There's A Book for That!

During June we're talking about all the fun things we do during the summer and how we can read about all those fun things in a book. Going to the zoo? There's a book for that! Going swimming? There's a book for that! Going on a vacation? There's a book for that! It's great for these little guys to make these kind of meaningful connections between literature and real life.

This week we read a book about camping and then went camping right in our classroom!

We read this adorable book about some camping duckies that was enjoyed by my big(ger) and little students. We used our book as a guide for what we can and should do when we're camping: pitch a tent, go fishing, make a fire, bring a lantern.... (The kids also threw in some of their own ideas that they knew from experience... or came up with off the top of their heads.)

I was really excited about this lantern craft I came up with for the kids to make. They were so easy and fun, and the kids just thought they were the coolest! They're just Solo drinking cups, pipe cleaners, those faux candles form the Dollar Tree, and some stickers on the outside that the kids used to decorate and personalize them! (I recommend gluing the battery compartment on the candles closed with some strong hot glue or some super glue, for safety reasons.)

Next week we'll be going on a beachy reading trip and then brainstorming some more summer reading ideas for them to go check out at the library. 

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How To Lead an Adventurous Storytime!

Anybody is capable of taking their child/student/niece/nephew/grandchild/etc. on an imaginary adventure. Just pull out at great book to read with them - the book does all the work for you! But don't stop at simply reading them the story; be sure you play with the story afterward. For example, here are a couple adventures we went on in March. Another example: last week we read a story about "cowpokes;" then we dressed up in cowboy bandanas and rode a stick horse while we pretended to do cowboy things!

Here are some things to remember when you're bringing a storybook adventure to life:

• Keep your read-aloud full of energy and enthusiasm. You can't expect them to get excited about it if you're not.
• Don't be afraid to be silly. They're kids - they'll love it! Silliness can draw even the most reluctant participant into the story and play.
• Use voices. This can be anything from reading each character's part in the story in a unique voice, to using a special accent (appropriate to the story and/or adventure).
• Use props. They can be simple or elaborate. Just use what you've got. If you tell the kids the box is a spaceship, they'll go with it! 
• Commit to the part. If your storytime is interrupted by the dryer buzzer going off either ignore it, or blast your spaceship over to the laundry room and get the other astronauts to help you sort laundry in space!
• Don't forget your adventure, even after it's over! If you visit the museum and see a space exhibit, say, "Remember when we were astronauts last week? We went to the moon just like them!" 

Special adventures like these are sure to be the kind of things your kids will remember for years to come. And you'll be growing and stretching their minds and imaginations! Bonus!

More Adventures in Reading!

One of the main missions of Literacy Launchpad is to motivate children to read: to show them how fun reading is, and to create a desire in them to want to read more and more and more and... Well, you get the idea. 

Books that focus on adventure seem to be especially effective at creating reading motivation. Although it's pretty amazing how almost any picture book can become an adventure. Some may require you to search a little harder for the adventure aspect. And some require a little more creativity in bringing the adventure to life. But it usually can be done. (And I'm here to help if you need it, just give me a shout.)

Take a look (in the photos below) at how much fun my kiddos are having with Kate and Jim McMullan's book I'm Bad! Let me tall ya, as soon as they saw the T Rex on the cover, these kids were sold on this book. Some were telling me that they liked it better than last week's story before we even read it. What?! I didn't know a dinosaur on the cover would be quite that appealing, but evidently it is!

I need to change my pattern for these T Rex masks. They didn't end up looking as T Rex-y as I would have liked. Most of the kids didn't care (see photo above). Ideas for how to tweak them (or come up with something completely new) anyone? 

Thanks to some iTunes sounds and a little imagination, we were the fiercest T Rex's around! O.K. we were the only T Rex's around, but still...!

Our Adventure Unit Begins!

...And it's been a bit of a roller coaster already! (Har! Har! Har!) That's because we read Marla Frazee's Roller Coaster! Have you read it yet? It's a simple story. That's the brilliance of it, and the very thing that seemed to draw the students in. The simple title and subject of the story was extremely intriguing to them. Most preschoolers (actually, probably all preschoolers) have never been on a roller coaster before, except perhaps the tiny coasters that are often at the state fairs. So there was definitely mystery and curiosity surrounding this topic. They were eager to discuss roller coasters before I even began reading the story. And once the story began, they were captivated and eager to learn what a roller coaster is all about. Don't you love the magic of books? 

Before I even began reading the story, we talked about how we can go on any kind of adventure with the help of a good book and  our imaginations! They were all over this idea! It's amazing how quickly accepting of this idea they were. It was almost like they wanted to say to me, "Books can take you on adventures? Duh!!" And when they found out that the day's adventure was a roller coaster ride, they were beyond thrilled. 

Roller Coaster follows the experience of a young girl on her first roller coaster ride. But we don't only see her experience, we also see the experiences of various other people who are waiting in line for (or getting out of line), and then riding the roller coaster. The text is pretty short and simple with the illustrations focusing on the emotions of the roller coaster riders. 

It was entertaining to examine the illustrations with the students and hear their takes on how the passengers on the ride might be feeling in each illustration. I cannot tell you how much these kids crack me up. 

So after the story, it was time for them to muster up their courage and ride a roller coaster! Of course, I didn't force anybody to "ride" the roller coaster I had created in the classroom for them. In fact, I made reference to the page in the book where people were getting out of line because they were scared, and I asked the students a few times, as they waited in line, if they wanted to change their mind and not ride. None of them chickened out. They were greatly amused by me trying to make them nervous and suggesting that they might not be brave enough. What a bunch of true thrill seekers!
I did what I could to make the experience as authentic as I could. The students all received tickets on their way into class. This helped build anticipation, because nobody knew what the tickets were for. Everybody was asking me, and I just told them, "You'll see!" 

After I had them all lined up for the coaster, I measured them each as I took their tickets and allowed them onto the ride. I had to make sure the height requirement wasn't too tall. (Gosh, can you imagine if someone had been too short to ride?!) I think I went a little too far; the Smurfs could have ridden this roller coaster! Ah, well! It didn't bother the kids at all. It made them all feel like big kids!

"The Crazy Coaster" was what we rode that day! Look at those smiles! And even better, look at my one little student with her hands neatly folded in her lap, waiting for the ride to start. I made them all buckle their pretend seat belts and lower their imaginary harness bars. (The Crazy Coaster goes upside down, ya know.) Then I, as the ride operator, had to check to make sure everyone was properly fastened in. 

Before the ride started, I gave the official safety announcement. It made the kids giggle, and was not heeded by a few of the passengers who thought it would be funny to make themselves fall out of the roller coaster part way through the ride. 

Thanks to iTunes we even had some roller coaster sounds to make the ride even more authentic. We screamed and hollered as the roller coaster went upside down and all around. 
When it was over they all wanted to ride again. Look at them run to get on when I told them they could!
And you have to have a photo of yourself on your first roller coaster ride, right? Well, obviously, that wasn't possible in this situation, but this little project seemed like the next best thing. And it got them thinking about how they felt on the roller coaster... if they like it... etc.

As they left class they were asking me if I would bring the roller coaster next week. Oh boy, I better have something good up my sleeve for our next adventure, huh? Perhaps I should have saved Roller Coaster for the last lesson of this unit?