Bilingualism in out Nation

Bilingualism Interview

In schools today, there are many students falling behind because teachers are not always willing to give full support to children who are in need of Language support. These are my findings in our community.

During my interviews with four adults from my community, I found things about bilingualism that I have never thought about. I learned that each adult views bilingualism differently than everyone else. I learned that some feel that bilingualism is great for multicultural understanding and brings cultures together. Bilingualism also helps communities understand each other. For example, a Spanish person understands what banks are all about, if the banks have posters in Spanish. Bilingualism also exposes the ways other cultures do things and humbles Americans. Somehow, my interviewee mentioned that bilingualism even gives more job opportunities. 

I learned that there are many approaches to languages by our community. Some said that we should just teach English to everyone and not print Spanish on everything. While others said that we should focus on teacher other languages and keeping the languages within the families. One option was to gather statistics of a particular school and discover what second language is spoken the most. Then, teach that second language in the school where there is the most second language speakers of that language. If there are a lot of Russian children in a school, teach Russian. If there are many Spanish- speaking children in a school, teach Spanish. 

I really liked interviewing adults from my community about this matter; I learned a lot by other people’s insights. I think that we should preserve languages and encourage children to talk in their home language.

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Ever thought of teaching grammar to your kids?

Some of my thoughts on how I would teacher grammar as a teacher.

Philosophy of Teaching Grammar

I am proud to say that in a classroom that I happened to be in during my practicum, was the classroom I am going to remember forever. The friendly, relaxed environment encouraged students to share their ideas on writing and inspired them to work with each other to make their writing better. The person who made all the difference was, of course, the teacher. Mrs. Allison had it all figured out. She didn’t tell the children to include their adjectives and adverbs, not once! Instead, she encouraged them to write about their summer in the most descriptive and startling language possible. During the writing, she helped write certain words on the word wall and answered students’ questions on punctuation, spelling, etc. I, along with many other teachers are discovering that teaching grammar in context is more effective than teaching it in an isolated environment, because students learn better writing mechanics and will be able to use grammar more effectively in their writing.

Before describing what grammar in context really is, I want to take a look back at history and find out how grammar was taught before now. Grammar was taught as a separate subject from the rest of the world. It is an isolated topic where students learn about punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. Students practiced their learned skills on random sentences that are designed to help students practice their grammar skills. However, as Constance Weaver mentions in her book Lessons to Share, “...the practice exercises in grammar books are carefully crafted to be relatively easy; they do not give students the opportunity to grasp the critical features of a concept...” [24] After many years of teaching grammar in an isolated environment, teachers have found that the students who had many years of grammar classes still didn’t understand the critical parts of writing and putting sentences together. Because of the way the students were taught, their writing skills lacked significantly.

While being taught in an isolated environment, students are very concerned about punctuation and grammatical issues to the point where they are no longer interested in creative writing. As soon as the teacher reminds them to USE adjectives and adverbs, students are too concentrated on using the correct grammatical words and are not paying much attention to what they are actually writing. In her book, Weaver indicates a teacher Sarah Woltjer, (p.29) who told children to write a descriptive and creative fall poem. After grading the poems she was discouraged because the children didn’t use very descriptive words and their sentences were not smooth in the context of the poems. Sarah was irritated because of the writing that the children produced after so many hours of studying adjectives and adverbs. The students were accustomed to learning grammar in isolation; they couldn’t even construct a poem to flow smoothly.

After much thought, Sarah knew there had to be a change in her teaching style. She decided to have a “feel” for what the season autumn brings. She organized a fun day with the children by playing around with leaves and enjoying the beauty of fall. She told her students to write another fall sense poem and didn’t remind them to include adjectives and adverbs. Instead, she encouraged creative and extraordinary writing. Sarah was impressed by the results. The poems written by the same students were so different! The sentences were creative and written smoothly enough to read with pleasure. The students wrote very descriptive words of how the beauty of fall is so attractive. From this, we now understand that students learn to write their best after experiencing something great and being encouraged to “just” write rather than having been told a hundred times to include the grammar words of the day.

Now that we have looked at creative writing, a big part of the writing should include revising. In fact, most of the writing consists of revising the written work. Revising occurs when a teacher asks the students to rewrite their assignments after correcting the writing. Many times, teachers mark the mistakes on students’ papers and hand it back to them with no follow-up assignments. Now, however, teachers found that the revising process of writing is essential to growing writers. With the teaching-grammar-in-context approach, revising is not taught as a separate subject, it is taught jointly with creative writing. Weaver quotes Renee Callies, “Revising teaches them [students] that mistakes occur naturally in the process, and opportunities to correct those mistakes exist.” She continues, “Revising teaches them how to compose and how to edit...to value good writing, and the process of writing well.” [110] This makes us aware that revising is even a bigger deal than just reordering words and sentences; it gets students prepared to edit their writing thoroughly. It teaches them to edit real sentences instead of the relatively easy sentences we reviewed earlier. That is why it should be required of students to do follow-up revising after turning their assignment in; writing is an ongoing process.

Callies writes about the methods she uses in her classroom that work tremendously for her students. She has a three-step guide to what she does. The first step is to complement the child’s writing and to point out something that sounds good. The second step is to question the things that seem awkward for the teacher. Finally, the third step is to make a general observation of the entire piece. With this process Callies mentions, “I choose to ask questions about content and meaning first, issues more readily apparent to their young eyes, before going on to aspects of grammar.” [111] Students understand revising when the teacher prompts them according to the students’ writing level. For example, if a student has his pronouns wrong, he will learn more from revising if the teacher asks him if the certain sentence sounds OK and lets him figure it out himself. As soon as the child notices the mistake all by himself, he will edit it and will remember to not make that mistake again. The student will also feel successful for specifying his own mistakes.

Along with revising, there are many other methods to get students to learn grammar in the context of writing. The other method is called sentence composing. Don Killgallon writes about sentences in her article Sentence Composing, “All four sentence composing techniques - unscrambling, imitating, combining, and expanding- use literature as a school for writing with a faculty of professional writers.” [181] This method uses professionals’ writing to unscramble by separating single sentences into parts. They use the professionals’ writing for imitating and combining with other words. Also, my favorite part of this method is the expanding method. It gets students to think beyond what the professional author wrote; it requires the student writer to think of his own words to add into the writing of a professional. This method, like other methods are great when it comes to teaching grammar in context. In Notes Toward a New Rhetoric (1967) Francis Christensen said, “It [sentence composing] helps him [student] thread the syntactical mazes of much mature writing, and it gives him insight into the elusive thing we call style.” [181] With this method, It is true that students learn much better writing mechanics, and most importantly, they feel successful.

I was once a student sitting at a desk learning grammar in an isolated environment. I knew how to punctuate and spell; however, I didn’t know how to write. I continued grammar throughout my elementary and middle school experience. When I transferred into a different high school, I had absolutely no idea how to write. I was accustomed to editing random sentences and figuring out where the nouns and verbs are, but didn’t know how to organize my paragraphs, not alone essays. High school was hard on me for the same reason, I didn’t know how to write. My essays in high school had the “fancy” font with the simplest three-body organizational pattern. I remember sitting at my computer thinking about what to write for hours. Luckily, after years in college, I had great instructors who focused on requiring me to re-write my essays. For my instructor, it was very important that I fully understand the construction of each sentence, paragraph, cluster, and essay. She forced me to work hard on my writing and brought me to where I am today. I learned about different ways to cite and punctuate while in the process of writing my final essay. It was definitely a hard experience. As I look back now, I realize that being taught grammar in an isolated environment, for me, was a horrible idea.

That is why my philosophy of teaching grammar is focused on teaching students grammar in context of writing. I believe that my students will learn amazing writing mechanics and will be able to write creatively and willingly. I am looking forward to years of working with students who have a desire to be great writers, a desire to get their ideas out to the rest of the world. I am excited to use the methods of revising and sentence composing with my students. I know that the methods, in the context of writing, will create beautiful writing that is soon to be a part of history.

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Best Children's Books by Title and Author

Picking books for your children? What are the best books for children of all ages? 

Here are some great books which you can choose from! Each book has a little summary and will help you decide which to get. The Highlighted Pink will describe various categories of books. 

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1. Caldecott Medal or Honor winning books:
          1. I Want My Hat Back

Citation: Klassen, Jon (2011). I Want My Hat Back. New York: Candlewick Press.

Summary: The brown bear was searching for his hat by asking animals in the forest if they have seen his hat. after a bunny yells at the bear and asks not to be prompted again, the bear here discouraged. He then remembered that he had seen his hat on the bunny's heard early. He took the hat and when someone asked if he has seen a bunny with a half on, he yells and asks not to be prompted again.

Response: I think this book creates a very open-ended ending. It allows children to imagine their own ending and figure the situation out. I figured it out third time reading the story!

Cross-Curricular Areas: Literature: talk about how the author implies the ending. math: ask how many animals the bear talked to.

2. Blackout

Citation: Rocco, John (2012). Blackout. LOCATION: Hyperion Book CH.

Summary: Everything seems normal in the little boys house until the lights go out. everything was dark and all the electricity in the neighborhood stopped. The family couldn't finish what they were doing and decided to go up on the roof to see the stars. They started playing board games and had so much fun until the lights turned on again. The boy doesn't like normal, he likes turning the lights off and once again, have a fun party.

Response: In this digital are, I think the book is perfect to promote other activities other than technological interests. I would definitely read this to my classroom.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: talk about electricity, Technology: talk about technology and how it takes time from outside fun and other activities. Social: talk about being able to play board games, enjoy it even if you lose.

3. Grandpa Green

Citation: Smith, Lane (2011). Grandpa Green. New York: Roaring Book Press.

Summary: There was a boy who was born a long time ago, he lived on a farm, read books, and got sick with Chicken pox. He lived, met his future wife and later got married to her. He had many kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. He remembered everything, but when he got old, he started forgetting things. However, his garden remembered everything.

Response: I had to read this book over and over to get the actual point. It’s a great family-tie movie that will bring a family closer together.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social: families and grandparents. History: how was it back in the old times?

4. Kitten’s First Full Moon

Citation: Henkes, Kevin (2004). Kitten’s First Full Moon. New York: GreenWillow Books.

Summary: The little kitten was up at night and was very hungry and brave. She saw the full moon and thought it was a plate of milk. She licked but only to end up with a firefly in her mouth. The kitten jumped to the plate of milk, but ended up tumbling on the ground. She chased the bowl on milk far away from home, but didn't seem to get closer. She even climbed the tallest tree, but still couldn’t reach it. The kitten then saw a bowl of milk in the pond, jumped into it and got all wet and even more hungry. The kitten went back home hungry, and there was a big bowl of milk on the porch.

Response: Such a cute story. Wow. I loved it! I would definitely read this to my class. Made me think of the times when we sometimes go all out to chase for something thats not really there.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Astronomy: What is the moon made of? What is space? Science: Kittens, what do they like to eat? Do all little baby animals drink milk?

5. A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Citation:

Summary: Amos was a busy man, he woke up very early and went to the zoo on the city bus. Even though he was busy, he always had time or his friends. One day, he woke up sick. He couldn’t go to work, but the animals waited and waited. Later that day, all his animal friends rode the city bus to his house; they couldn’t wait any longer. The animal friends helped him all day, and they were ready for a next new day.

Response: This reminded me of my best friend. I know she would do that.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: It’s nice to be nice. do to others like you would want them to do to you. Science: learn about the animals in the zoo. Social Studies: How does it feel to work at the zoo?

2. Wordless books:
1. A Ball for Daisy

Citation: Raschka Chris. (2011). A Ball for Daisy. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Summary: This books is about a puppy, Daisy, who was given a red ball. The book shows how much Daisy enjoys playing with the ball. Daisy took naps with the ball and playing with it outside. One day, another puppy playing with the ball and popped it. Daisy was very sad and stayed inside the house. After some time, daisy came outside for a walk and her friend gave her a brand new blue ball. Daisy was happy.

Response: When reading this book, I remembered the time when my little brother poked my big ball with a knife. I was so hurt! After half a year, my mom bought me another one.

Cross-curricular Areas: Colors (red and blue ball), Prediction, critical thinking.

2. Do You Want to be My Friend?

Citation: Carle, Eric (1987). Do You Want to be My Friend? New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: A tiny mouse goes around and ask many different animals to play with her. After asking many different animals with various tails, she finds another mouse and asks her too! They two mice become good friends and play together.

Response: This book is very engaging. Even though there are no words, the reader can tell what the mouse is asking when she is next to an animal. Also, before seeing what animal the mouse is talking to, it just shows the tail, it allows the reader to try and guess which animal has that kind of tail. It’s great!

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: talk about different animals and their tails. Social Skills: how to ask someone to be your friend, Colors: the different colors of animals.

3. Chalk

Citation: Thompson, Bill (2010). Chalk. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Corp.

Summary: A group of children stand in the rain with umbrellas, raincoats and hats as a toy dinosaur gives them a bag of chalk. They start drawing on the ground and the sun appears covering their faces with it’s rays. The throw their coats, play in the sun, and draw on the ground. As they are playing, the dinosaur comes to life and they start running fast into the playground structure. As the rain starts again, the dinosaur melts away and they start walking with their hats, coats, and umbrellas once again.

Response: It felt like the dinosaur jumped on me because it was so unexpected. The story starts out with a small plastic, toy dinosaur and all of a sudden, it becomes real! It brings a lot of action into the story, which I think children enjoy much.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: dinosaurs, rain, precipitation and the water cycle. Art: drawing with chalk.

3. Concept Books:
1. Words Are Not for Hurting

Citation: Verdick, Elizabeth and Marieka Heinlen. (2004) Words Are Not for Hurting. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing.

Summary: This book previews different children and how they use their words. Some words are short, some are long. Some words you can say quietly, some you can yell out. Finally, the book talks about how important it is to choose your words carefully so that they may help others around you.

Response: Honestly, this book even reminded me that words are not for hurting. Sometimes, even in adult life, I forget that truth. I think it’s a great concept for children to learn, especially in the first days of school.

Cross-Curricular Areas: English: the different kinds of words, spelling. Social Skills: Choosing the right words.

2. Dinosaur Pet

Citation: Sedaka Neil and Marc Sedaka. (2012) Dinosaur Pet.  New York: Imagine Publishing.

Summary: A little boy loves his dinosaur pet. As the boy holds the egg, the dinosaur hatches. As months go by, the dinosaur grows bigger and bigger each month. The boy explains why and how much he loves his dinosaur pet.

Response: This book has facts about the holidays of various months of the years - that is a great thing for children to know.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Months of the year. Math: counting how many months are in a year. Science: talking about dinosaurs. Social Studies: holidays of the year.

3. Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes

Citation: Litwin, Eric and James Dean. (2010) Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes. New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: Pete the cats sings a song about how much he loves his new white shoes. As he walks and sings, he steps into strawberries and gets his shoes colored in red. He still walks and sings his song about his red shoes. Later, he steps into blueberries and still manages to sing his song! Then, Pete stepped into mud and STILL kept singing his song and being happy. Finally, Pete sepped into a bathtub and got his shoes cleaned. He kept singing his song even though his shoes were soaking wet.

Response: The meaning of this story is great. Pete kept on going even though he got his shoes dirty. He didn’t give up or get ad about it. He kept things cool and awesome. I think this book has a great point to it.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Colors (red, blue, brown, white) Social Skills: talk about keeping things cool even when you feel like being mad.

4. 10 in the Bed

Citation: Geddes, Anne (2000). 10 in the Bed. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Summary: There were 10 in the bed and the little one said, “roll over, roll over” they all rolled over and one fell out. The little abies continue to roll over until there is only on left on the bed.

Response: The book is flippable. If you finished reading it, you can flip it over and start reading from the back cover and it will make perfect sense. The pictures are images of real babies dressed up in the cutest outfits. It’s a great book.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Math: Counting from 10 backwards. Clothing: talk about different types of apparel in various cultures.  

4. Poetry and rhyme:
1. There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat

Citation: Colandro Lucille and Jared Lee. (2005) There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Summary: There was an old lady who swallowed a bat. Imagine that. To calm the bat down, she swallowed an owl. To chase the owl down, she swallowed a cat. To catch the cat, she swallowed a ghost. To scare the ghost she swallowed the goblin, and to rattle the goblin she swallowed some bones. Finally, she swallowed a wizard for him to cast a spell so she can say TRICK OR TREAT.

Response: This book is a little creepy. If I would read it, I would do so around the time of Halloween just to inspire children to write a Halloween poem of some sort.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Writing: developing a poem. Consequences: if you do something, you’ll have certain consequences and will have to do something else to cover it up. For instance: a lie.

2. Llama Llama Red Pajama

Citation:

Summary: Llama Llama red pajama hears a story from his mamma. Baby llama feels alone and wants a drink. Baby llama waits and waits and starts to moan, but doesn't hear her coming. He sits alone in a dark room, thinking that his mom is gone. Yelling, crying, he is worried for his mom. Mamma Llama says “stop this drama.” Mamma llama says she’s always here and kisses his twice and leaves him to sleep.

Response: This is a great story to children who are impatient with their mom’s. It teaches them that mom’s are sometimes very busy and they need children to be patient.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: If someone asks you to wait, wait patiently for the person or for your turn. Science: learn about llamas.

3. The Snail and the Whale

Citation: Donaldson, Julia and Axel Scheffler (2006). The Snail and the Whale. New York: Puffin Books.

Summary: The tiny snail wanted to see the world and hitched a ride with a humpback whale around the world. The whale sang songs to the snail and said, “come sail with me!” The whale showed the snail the wonders of the world. The snail gazed amazed and felt so small. After stopping at the bay, the whale couldn’t move on land and the snail decides not to fail. She left a trail on the school blackboard to save the whale. The children and firemen saved the humpback whale!

Response: This is such a beautiful tail! The rhymes are constructed so perfectly. It made me think of my adventures in Mexico, seeing the beautiful skies and the underwater caves.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: Sea caves, lightening, snails, animals, sea creatures. Social Skills: what friendship means.

4. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

Citation: Rinker, Sherri D. (2011). Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Summary: Down in the bog construction site, the tuff trucks are working hard all day long. As soon as the sun sets, the trucks go to sleep. The crane truck lifts things very high and helps the builders built up high. The cement mixer has done his work, takes a bath, and goes to sleep. The dump truck carries loads both big and small, he is now tired and wants to sleep. The bulldozed is tough and strong and now is sleepy as can be. Goodnight, goodnight, Construction Site!

Response: This story makes me sleepy, very sleepy. It’s great for a bedtime story.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Agriculture: different materials builders use to build houses and buildings. Nap time.

5. Traditional stories (folkstories)
1. The Three Bears

Citation: Galdone, Paul (2011). The Three Bears. New York: HMH Books.

Summary: Three bears lives in their house in the woods. One Papa bear, one Mama bear, and a little wee bear. They each had their own chair, plate, spoon, and beads. While the three bears were walking, a little girl Goldilocks came into their house and ate the wee bears food and went to sleep in his bed. Goldilocks was scared and ran away as soon as they woke her up.

Response: I liked this book, it has a new feel to it. It reminds me of my childhood when my mother read me this story in Russian.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Folk Stories: talk about folk stories and where they came from. Creative writing: encourage students to write a story of their own. Science: learn about bears and forests.

2. The Three Pigs

Citation: Wiesner, David (2001). The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books.

Summary: The three pigs go out into the world to make their fortune. The first pig built his house out of straw. The wolf blew the house down and blew the little pig out of the story page. The same thing happened to the second pig; the third joined them outside of the story pages also. They checked out other story pages and even saved a dragon with a golden rose from another story. Then, they went back to the third pigs home and scared the wolf away with the dragon whom they saved. Together, they lived happily ever after.

Response: I thought this story was so unique! I’ve never read a book of how characters come out of the story page. Very well done.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Creative Writing: Encourage students to come up with something that is very unique in their story. Social Studies: agriculture, learn about the best building materials.

3. The Egyptian Cinderella

Citation: Climo, Shirley and Ruth Heller (1992). The Egyptian Cinderella. New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: Poor Rhodopis is a slave from greece and the only thing she owns is a beautiful pair of reso-red slippers that her master gave her. Until a falcon flies down and takes one slipper away. The slipped landed on Pharaoh's lap and he was bound to find the owner of the slipper. He searched everywhere and at last found his cinderella.

Response: This book has a multicultural effect to it because the cinderella doesn’t look at all like the normal cinderella. Instead, she wears Egyptian clothing and her environment is Egyptian. It reminded me of old times in History.

Cross-Curricular Areas: History: where did Egypt get it’s clothing and culture from? Life: Living through tough times might get you to a better place so keep going no matter how hard it gets.

6. Nonfiction
1. Polliwog

Citation: Davi, Annou J. and Tammy Carter Bronson (2004). Polliwog. Fayetteville: Bookaroos Publishing Inc.

Summary: In the spring, a frog lays eggs. From each egg, a little tadpole emerges and breathes through gills. The tails begins to shrink when the back legs grow in. As soon as the lungs develop, the tadpole can leave the pond to breath. Also, frogs are amphibians. They have two types of lives. In the water and in the air.

Response: This is a great factual book. I learned that grogs swallow their food whole, they do not chew.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: tadpoles, frogs, and toads. Drawing: draw your own frog. Writing: write about the development of a frog and what your favorite phase is.

2. Tiny Snail

Citation: Bronson T. C. (2002). Tiny Snail. Fayetteville: Bookaroos Publishing Inc.

Summary: Snails hide behind leaves and grass during the day. They can live 5 to 8 years. They are part of the Mollusks family which are animals with soft, tiny bodies. They have eyes that are high so that they can see where they are going. They move on a stream of slime so that they can slide easily over the ground. They drink through their skin and prefer warm rainy weather so that they can absorb it with their skin.

Response: I definitely learned a lot about snails from this book. I didn’t know that they drink water with their skin - thats very interesting to me.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: snails and Mollusks. Drawing: draw a picture of a snail. Writing: write about a time you have seen a snail on the sidewalk or about how they eat.

3. Seasons

Citation: Blexbolex (2010). Seasons. Brooklin: ENchanted Lion Books.

Summary: In the Summer we have picnics, we eat plums, and pick fruit. In the fall, there is Harvest, Jraffic Jams, and Spider webs. In the Winter, there are snowball fights, blizzards, and silence. In the Spring, we grow up, breezes occur, and we plant seeds.

Response: Cute book of what we can see in the different seasons of the year. I’m surprised that it doesn’t have anything about the hotness of Summer and swimming.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science: what creates seasons? How do other countries experience winters and summers? Drawing: draw a story of what you like to do in your favorite season.

7. Multicultural Books:
1. Thinking Global

Citation: Gottfried, Lisa (2010). THinking Global. Belvedere: Little Pickle Press.

Summary:What does it mean being global? Does it mean to be round? To study the planets? No. It means knowing and appreciating others around the world. Living respectfully and opening your minds to new possibilities.

Response: Very engaging children’s book about cultures, community, and traditions.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Science: cultures, traditions, clothing styles.

2. The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred

Citation: Vamos, Samantha R. and Rafael Lopez (2011). The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred. Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Summary: When a farm girl start cooking, all the animals want to help. The cow gives milk, the chicken lays eggs, and the duck takes a walk to the store. At the end they enjoy the Cazuela that the farm maid stirred.

Response: This book brings alive what the Mexican Cazuela is. I think children can learn a bit of the Mexican culture by reading this book.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Studies: think about the foods of different cultures. How are they different or same? Write about it.

3. Learn Russian with Emma

Citation: Harris, Evgenia (2012). Learn Russian with Emma. Evgenia Harris.

Summary: The girl Emma takes you on a journey to learning Russian. She shows you what airplanes are how teaches you to say simple words and greetings.

Response: I think this book is very neat. The girl looks very friendly and the blue eyes remind me of my friend from Europe.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Learn about languages. Write about the language that you speak at home.

8. Picture Storybooks:
1. The Giving Tree
Citation: Silverstein Shel. (1964). The Giving Tree. New York: Harper & Row.

Summary: There was a little boy who loved a tree, and that tree was a giving tree. The boy picked up the tree’s leaves, played on the branches, and climbed the trunk. The tree was happy and the boy was happy. As the boy grew older, he stopped playing with the tree as much, but even with no play time, the giving tree gave him everything it could, until it was completely cut down.

Response: When reading this book, it made me think of the concept of Christianity. Of how Jesus Christ gave it all until he died, just to prove His love. And he is happy knowing that we are happy because of Him. This book explains love very well.

Cross-curricular Areas: Creative Writing (about people around them who are giving.) Lesson about giving and being kind to others.

2. Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad

Citation: Davis Jacky, David Soman. (2011) Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad. New York: Dial.

Summary: Lulu invites her friends for a bug squad play date. The friends go to the forest and think of fun things to do while playing. They pretend to run through sleeping monsters and fields. While blowing candles out on cupcakes, Lulu gets upset when things don’t go her way.

Response:This book reminds me of my birthday party when I was a child. We were looking for things to do with my friends and I remember getting sad when things didn’t go my way. Eventually, I learned that everyone else is sad when things don’t go their way too.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science (bugs), Social learning: Friendship and confilct resolution.

3. HEY, AL

Citation: Yorinks Arthur, Richard Egielski. (1987) Hey, Al. New York: Farrar Press

Summary: Al and his little puppy, Eddie, live in a small home and both work as janitors. They work way too hard and Eddie wants a bigger yard and a bigger house to play in. A big bird offers to take Al and Eddie to a place much better than the old tiny house. After flying high up in the air, Al and Eddie appeared on an island far in the sky where they enjoyed their stay, but not for long. They noticed that they started growing wings and beaks like birds! Soon, they were happy to return to their home and work hard to spend time together.

Response: I remember the time when my siblings and I had to work very hard to jump start our family business, and I always wanted to disappear into a better place.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Science (birds, waterfalls, lakes), Social Studies (types of jobs).

4. If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

Citation: Numeroff, Laura (2009). If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: If you take a mouse to the movies, it will want some popcorn. If you give the mouse some pop corn, it will want to string it and hang it on a Christmas tree. He will need a tree and all the other items that he will need when you give him a tree. After a long time of decorating for Christmas, the mouse realizes that the popcorn string is gone. He will want more popcorn and string. Chances are, he’ll want to go to the movie again.

Response: This book is perfect to read to the class before Christmas break. It is a special Holiday series and I’m sure children will enjoy it as much as I did.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Holidays: talk about the holidays of the year. Writing: challenge the students to share/write a story about the mouse with their favorite holiday (besides Christmas).

5. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

Citation: Dean, James (2012). Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. New York: Harper Collins.

Summary: Pete put on a shirt with four groovy buttons. He was singing the song about how much he loves his buttons. One fell out and there were three buttons left. He didn’t cry, instead, he kept singing his song. He kept singing his song until he had no more buttons left except his own belly button! He kept on singing his song.

Response: This reminded me that we always gotta be happy no matter what.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: keep going and don’t give up even when something is not working out. Draw: draw about a time when you lost something but didn’t give up.

6. Nina in That Makes Me Mad

Citation: Knight, Hilary (2011). Nina in That Makes Me Mad. New York: Toon Books.

Summary: Nina is a girl who gets mad in certain situations. When Nina has to wait for a long time, she says, “that makes me mad!” Whenever she can’t find something she’s looking for, she says, “that makes me so mad!” Nina feels better when she says that things make her mad. After hugging her mom, she feels glad instead.

Response: This book somewhat reminded me of me. Especially since the main character’s name is my name. Sometimes things make me mad and I feel better just by saying that I’m mad about it.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: talk about the appropriate times to talk about what makes you mad. During class, it’s not okay to say that certain things make you mad, especially when the teacher is talking. Writing: write certain things that make you mad and other things that make you glad.

7. Stuck

Citation: Jeffers, Oliver (2011). Stuck. New York: Philomel Books.

Summary:It all began when Floyd's kite got stuck in a tree. The trouble really began when he threw his favorite shoe to knock down the kite. To get the shoe out, he threw the other one in there. He threw many things such as a cat, a ladder, a chair, a bicycle, a kitchen sing, a house door, a milkman, a boat, and a house across the street! And they all got stuck! Even the firemen got stuck in the tree! Floyd knew he had to save them, he got a saw and threw it and since there was no more room, everybody fell out. He went to sleep exhausted.

Response: This book is hilarious, it completely over exaggerates the other books like this. He even throws a house into a tree! That’s really funny.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Language: what is fiction and what is not? Is it realistic to have a house stuck in a tree? Writing: Write a fiction story about something that isn’t real.

8. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Citation: Numeroff L. J. (1985). If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask you for a glass of milk. Then for a straw, a napkin, and to look into a mirror. He’ll ask for many many things and finally, he’ll get so thirsty that he’ll as for a glass of milk. And most likely, He’ll want a cookie to go with it.  

Response: I absolutely love this story. So far, it’s the number one book I have recommended to moms. It makes me laugh at what the mouse asks for.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Writing: learn about repetition and rhyming. The words, “If you give a mouse a ___” are constantly repeated in this book. Encourage children to write a story with words that repeat often.

9. Fancy Nancy and The Mermaid Ballet

Citation: O’Connor, Jane (2012). Fancy Nancy and The Mermaid Ballet. New York: HarperCollins.

Summary: Nancy is so excited about going to a ballet, she imagines her to be the mermaid because she always pretend-plays to be a mermaid. She uses very fancy words to explain her excitement. She gets feedback from the teacher that she is “making progress,” which is fancy for “good.” However, instead of being a mermaid, she is set to be the tree and her friend will be an oyster. Nancy finds that she is not just a tree, she is a weeping willow. Before the performance, the girl who plays the mermaid sprained her ankle and couldn’t play that part, so Nancy’s best friend got to be the mermaid. At first, it’s very hard for Nancy to accept, she gets very jealous. However, after talking with her mom about the news, she feels better and is willing to see her best friend dance. They celebrate after the performance.

Response: This book is great for young and for the old. All people have the feeling jealousy which can make things worse. But having a soft heart and learning to be happy for others is key to keeping the jealousy away.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: what to do if you’re feeling jealous. How do act when emotions are so big.

10 Should I Share My Ice Cream?

Citation: Willems, Mo (2011). Should I share My Ice Cream? New York: Hyperion Books.

Summary: Elephant buys a cone of yummy ice cream and is so excited to eat it it. As he remembers to share his ice cream with his best friend Peggie, he changes his mind over and over again. As soon as he decides to share, he noticed that the ice cream melted! He was sad until he realized that Peggie came and shared her ice cream with him! They were both very happy.

Response: This story is adorable! I didn’t expect the ending to be so sweet.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Social Skills: sharing, what it means to share and how it makes the other person feel.

11. The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse

Citation: Carle, Eric (2011). The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse. New York: Philomel.

Summary: There is an artist who paints. He painted a blue horse, pink rabbit, green lion, and more animals.

Response: This book is very simple. It reminds me of an artist I met before. I like that the artist is very confident and at the end says “I am a good artist.”

Cross-Curricular Areas: Jobs: what does a painter do? a builder?

9. Beginning readers’ Books: (easy-to-read, pattern books)
1. Have You Seen My Cat?

Citation: Carle, Eric (2012) Have You Seen My Cat? (Ready-to-Read. Level 1) New York: Simon Spotlight.

Summary: A boy walks around asking different people and animals if they have seen his cat. People point at tigers and big animals that look like cats. But the boy is not satisfied because the tigers, lions, and leopards do not exactly look like his cat. Finally, on the last page, the boy finds his missing cat.

Response: This book is very simple and will surely keep a young reader informed and interested.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Learning to read: Learn vowel sounds and the way beginning sight words are read. Science: learn about the cat family and how tigers, leopards, cougars, and lions have similar characteristics.

2. I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

Citation: Dr. Seuss (1978) I Can Read with My Eyes Shut. New York: Random House Books for Young Readers.

Summary: “I can read upside down and in blue and in red” The character keeps saying how many different ways there are to read. He also talks about the things readers can read about: ants, bees, and owls.

Response: I think this book is very inspirational to children. This book can be read to, to children who are learning to read. Also, the children themselves can read this fun easy-to-read book and get inspired to read.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Learning: there are so many things to learn about in the world through reading.

3. A Color of It’s Own

Citation: Lionni, Leo (2006). A Color of It’s Own. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Summary: All animals have a color of their own, except chameleons. On lemons they are yellow, in the heather, they are purple. The chameleon decided to remain green all his life to have a green color of his own, just like other animals. But the leaf turned yellow, then red, and then fell to the ground. The chameleon turned black with the ground all winter. The chameleon met another chameleon and they turned different colors together. They lived happily ever after.

Response: This book is so cute. It made me feel sorry for the chameleon because he wanted his own color so bad but couldn’t stay one color. He found the beauty of changing colors when he met a friend. It’s a beautiful story. Life is beautiful when you have friends.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Friendship: in order to have friends, you gotta be friendly. Science: talk about chameleons and why they change colors. Maybe there are other animals like this?

4. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

Citation: Martin, Bill and Eric Carle (2010). Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Summary: Brown Bear Brown Bear, what do you see? The brown bear sees a red bear who sees a yellow duck. The yellow duck sees the blue horse and the blue horse sees a green frog. The green frog sees a purple cat and the purple cat sees a white dog looking at her. The white dog sees a black sheep who sees a gold fish. The goldfish sees a teacher looking at it. The teacher sees children looking at her.

Response: I loved this book when I was little. It reminds me of the times when I read it to my little brother when he was learning to read. It was great.

Cross-Curricular Areas: Writing: make your own story with many animals involved. Science: Learn about animals from the book.

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