by admin | Sep 30, 2013 | Categories
My little boy LOVES being read to–and he doesn’t care who’s doing it. He’s too little to choose his own stories yet, so we choose for him. As an early childhood teacher I have several favorites that I enjoy reading, but I can tell there are some books my husband enjoys reading more than others.
Tips for Dads (or anyone new to reading to children and babies)
- Help your child choose books. Look for nice pictures, easy text, humor or a shared interest.
- Do the voices. Make the sounds. Read with expression. This will make it more fun for both of you and encourage your child to read fluently when it’s their turn.
- Read together. If there are words in the book your child knows let them help you.
- When reading to an infant, let them look at the pictures, but also make sure they can see your face.
- When reading to a toddler talk a lot about what they see in the pictures. Point to things, give them the correct words, etc.
- When reading to preschoolers, kindergartners and 1st graders it’s
important to make sure every time you read a book together it isn’t about learning to read. If they are being read to, and they’re doing their homework they will learn to read. Reading together at this age and when their older is about learning to enjoy books and spending time together.
Here is a list of books Dads will appreciate as much as the kids do.
*Instead of putting them in alphabetical order, I arranged the books in each category by age-appropriateness: books for infants and toddlers first, books that can be read to kids 5 and up last.
Boys as the Main Character
Sloppy Joe by Dave Keane and Denise Brunkus
Elmer by David McKee
Jamberry by Bruce Degan
A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer (wordless)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
Hey, Little Ant by Phillip M. Hose
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
James in the House of Great Aunt Prudence by Timothy Bush
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Cowboy Books
Cowboy Small by Lois Lenski
Good Night Cowboy by Glenn Dromgoole
B is for Buckaroo: A Cowboy Alphabet by Gleaves Whitney
Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett
Cowboy Kid by Max Eilenberg
Dad Books
My Dad Loves Me by Marianne Richmond
Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz
My Dad is the Best Playground by Luciana Navarro Powell
Because I’m Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa
When Dad’s Don’t Grow Up by Marjorie Blain Parker
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willams
Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
Fact/Non-Fiction Books
Boys of all ages love non-fiction books–and in my experience, the grosser the better. Dinosaurs Roar by Henrietta Strickland
Dig In! by April Jones Prince
Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Dinosaurs A to Z by Andrea Posner-Sanchez
My First Dinosaur Book DK Books
Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog by Adrienne Sylver
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
The Construction Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Bats by Gail Gibbons
Spiders by Gail Gibbons
National Geographic Kids Readers: Mummies by Elizabeth Carney
Funny Books
The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka
Crankenstein by Samantha Berger
Frank Was A Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves
Click Clack Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey
Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey
Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (a series)
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle (a series)
Inanimate Objects as Main Characters
Smash! Crash! by Jon Scieszka
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
I Stink by Kate McMullan and Jim McMullan
Truck by Donald Crews (wordless)
The Witches Broom by Chris Van Allsburg
Pirate Books
Bizzy Bear: Pirate Adventure by Nosy Crow and Benji Davies
Pirate Potty by Samantha Berger
Pirates! (Board Buddies) by Viviana Garofoli
Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel
The Castaway Pirates: A Pop-Up Tale of Bad Luck, Sharp Teeth and Stinky Toes by Ray Marshall
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long
Pirates Don’t Change Diapers by Melinda Long
Science Fiction/Star Wars
Star Wars ABC by Scholastic
Star Wars 123 by Scholastic
Alien Al by Roger Priddy
Aliens in Underpants Save the World by Claire Freedman
Star Wars Heroes by Scholastic
Star Wars Villians by Lucas Books
Sports Books
Football ABC by Mark Weakland
Z is for Zamboni (Sports Alphabet) by Matt Napier
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Sing-Along Storybook)
Pete the Cat: Play Ball! by James Dean
Froggy Plays T-Ball by Jonathan London
Superhero Books
Superhero ABCDC Superheroes ABC 123 by David Bar Katz
Nickelodeon Team Umizoomi: Tiny Heroes
Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ninja Heroes
DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up BookSuperhero Squad: Meet the Superheroes by Lucy Rosen
Superhero Squad: Iron Man Springs into Action by Kirsten Mayer
The Amazing Spider-Man (Little Golden Book) by Frank Berrios
Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin (I Can Read Book 2) by Susan Hill
Authors Dads Love to Read Aloud
Oliver Jeffers
Steve Jenkins
Kate McMullan
Dav Pilkey
Jon Scieszka
David Shannon
Shel Silverstein
Chris Van Allsburg
Mo Willems
by admin | Jun 20, 2013 | Categories
Why Expose Kids to Wordless Books?
- Expands their verbal skills and vocabulary.
- Allows for a variety of shared and independent writing experiences.
- Helps children understand the visual art of storytelling.
- Creates understanding of subtext.
- Gives kids a greater understanding of characters, setting and plot.
Online Resources:
Tips on Sharing Wordless Books by What Do We Do All Day?
A Wordless Book Lesson Plan Idea by Rusty and Rosy
Wordless Books
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Bee & Bird by Craig Frazier
The Boy and the Airplane by Mark Pett
A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer
The Boys by Jeff Newman
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Changes, Changes by Pat Huchins
Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
Frog on His Own by Mercer Mayer
Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day
Leaf by Stephen Michael King
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola
Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Sector 7 by David Wiesner
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Truck by Donald Crews
Tuesday by David Wiesner
Wave by Suzy Lee
When Jack Goes Out by Pat Schories
Where’s Walrus by Stephan Savage
Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu
Zoom by Istvan Banyai
by admin | Jun 19, 2013 | Categories
A Week of Oceans:
This is a great unit to do before a trip to the beach or a cruise. Or before buying fish for a family pet.
How to Begin: Exposure
The easiest way to begin this unit is with books and short toddler-friendly videos. If you’re headed to the beach soon, or have been their in the past use family photos to open the discussion. Or begin by taking a trip to an aquarium.
*Don’t forget the best thing you can do to educate your child (besides read!) is to give them experiences; let them explore and expose them to new things. Don’t worry if you’re not near a beach. Your child can still have tangible, valid ocean experiences. Aquariums, pet stores, even doctors offices have ocean life. You may have to research a little but the more they see with their eyes (and touch if you can swing that) they more meaningful the experiences.
Books
Ocean Wonders by Daniel Mahoney
Websites and Teacher Guides:
Language Arts:
- Fishing for Letters by Pigtails and Tutus
- Expand your child’s vocabulary by doing a lot of talking during this unit. Tell them the names of the animals, ask them questions, have them describe what they’re seeing, feeling and experiencing.
Math:
- You Can Count the Ocean by David Brooks
- Take any opportunity you can to count: fish, seashells, ocean animals, whatever.
- Sorting. Sort your ocean toys by color, size, stripes, etc.
- YouTube Sesame Street: Elmo The Musical – “Barnacle Subtraction Song”
Arts and Crafts:
- Make Fish and Ocean Life Masks.
- Melted Oceans by Crayola. This involves heating the crayons, so you may want to practice yourself first and closely monitor them.
- Cute puffer fish craft.
- Sea shell crafts. I always see little bags of seashells at the dollar store. These are great for touching, rubbing, sensory tubs and making things with. What kinds of crafts can you make with seashells?
- Sponges! Sponges are great craft tools and they come from the ocean. (especially if you can find some natural sponges.) They can be used to paint with, or paint with water on the sidewalk, dry them out and compare wet to dry, soak them with seeds and watch how things grow.
- Lots of cute ocean animal crafts on totally tots.
Dramatic Play:
- Use your Fish and Ocean Life Masks and pretend to live underwater. Set the scene by hanging blue sheets or curtains, or do it in the backyard pool.
- Imitating ocean animals. Watch some short video clips or live animal cams of ocean animals, including ocean mammals like sea lion, dolphins or polar bears and birds like penguins or sea gulls. Then see if your child can make those same movements. Swimming, diving, twisting, flapping.
Science:
- Watch an online animal cam (see Websites section) and observe how the animals behave. Ask your child to describe what he sees. Are they swimming, eating, walking, breathing, etc. What do they look like? Are they big or small? What colors?
- Build a Water Table (see how below).
Bath Tub or Water Table Activities:
**Water table and sensory tub activities are great for building science knowledge, fine motor skills and kinethestic awareness and if you’re asking questions and encouraging a dialogue, language development. Drawing what they did in the tub afterward helps them explore pre-writing skills as well. Here’s an article about all the other ways they are great for your little ones.
- “Make” an ocean. Using your water table, or small tub fill it with water and add salt. Let kids smell and taste it. Explain the difference between fresh water and salt water.
- This is a great example of an Ocean Sensory Tub by totally tots.
- A beautiful ocean tub by Connecting Family and Seoul.
- Another Ocean Sensory Tub by No Time for Flashcards.
- Adding icebergs to your miniature ocean by No Time For Flashcards.
- Create a Motion Ocean by National Geographic Kids
- Turn your bathtub into a temporary ocean.
- Use a heavy glass casserole dish for little ones in their high chair because it’s too heavy for them to move–just keep an eye on them!
- Add food coloring, jello powder, kool-aid mix, corn syrup or cooking oil and talk about what happens to the water.
- Add cooked or uncooked noodles and watch what happens to them.
- Add Sink or Float items and talk about what happens: rocks, blocks, foam items, corks, filled and empty plastic bottles, toys, etc.
- Add nature items like pinecones, large leaves such as lilypads, shells, stones and pebbles, dirt, plants, etc. and talk about what kinds of things are in oceans, lakes, ponds and rivers.
Lunch:
- Eat Like a Baleen Whale by The Usual Mayhem
- Salt Water Taffy: Recipe 1 by Vanilla and Lace. Recipe 2 by exploratorium.edu. This is definitely something kids cannot do without adults.
- Get creative with sandwiches like here and here.
- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.
- Blue jello filled with swedish fish.
- Hot Dogs cut up to look like an octopus. (We use soy or tofu dogs. Yum!)
- These cute clam cookies.
- Yogurt or pudding covered in crushed cookies such as Nilla Wafers in a little beach pail.
- I love these Ocean Animals Cookie Cutters. Use them on sandwiches/bread, pineapple, watermelon, cheese slices, poundcake, etc.
Music:
Movies and Videos:
*WARNING–there are some gruesome ocean animal videos on YouTube, always preview before you show your kids.
Apps:
Field Trip Ideas:
- Local aquarium
- Pet or fish/aquarium store
- The beach. For little ones, take a baby bath tub, or small wading pool to the beach. Fill it with ocean water and that way your kids can experience the ocean while staying safe on the beach.
- Whale Watching
- Glass Bottom boat tour
- Sea World or other ocean parks
- Children’s Museum. Check your local children’s museum. They often have ocean units where kids can touch living things in shallow water, feel dried starfish or sand dollars, etc.
Fun and Educational Toys to Take to the Beach
by admin | Jun 14, 2013 | Categories
Examples of Expository Text:
Informative texts
True fact books
Text books
Biographies
Newspapers
Magazines
Cookbooks
Dictionaries, thesauruses and encyclopedias
Tip From My Classroom:
I taught non fiction by focusing on specific topics. For kindergartners you can easily incorporate these skills in a unit on Apples, Pumpkins, George Washington, etc.
In 1st grade I had a week long unit on Inventors and a month long unit on Black History. Later, we used students acquired knowledge to create their own non-fiction book about Texas during a 2 week unit.
*I will post these units later this summer when I am no longer 9 months pregnant*
How to Begin:
Start whole group by visually comparing and contrasting the difference between narrative and expository texts. Display a variety of books from each genre and ask students to verbally describe what they notice. Guide them to notice the differences in titles, book covers, illustrations vs. photographs, etc. Point out/review story elements in fiction books: characters, setting, problems, solutions, etc.
This can be done strictly with verbal answers, using ‘pick-me-sticks’ or other tools to ensure all students are participating. Or you can make a class list, Anchor Chart, KWL chart or venn diagram comparing the two types of books.
Once students have a firm grasp on the different types of books remove the fiction books and focus on the features of informational/expository texts.
Point out the various features of the book including:
Illustrations, photographs, graphics, charts, and maps.
Glossary, index and table of contents
Headlines and subheads
Labels, italics and bold face words
Books to use:
In the beginning it’s best to choose books the children can relate to. Choose topics they’re interested in or directly connected to their lives. After they’ve grasped many of the concepts choose books that expand their knowledge and world view. Introduce books about other cultures, **
Book Series to Look For:
Ways to assess students understanding of the book:
Oral retelling
Drawings
Accompanying worksheets
Quizzes
More Online Resources
by admin | Jun 6, 2013 | Categories
One of my favorite authors to use with Kindergarteners and First Graders is Mo Willems. His interview this morning on the Today Show illustrates exactly why. His books are heartwarming, funny, sweet, goofy–and they’re great for teaching kids (and parents!) to read with expression. I also love what he says about encouraging kids to doodle and keeping them drawing.
