Q is for....

 Great for teaching similes..or just for smiles as a bedtime story. 

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*AS SWEET AS SUGAR*

P is for....

PARTICIPATE...

(so much for the theme today....if I had continued it would be the children's book Pig Pig Grows Up, about a selfish little pig who refuses to grow up and his mother goes along with it....a lot like many students I have taught,)

But instead I bring you this:

6 Olympic swimmers!
2 children's oncologists!
All part of Swim Across America!

There was a wonderful talk by the oncologists and one heartbreaking talk by a mother whose son had the same cancer as my daughter. He relapsed twice and died after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant. The event is raising funds to help research and survivor support at the two local children's hospitals...a very worthy cause since so little research is done on childhood cancers.

And I got the Olympian's autographs...

 my first graders will think it is the coolest :)

Sue Heon-Preston 1984 Olympian, Allison Wagner 1996 Olympics silver medalist 400 meter indiv. medley, Mike Bruner 1976 gold medalist 200 meter butterfly, Sean Killion1992, Mike Kiedek 2000- all participating in Swim Across America!

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*GET AN AUTOGRAPH TATTOO*

O is for

Opal....my favorite book! 

 Although not a children's book, it is a book about a child, reconstructed from her diary which was written on scraps of paper. It was begins just prior to 1900...she was an adopted child, most likely orphaned by immigrant parents. She grew up in the lumber camps of early Oregon. As a teacher, her early writing touches my heart. For anyone studying history, it is an insight from a child's perspective. Opal loved animals and life but her enthusiasm was squashed by "the mama." She thoughtfully writes of "Angel Mama" and "Angel Father," in sad snippets throughout the story.

It is a book for non-fiction lovers, U.S. History lovers and teachers of young children.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*READ A FUN BOOK*

N is for

No post today....nothing...nada...
my heart aches for Boston...
for runners...
for innocence....
for the dead and injured...

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*PEACE*

M is also for Marathon...

one of which I have run and never plan to run another....too hard on the body...too much time training.

But the point of this post is about today. That some sick person planned to bomb the finish of the Boston Marathon. The first thing I did was text my friend to make sure her daughter and husband were not in this year's event. They ran the previous 2 years...I just needed to know they were not there. For their sake's, they were not- but it doesn't stop the ache inside of all those people who were hurt or killed- and their families suffering...and the little children...

May the people in Boston find some peace tonight.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*PEACE*

M is for....

Did you ever wonder what would happen if your teacher really knew what happened when the substitute teacher was in class?

Well the kids in Room 207 find out- their teacher Miss Nelson disguises herself as Miss Viola Swamp...Miss Nelson decides to be sick after her class is unruly-spitballs are stuck to the ceiling, paper planes whizz through the air.....they were the worst-behaved class in the whole school. They learn a lesson in this book...one they will never forget. I sure wish I could pull this off in my class!

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*JAMES MARSHALL BOOKS ROCK*

sundAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!

Daughter #1 and I are off to run a 5K...we are Team "LAND SHARKS,"
This run has a special category for parents and child...the only rule is that you have to cross the finish line at the same time.

--------
10:45....we're baaaack....

We weren't the oldest team....but we came in 7th....if we had run the 10K we would have been 1st as there was only one team running it and they finished in way over an hour....but my daughter just returned last night from a science conference in Texas and the week before was spring break and she was at the Grand Canyon...so it was a good thing we only did the 5K. Happy Sunday my friends :)

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*RUN WITH YOUR KID*I WONDER IF WE WILL BE THE OLDEST TEAM?*

L is for ....

Little House on the Prairie....

I have always loved non fiction- in elementary school I read every biography in the school library...and I had always wanted to travel in covered wagons. When I read my first book by Laura Ingalls Wilder I was in love! I read the series. One year when I was teaching 3rd grade, I had a class that loved silent reading time. I re-read the books and passed them from student to student. Even the boys got on board reading Farmer Boy. When I read these books with my own children I discovered books that Wilder had written for adults also- Letters from Home and The Road Back...basically all the little things young readers should not know...her baby's death, discovering a book meant for Santa to bring, etc.

Reading these books brings appreciation of what life was like for our ancestors and how thankful we should be for all the comforts we have. Life was hard-but life was celebrated with small bits of luck and love.

For my few followers of my regular non- A-Z blogging, below is my SMAC out Cancer Site for my Teenaged Cancer SURVIVING Daughter and I. We will be Swimming Across America on May 19!

CLICK HERE

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*READ A GOOD BOOK*

K is for...

K is for Katy and the Big Snow....

This book was "old" when I was in kindergarten and it is definitely old now...like 70 years old, yet my students love it as well as newly released Piggie and Elephant books.

VIrginia Lee Burton wrote Mike Mulligan and Maryann in 1939, after her first book failed with 13 publishers. She read that failure of a book to her son and he fell asleep before she got to the end...so from then on that was her test...reading the book with her own children. Then Mike Mulligan and Maryann was was published after passing her kid proof test.

Katy and the Big Snow  published in 1943, takes you through the big snow behind Katy the plow as she rescues the town of Geoppolis. Heart warming and a sweet story to go to bed by.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*

LAUGH HARDER*TGIF!*

J is for.....

"Joey & Jet"
Written and illustrated by James Yang

I  cheated today....spring break is catching up to me...after 3 days of work, running club that I am in charge of Monday and Wednesday before class and working out hard Monday and Wednesday after work I am spent...so I browsed through Amazon and  copied the review for Joey and Jet - (Not to mention that I had no favorites beginning with the letter J!)
:

A quick moving, stylishly cartoonish romp, with a loyal dog (Jet) chasing a ball thrown by his boy (Joey). The ball goes past birds, through the woods, over the water, into a cafe, down a hole etc., and yet the energetic Jet zips along, finally fetching the ball and bringing it back... only to have Joey throw it again!! Writer/artist James Yang does commercial graphic work for a number of national magazines, and this digitally-rendered book bops along at a brisk pace, delivering its zippy punchline after an action-packed outing. 

This is a great book for teaching positional words and phrases. A great pre-reader for kids to memorize and then "read" aloud.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*

I WILL SLEEP WELL TONIGHT*

I is for....

I Can't said the Ant...

 

A 1961 classic rhyming story about an ant who tries to help a tea pot back to the counter top after she's fallen to the floor. Help her up said the cup- That's the ticket said the cricket...All of the kitchen’s inhabitants, from foods to pots and pans, and even the trash - chime in with advice and encouragement.

This is a book I do remember from the primary grades. It was outdated then and truly is now with the simple drawings of an old time kitchen- but none-the-less enjoyed by my students...and very useful for rhyming exercises.- That's swell said the dinner bell! 

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*PUT A LITTLE RHYME IN YOUR LIFE* 

H is for Henry Huggins...

Before I was born, Beverly Cleary began writing about Henry Huggins and his friends...in 1950 or so, when she was a librarian, a boy asked her, "where are the books about kids like us?" That sparked her to write the series of Henry books.

I remember my 4th grade teacher reading these books to the class after lunch. I read a few with my own children, but my class this year LOVES Henry. They don't quite get the idea that Henry buys gum for 1 cent, feeds his dog Ribsy horse meat from the pet store and that Henry's parents can't afford a new bicycle for him. Henry doesn't dare talk back to his mother, even when he is right, and he gets in trouble for simple things that would never happen these days.

One assignment in my class this year was to write to an author. So far, 6 have returned letters- and I am impressed that only one was a form letter and the others are hand written postcards. As a class, we wrote to Beverly Cleary, who is 97 years old and living on the coast of CA. The letters were returned from the publisher...I have to find a way to get them to her- I know she would love to hear what my students have to say.

Do you remember reading any Beverly Cleary books? Do you remember Henry's paper route, the milkman or how Henry acquired Ribsy?

 

*LIVESTRONG*LOVEASTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*REREAD A KIDS' BOOK*

G is for...

The Girl Who Wore Snakes.....

At the zoo, Ali asks to hold a snake...she falls in love. Later she buys snakes at a pet store and wears them home.  story for those who love snakes and for those who may be apprehensive....well you won't be by the end.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*BACK TO WORK TODAY* 

Spring break is over....

So sad to say good bye to a fun 9 days....last Saturday, at 3 a.m. the Captain and I took off for L.A. We arrived in time to check out my mom's house that we are renting and then to have breakfast at a local hole-in-the-wall that we miss so much. Good, hot food cooked to order- plus the best owners and workers ever. They remembered us from 2 years ago when we were working on the house every weekend and holiday.

Then to my sister's to check out the type of crown moulding that we were going to install...and then proceeded to put up 187 linear feet! We patched the nail holes, installed a new thermostat, a new door bell- patched the 1,000 holes we made putting up the moulding and then sanded the and shopped for new paint.

Wednesday we headed to San Diego to stay and visit with college roommates...and take bike rides on the boardwalk and around the bay...and two 5 mile runs around the bay and Lake Miramar. It was sad to pack up Saturday afternoon and drive to San Simeon. It was a long drive, getting in just in time to have a little dinner and go to bed. We got up early and headed up to Hearst's Castle since The Captain had never been there...then to Nit Wit Ridge to see a crazy house built by "Captain Nit-Wit," and then the drive home.....I am finishing laundry and then off to bed.

My college buddy Carol...and the lake we ran around...I am not an Amazon woman...this photo just looks like it...Carol is a little over 5 feet tall...and I once upon a time was 5'10", but I swear I look like I am 6'5" here!

More S.D. and castle photos to come :)

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*GOOD BYE SPRING BREAK*

F is for... From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

This is one of my all time favorites...as a child, I imagined myself living in a museum just like Claudia and Jamie did...but not until two summers ago did I actually visit the Met in New York. If you don't know of this book, it was written in 1967, and won the Newberry Award...and was chosen by teachers as one of the top 100 children's books.

I will read this book to my second graders next year, the same as I did introducing them to Henry Huggins books this year. Books that go back to a simpler time- before cell phones, Wii, iPads and missing children on milk cartons. These two runaways solve a mystery- live in a museum without being detected and manage to meet the beloved Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in the end....and get a ride home in her limo. This is a quick read for adults and one enjoyable book to read to children who are ready for chapter books but not quite at that reading level. This is also a good read for 3rd or 4th graders to compare and contrast to living in the 21st century.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*ENJOYING MY LAST DAY OF SPRINGBREAK IN THE SAN DIEGO SUNSHINE*

E is for Elephants Cannot Dance

My newest, favorite children's author is Mo Willems...and for today E is for Elephants Cannot Dance.
 

Mo is the author and illustrator of the Pigeon books- Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and the Knuffle Bunny series. His humor and short lines for each character, usually in word bubbles, make for easy reading for the youngest readers....he is the new Dr. Seuss!

My students learned to read with Mo last year. We wrote him letters and although he says he does not have time to answer personally, he did autograph a poster and write a personal message to my class...

...oh, if you still want to know if Elephants can dance....yes! Gerald does end up dancing.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*DANCE TIL YOU DROP*

D is for DRAGON SOUP

D is also for Dragons...two of them who concoct soups in their cave- one soup sweet and one soup sour. They have argued over the better soup for years...but as a reader you do not know this until Tonlu ventures into the cave to steal some fortune to save her family's farm.
 

The adventurous girl believes she will become part of the soup after she has been captured by the dragons while to stealing a giant pearl from the sleeping dragons. The tale ends happily but not without suspense. I read this book during Chinese New Year's yet it is perfect for teaching about cultures and morals. It is great for all ages with its magnificent drawings and dragons.

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*ENJOY SPRING BREAK

 WHICH I AM DOING RIGHT NOW*

C is for CALIFORNIA

This book is actually part of the "Good Night" series, but I chose California for "C." Adam Gamble, creates board books for most states, major cities and even the world. Each book covers specific landmarks that are memorable that area- a great way to teach geography. As a parent, I used board books with my own small children because of durability. After attending The Reading and Writing Project at Columbia, I totally brought board books in my first grade classroom....I thought the children would shy from "baby books," but they have a brand new love for these books from their first years...and now used to master reading.

In Good Night California, you travel from the Pacific, to Yosemite-(my favorite as I have climbed Half Dome,) to the Redwoods and Golden Gate to farm lands and zoos.

No matter where you live, there is most likely a book like this for you....or where you plan to travel...or for the little one you want to share the love of books with.

 

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*GOOD NIGHT HALF

DOME, I HOPE TO GET A PERMIT

TO CLIMB YOU AGAIN THIS SUMMER*

B is for BATS AT THE LIBRARY

B is for BATS AT THE LIBRARY....

This book is extra special this year as it was one of the California Young Reader Nominees. A cute tale of Bats who get word that a library window was left open and that changes a dull evening into a spectacular event. The bats spend the night rhyming their way through a library adventure- "Can it be true?- Can it be? Bat night at the library!"

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*READ A GOOD BOOK*

A is for Alison's Zinnia

Today s the first day of the A to Z Challenge...I just barely thought of a theme...

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

....appropriate for a teacher who has more than 1,000 books in my classroom alone...not counting what I have at home. But these books are not just for children- they are also for adults who love a good laugh, or cry or just enjoy the pictures.

A is for ALISON'S ZINNIA ...

In this book, Anita Lobel uses girl's names, flowers and verbs to make the alphabet of flowers come alive. Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl.... Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal...Crystal cut a Chrysanthemum for Dawn...all the way to Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison. The photos are suitable for framing...and the book is a wonderful gift for a gardener of flower lover...I bought this for my daughter Alison when she was just a few years old.

 

*LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*

LAUGH HARDER*ENJOY A GOOD

 CHILDREN'S BOOK NO MATTER

HOW OLD YOU ARE*