new to your family and something that you intend to try out!  It briefly touches on the idea of home-schooling and what a home-schooled child might expect of the learning process.  The book would also be great for children starting preschool or kindergarten for the their first schooling experience, as it really makes learning look fun and appealing!  A great read for a new school year!

Rockwell, Anne.
First Day of School.
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

I'd say this book perfectly sums up what children look for as they head back to school - a little bit of excitement twisted into a little bit of nervousness!  It shares the excitement of new haircuts, new supplies, new clothes, but allows readers to connect with the nerves that are often experienced on that first day of a new school year - uncertainties about teachers, being in a class with friends.  It is a perfect combination to help children transition into a new school year while reassuring them that even if they aren't in a class with their best friends, they can still be friends!

This is a definite must-read before the new school year begins!


Dean, James.
Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus.
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

What a wonderful, refreshing, new take on a classic children's song!  And a great way to start out the new school year!  I'll definitely be using this new title as an intro on the first day of school in my classroom - especially considering what a hit the "Pete the Cat" series has been in the past two years with the preschoolers!  Much of the song is the same, with just a few newer parts/phrases that fit the traditional Pete the Cat style... can't wait to see if it's a hit!


Scotton, Rob.
Splat and the Cool School Trip.
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

Not necessarily a back-to-school book, but a fun story none-the-less!  When Splat joins his classmates from Cat School on a field trip to the zoo, he's super excited about seeing the penguins.  However, as the class detours to see the giraffes and elephants, Splat's own pet, Seymour, upset from being left behind, opts to find a way to zoo and causes some trouble of his own, resulting in Splat not being able to see the penguins.  However, Seymour decides to take matters into his own hands and saves the day for Splat in the end!  A fun read!


Farley, Robin.
Mia Dances Back to School!
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.


When Mia attends back to school night before the start of school, she becomes very disappointed to find out her two best friends are in a class without her.  Mia is upset and decides she does not wish to attend school if she can't be in a class with her friends.  However, with her mom's insistence, Mia does attend the first day of school and slowly learns that she'll still have her best friends but now there's an opportunity to make new friends.  A loving, caring teacher makes this difficult transition easier for young Mia.  Great choice for a child struggling at the beginning of the school year after being separated from a close friend(s).

Yankovic, Al.
My New Teacher and Me!
June 2013.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

When Billy, a lively imaginative boy is paired with Mr. Booth, a very strict teacher, for the new school year, things are bound to be interesting!  The first day results in near disaster experience, but the two quickly realize that they obviously have a LOT to teach EACH OTHER over the course of the upcoming school year.  The book is an easy read and fun with lots of rhymes, however, it's more appropriate for upper-elementary aged, as some of the language may be a bit too advanced for younger children to comprehend.  Otherwise, a great read and lots of fun!







If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Guidecraft Educator Review/Giveaway: PowerClix



Each month, the Guidecraft Educators will share our honest feelings
about a Guidecraft product(s) and how these products would fare in an
early childhood classroom. This month's selection is from a long-awaited new line by Guidecraft - Powerclix. 
 
From Guidecraft:  PowerClix TM, the 3D Building System from Guidecraft, lets you explore and build endless models with the easy click ‘n connect system. Super-strong magnetic force creates a quick connect for fast, simple and powerful 3D modeling. Build bridges, skyscrapers, animals and more. Colorful translucent plastics and unique geometric shapes and extender rods allow for open-ended, creativity-inspiring constructions. The PowerClix TM Activity Guide gives young builders step-by-step instructions on how to create a variety of models while teaching them the basics of science, construction and engineering. Ages 5+


The new PowerClix building system is currently available in 4 different sized kits - 18 pieces, 36 pieces, 52 pieces and 68 pieces.  The product provided to Guidecraft Educators for review was the 52 piece system.  

My thoughts: 

  • Without having had the opportunity to share them with children due to summer vacation, I would imagine that the 52 piece set would be ideal for a group of 2-3 children.  Any more children would most likely result in an argument over the pieces.  However, this is an ideal toy for cooperative play and I'm very much excited about introducing them in my classroom this year! 
  • The PowerClix building system could be used in a variety of educational ways, in addition to creative arts expression!  The use of magnetics as a building system allows the opportunity for doors to open on the science end - how do you think the pieces stick together?  What is a magnet?  What does a magnet do?, etc.  
  • The activity guide provided gives children lots of visuals for models to replicate until they seem to get the hang of using the PowerClix.  I personally plan to laminate the pages in this guide and place them with the toy on the manipulatives shelf.  I also think that I will be encouraging children to build structures of their own and then create additional pages to add to the guide that shows the childrens' creations and challenges other children to try building these AND new structures!
  • What I loved the absolute most about the toy was the simplicity involved in clean up.  You can pretty much pick up one piece and use that one piece to pick up all the others... that is the force of magnetism!  Amazing and super-simple clean up!!!
My only complaint about the PowerClix was my own difficulty in opening the packaging!  I'm not sure if I was having issues or if others experienced the same difficulty, but I had to use scissors and literally cut the packaging into pieces to get out the PowerClix!  Could have just been me, but I'm not sure!


Overall, as our Guidecraft contact promised, this product was DEFINITELY worth the wait!  So can't wait to break these out in the classroom this year!

So... what do other 'Guidecraft Educators' have to say about the PowerClix 52 pc Building System?


Maureen at Simply Stacie
Andrea at MommyPR
Deborah at Teach Preschool
Carrie from Huppie Mama
Jody from Mommy Moment
Candace at Mamanista!
Lisa from Planet Weidknecht
Vanessa from Pre-K Pages
The Giveaway

Guidecraft is generously offering ONE lucky reader of the Guidecraft Educators a chance to win one of these PowerClix sets!!! To enter, head on over to Simply Stacie for details!

Or... if you just can't wait to win one and NEED them now, they can be purchased online at: 
PowerClix:  Guidecraft.com or Amazon.com




If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Literacy Activity Bag #1 - A is for Alligator

I've been working on creating some new Take Home Literacy Activity bags for my classroom this year.  My goal is to have 30-40 of them so each child can take one home each week for the duration of the school year.  They're slow going, but once I get started, they develop quite nicely! 

So, today... I'm sharing with you my first "complete" bag - everything's there!  I have four others in various stages - waiting on books, materials, etc to arrive.  They'll be done soon enough and I'll be sure to share those as well!

Before I share the specifics of this kit, I thought I'd share that each of the kits I've created are intended to share with families for a week-long time frame and have learning activities that focus on different areas of the Head Start Early Learning Framework.  Once the families return the kit, their child may then select another to take home.   PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave a message if you're interested in purchasing any of these kits and I'll make them available for purchase!!!


Contents (most available for download):
  • Snap! A book about alligators and crocodiles, by Melvin and Gilda Berger
  • Alligator Baby, by Robert Munsch
  • Learning Activities Guide
  • Venn Diagram (homemade with felt) and Venn Diagram sentence strips 
  • Alligator's Hungry (scissor cutting story)
  • Alligator-themed scissors
  • A is for Alligator tracing sheet/Phonological Awareness Activities
 The two books were selected based on the idea of focusing on letter A with an alligator theme.  Robert Munsch's Alligator Baby is a book that has been shared with my groups of students in the past and has very much been enjoyed.  Snap!: A book about alligators and crocodiles was selected due to it's ability to act as a science activity and expose children to non-fiction text. 

From there, once the books were selected, I created the Learning Activities guide for parents.  This gives them the specifics about the included activities, as well as a guide for discussion based on the two stories included in the kit.  As you can see in the picture, the content area from the Head Start Early Learning Framework is shared so parents can see exactly what academic area they are focusing on.  Then, the guide gives the information about how to use each activity.  Lastly, there is a space with an example for parents so they are able to provide feedback on how the activity went over with their child - was the activity enjoyed?  Was it successful?  Did the child struggle?  This guide is laminated and then hooked onto the handles of the bag using key rings.  When the kit is taken home by a child, a copy of the same sheet will be provided, with blank boxes for the feedback.  This will serve as the tracking sheet for homework response and In-Kind purposes. 

The Venn Diagram activity may be a bit too complex for some of the 4's I work with.  However, I figure if I expose them to using this as a means for sorting throughout the school year, they may have enough of an understanding to be able to handle the activity!  It is intended to be used with the sentence strips (which contain details pulled from the Snap!: A book about alligators and Crocodiles) as a comprehension activity.  I'm hoping that parents will read the strips and ask the children "Is that something that you know about the alligator?  The crocodile?  Or both the alligator AND the crocodile?"  The venn diagram was made by sewing pieces of blue, yellow and green felt together to form the shape.  The sentence strips were laminated and have a piece of velcro on the back so they stick to the felt while completing the activity.

Many of the students I have worked with in the past have not had access to scissors at home, despite
my providing them in the previous supply kits I've sent home.  Parents are leery of allowing children access to these and for this reason (and difficulty with cutting activities at school) I thought a great way to allow this exposure at home would be to provide parents with a story of sorts to help them work with their child on cutting and scissor use.  I found the alligator scissors online and created my own story about how to use the scissors.  I also plan on using this same story at school while teaching children how to use scissors!


The last activity in the bag is a letter writing story, which will hopefully help children in forming both upper- and lower-case Aa.  I created those stories myself as well, centered on the alligator theme.  The sheet is laminated and I will provide a dry erase marker and eraser for use with the worksheet.  On the back side of the same sheet, is a phonological awareness activity that has children circling pictures of items that begin with the /a/ sound and then a column for parents to try and see if their child can come up with a list of words that start with letter Aa.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!  More kits to come soon!






If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!