Someone recently asked me for ideas for a lesson on similes.  I like to use picture books to introduce topics, and I think picture books work well with similes.

I came to Big Universe to see if there might be any possibilities. I did an advanced search for figurative language and got this result: Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch.

I read through the book and found that even though I liked the book, it was not exactly what I was looking for right now.  Instead of just closing the book and moving to another resource site, I decided to look at other books by the publisher of this book (you can do that simply by clicking on the name of the publisher ).

As I looked through the long list of books, I started noticing several that I have written about before, read with my daughter, and told other teachers about.  Here are a few of the ones that I noticed:

• A Call for a New Alphabet
• A Place for Zero
• Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches
• First Day Jitters
• Multiplying Menace
• Super Sam
• The Patch

Punxsy Phil, the weather-savvy woodchuck.

For such a short month, February is living large this year. It kicked off with today’s observation of Freedom Day, which commemorates President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery. A wreath was laid on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to acknowledge this historical American watermark.

A troupe of top-hatted men will congregate tomorrow, Feb. 2nd, in Punxsytawney, Pa., to get the weather prediction from Punxsy Phil, the famous weather-savvy Groundhog Day woodchuck. The burg of Punxsytawney was not far from where I grew up, so my family always paid close attention to whether this chubby little rodent saw his shadow or not.

Then there’s Valentine’s Day on the 14th, Presidents’ Day on the 20th, Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras on Feb. 21st, and John Gandolfi’s Leap Day birthday on the 29th. It’s unlikely that most of you know Mr. Gandolfi . He was the ultra-gregarious kid who sat four seats in front of me in homeroom from seventh grade through twelfth. “…Gandolfi, Gaston, Glasser, Golinsky, Granata….” He was a Leap Year baby, so I think he celebrates his 13th birthday this year.

I see these holidays as gateway ops – perfect avenues to promote literacy and chase away the winter doldrums. I suppose it depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist and whether you’re “a natural” when it comes to integrating seasonal activities into the classroom. Whether you use a Valentine’s Day word search sheet or read a biography about a U.S. president on BigUniverse.com, you will be adding “snap, crackle and pop” to your classroom and advance the cause of literacy.

Here’s a starter list to get you in the spirit.

Freedom Day

• Priscilla and the Hollyhocks (Charlesbridge book)
• Harriet Tubman (Teacher Created Materials book)
• Slavery in America (Rourke book)
• Abraham Lincoln (Bellwether book)
• Slavery in America (Teacher Created Materials book)

 Groundhog Day

• Fun Facts About Groundhogs website
• Groundhog coloring page
• Groundhog Day and alphabetical order sheet
• Groundhog Day mask craft
• Groundhog’s Day Contraction Worksheet

 Valentine’s Day

• “Kid Friendly Poems for Valentine’s Day”
• “Valentine’s Day Printables for the Classroom”

President’s Day

• Presidents’ Day Teacher Resources link
• George Washington: A Life of Self-discipline (Bellwether book)
• Abraham Lincoln (Bellwether book)
• George Washington coloring page
• George Washington Graphic Biography (Saddleback book)
• Abe Lincoln Coloring Page

 Mardi Gras

• Online Jester Mask Coloring Page
• “Cajun Alphabet” (Pelican Publishing book)
• Template for a Mardi Gras Mask (Use cardstock. Attach stick.)
• Mardi Gras Vocabulary Printable
• “Mimi’s First Mardi Gras” (Pelican Publishing book)

Leap Day

• Leap Year Coloring Page (PDF)

NOTE: For more general reading, click on “Holidays” – a Teacher Created Materials book at Big Universe Learning. Or, read “An Ode to History and Phillis Wheatley” or “Books Introduce Black History Month Heroes,” blogs that showcase kid-friendly biographies about remarkable Americans.

Josh Schneider wins the coveted 2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award.

An announcement in Dallas this week made Josh Schneider a very happy man. The author and illustrator is the recipient of the 2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for his children’s book, “Tales for Very Picky Eaters.”

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given to the author and illustrator of the book deemed as the “most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.” The Association Library Service to Children (ALSC) – a division of the American Library Association (ALA) – administers the award annually. This year the award was announced in Dallas during ALA’s mid-winter meeting, Jan. 20-24.

The award is given in memory of Theodor Geisel, the renowned children’s author known as “Dr. Seuss,” and to recognize contemporary winners for “their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.” The first Theodor Seuss Geisel Award was presented in 2006 to author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Suçie Stevenson for their book “Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas.”

Schneider and other honorees will receive their awards in June in Anaheim, Ca., during the ALA’s annual conference.

“Tales for Very Picky Eaters” is a five-chapter book about a boy named James, who refuses to eat foods he considers disgusting, smelly, repulsive, lumpy or slimy. His clever dad plays a big role in the storyline, offering outrageous suggestions and rationale to get his son to be more daring with his dining. The text is paired with cartoon-like illustrations executed in watercolor, colored pencil, and pen and ink.

“The dialogue presents some preposterous situations but even the most challenging words are presented in context so beginning readers can easily discern their meaning,” said Carole Fiore, head of the Geisel Award Committee. “The touches of humor make this book an engaging page turner.”

Three additional Geisel Honor Books were named:

• “I Broke My Trunk,” the story of an elephant, written and illustrated by Mo Willems and published by Hyperion Books for Children.
• “I Want My Hat Back,” a story about honesty and loss, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen and published by Candlewick Press.
• “See Me Run,” a dog-infused story, written and illustrated by Paul Meisel and published by Holiday House.

With more than 4,000 children’s librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty in its network, ALSC is dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children to create a better future for the next generation. Big Universe Learning also is a champion of children’s education and literacy. At last count, the online learning community had:

• 272,389 members from 166 countries
• 3,506 publishing company books, read 2,384,653 times
• 673,494 books stored on members’ personal bookshelves
• 172,575 bookshelves followed by members
• 42,500 books created by members

 ***NOTE: Humor is a great way to engage readers, both young and old. Check out “Humor: Be Still My ‘Beeting’ Heart,” a blog I wrote about another children’s book that deals with eating issues. It’s on Big Universe, and it’s one of my favs!

This week, my students began learning about the past and present with regards to analyzing how technologies related to communication, transportation, occupations and daily life have changed.  The evolution and progress made over time in these areas fascinated my students during our discussions.

I created graphic organizers to help them display their understanding of how communication, transportation, occupations and daily life has changed from past to present.  The graphic organizers were set up similar to a time line in that the students could display progress in a sequential order.

Big Universe Learning has a great series of resources for helping students understand how occupations have changed from the past to the present.  The series is published by Teacher Created Materials, and the books outlines different occupations and compare how they have changed between “then and now.”  Since there are many books in this series, I chose a few and assigned them to groups of students.  The groups were required to read the book, determine the main ideas and supporting details, and then share their findings with the rest of the class.  This way, the students were experiencing opportunities to learn in a cooperative group setting, as well as, present their findings to their peers.

In addition to these books found on Big Universe, I also used the book titled Pony Express to illustrate how communication has changed, specifically using chapter four as my focus.  This helped the students begin to realize that the technologies that they have grown used to having did not always exist and that trying to communicate with others long ago was much more difficult.

At the end of the unit, I read the book 2030: A Day in the Life of Tomorrow’s Kids by Amy Zuckerman, James Daly and John Manders.  This book helped my students begin to wonder what life might be like in the future, and what technologies haven’t even been invented yet that could help them communicate, travel, create new jobs or make daily life easier.  After I read this book, the students were asked to pick a category (communication, transportation, occupation or daily life) and invent something that would impact this category that doesn’t already exist.  The students had to then answer reflection questions related to the progression of their chosen category over time.  The kids really enjoyed this project and were eager to work on their inventions!  It was a great way to culminate this unit, and come full circle in their learning about the past, present and future!

Wildlife Conservation Society photo of the colorful Matilda viper.

Mention the “S” word and you’ll usually get polar reactions. Some people express revulsion, while others indicate fascination for all things viper. But, it’s safe to bet that everyone has a snake story to tell.

My oldest daughter stepped on a copperhead in her bare feet while playing in our yard. My geologist father stared a few rattlesnakes down in his day while doing field study, and I found a sizeable black snake nesting under the pine shavings in a horse stall a few years back. There was a snake in our church gym’s rafters at a girls’ youth group sleepover, and my mom found “Mr. Thin Lips” lounging on the grill on her porch. Similar anecdotes by students could be the launching pad for writing stories on Big Universe – ones full of sequence words, action verbs and descriptive adjectives!

We all escaped unscathed, except for a few heart palpitations. Our inquisitive chocolate Labrador Retriever was the only family member to ever be bitten. She had a run-in with a copperhead. Her nose swelled, but the vet said she would recover quickly. And, she did.

I’m not particularly fond of being startled by snakes. I’d much rather observe them from behind a nice thick pane of glass or read about them. Big Universe Learning has numerous children’s books about snakes and reptiles that make this possible. These online books are pretty interesting and are the perfect supplement to science units about reptiles or the environment. (See list below.)

Why did I pick this topic for my blog? Well, it’s not because I really enjoy scaly things, but I do love zoology, scientific discovery and current events. An Associated Press (AP) article today heralded a new green-horned snake named after a little British girl called “Matilda.” The rare lemon-colored snake was found in Tanzania and was introduced to the world in the December issue of the scientific journal Zootaxa.

“Only three new vipers have been discovered across Africa the last three decades, making the find rare and important,” according to the AP article.

“My daughter, who was 5 at the time, became fascinated by it and used to love spending time watching it and helping us look after it,” said Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, who – along with two teammates – discovered the highly endangered snake two years ago. The find was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be initiated.

Big Universe’s Snake Books for Children

• Coral Snakes
• Mambas
• Anacondas
• Sea Snakes
• Copperheads
• Rat Snakes
• Rattlesnakes
• Sidewinders
• Cottonmouths
• Boa Constrictors
• Pythons
• Serpientes (Snakes)

We always want math to be practical and relevant for our students.  We want them to see the value in learning the concepts.  Math is everywhere, but sometimes our students don’t notice it.

Just the other day, I came across a series of books that shows how math relates to the everyday things we do.  It is called “Math in Our World” from Weekly Reader.   There are at least 8 books in the series and each one tells a story about kids using math.  In Making a Model with Solid Figures, kids recreate a playground with 3D shapes they find in their own homes.  In Graphing Favorite Things, kids use data collection strategies to plan a neighborhood party.  Using Math at the Class Party is a different scenario where math equations are shown and explained in story form at an end of year party.

These books are simple and straight forward.  They explain basic concepts in math very well and are a great model for writing similar math stories.

I showed the last book mentioned to a small group just yesterday and then challenged them to create their own math book on Big Universe to explain or pose a question about math in the classroom.  This type of assignment requires some high order thinking and collaboration for sure!  Once they all read the book and added it to their shelf, this group of students needed to think of a story that would lend itself naturally to math, write a storyline and think of equations they could showcase.

This week, I will get more details from them to see in what direction they are heading and offer guidance.  I hope to give you an update on their progress with their book next week.

~EMP

In the past couple of weeks, I have continuously used several books from the same publication company throughout my daily lessons.  After realizing the common connection between all the books, I decided to feature Remedia Publications on this week’s blog post to hopefully inspire others to take a look at the variety this publisher offers.  More information about the types of books Remedia Publications offers can be found on Big Universe Learning.

“Remedia Publications specializes in reproducible books that focus on basic skills and repetition.  We are a family-owned business that takes great pride in meeting the needs of our customers.  The company has been in business for over 30 years serving the needs of special education, regular education, E.S.L (English as a second language), adult education, and inclusion students.”- www.biguniverse.com

“Surpr!sing Facts”

Do you know a kid who LOVES to read about facts?  Are you currently thinking of that kid in your class who can rattle off some of the most amazing facts about random topics?  Well, I have a few of those kids in my class and recently I found a series of books on Big Universe Learning that would suit them well!”

The series, Surpr!sing Facts contains several books that have scientific facts about a topic that are written for elementary age students.  The illustrations are visually appealing, and the book reads more like a story than a list of facts.  The information is clearly explained, and topic specific vocabulary is addressed at the beginning of the text.  Additionally, each book comes with discussion questions at the end to help support and monitor comprehension.

“Fibs, Fables and Lies”

A few weeks ago, my blog topic was about the current lessons I was planning for my unit on Fables.  While my students were experiencing fables that week, many came across the series called “Fibs, Fables and Lies” and really enjoyed reading the stories.  Again, the illustrations in this series are what caught most of my students’ attention, and immediately hooked them into reading the stories.  The vocabulary is at an appropriate level for even reluctant readers, and makes understanding the parts of a fable simple and interesting.  This was one series in particular that a group of boys in my class really came to enjoy and share with others!

Many of the books I viewed by this publisher could be used for students who struggle with reading since the text is not too difficult, but the illustrations and content are highly engaging.  After showing my students how to search by publisher on Big Universe, many of them now use this feature to find other interesting books that were published by the same company.

Thanks Big Universe for choosing highly engaging and thoughtful publishers like, Remedia Publications when selecting books for my students to read on your site!

Big Universe: Celebrate Christmas with children's books!

The Mazza Museum: International Art from Picture Books in Findlay, Ohio, received an early Christmas present. They just got 150 signed copies of “The Magical Christmas Horse,” a brand-new, beautifully illustrated picture book for children.

 The holiday book is a collaboration between best-selling suspense author Mary Higgins Clark and noted artist Wendell Minor. The museum’s copies will be passed on as holiday gifts to patrons of “the world’s largest museum devoted to literacy and the art of children’s picture books.” The Mazza Museum – “where art from children’s picture books is taken seriously” – has more than 2,300 original illustrations. (The museum’s earliest piece dates from 1884.)

I love giving books as gifts too. They always have been my go-to present for birthdays, baby showers, teachers and holidays. The fact that “The Magical Christmas Horse” is wonderfully illustrated and celebrates the beauty of rural America, family time, traditions and redemption makes it a sure thing.

See the video clip below of a two-minute interview with Ms. Higgins Clark and Mr. Minor.

BigUniverse.com also is a champion of beautiful children’s picture books. This online treasure houses a growing library of digital fiction and non-fiction books in many languages, making it a valuable resource for classroom teachers, parents and homeschoolers. To date, Big Universe Learning has more than 3460 premium publisher books that have been read more than 2 million times. The number of member-created books grows daily.

The books showcase great narrative and stunning artwork, making them perfect for white board use or at computer stations in the classroom. There also are 1800-plus books that can be read on iPad, using the Safari web browser.

Here are 10 books from Big Universe with some of my favorite illustrations. The first two are Christmas books, so happy holidays!

• The Friendly Beasts (Christmas on Big Universe Learning)
• Up on the Housetop (Christmas on Big Universe Learning)
• In Every Moon There is a Face
• Am I a Color Too
• God’s Promise
• Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes
• The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Freres
• Turtle Summer: A Journal For My Daughter
• Edgar, Allan and Poe and the Tell-Tale Beets
• A Mother’s Promise

NOTE: To learn more about “The Magical Christmas Horse,” its author and illustrator, or about Mazza Museum, read Douglas P. Clement’s very thorough article in Connecticut’s Litchfield County Times on Nov. 29. “The Magical Christmas Horse” is published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books and is available at your local book store or online. Click the following link to go to a page where you can listen to an excerpt read from the book.

We read so many books cover to cover, from beginning to end, but sometimes it’s ok not to do that.

Recently, I assigned the book Immigration by Debra J. Housel to my students since we are studying immigration in class.  This is one of the many great non-fiction books found on Big Universe.  I especially like texts written such as this because it really lends itself to jump-reading.

After introducing the book to my class, I had them take a picture and text walk.  In this book there are so many headings, pictures, captions and small bits of information that it took a bit of time during which students were drawn into certain sections.  Once we had performed our pre-reading ritual, I invited the students to choose sections that most interested them and read those pages.  Just like the variety of students I have in my class, there was a variety of topics on which they chose to focus.

Slowly and in a seemingly random way, students created their own path through much of the book.  And that path seemed to make sense to them.  A couple students started at the concluding pages and then went right back to the beginning.  My Chinese student was naturally drawn to the pages on The Asian Experience as were a couple of her close friends.  It was interesting to peek over students’ shoulders and see what information they chose to read.

We talked about what it was like to read parts of a book, not necessarily in order.  Many students liked it.  It gave them some choice and didn’t overwhelm them with too much information.  After some time, I asked students to pair up with another student and share what they read.  Some students found that they had read the same pages and talked about the interesting facts they learned.  Other students found themselves sharing their new knowledge with a friend.

The students then created a t-chart (much like the one Melissa Edwards talks about in Experiences and Connections) with the two headings: “What I learned” and “What I want to read next”.

Unfortunately, we had run out of time in our Computer Clubhouse at school, but the list of what they wanted to read next became their homework.  (There’s nothing like the recommendation from a peer!)

It was fun for the students to flip through the book and discover information that was meaningful to them and I look forward to using this activity with other books on Big Universe that you don’t have to read cover to cover.

~EMP

Did you know that December 1st is Rosa Parks Day?

Rosa Parks was not born on December 1, but she did something on December 1 for which she is remembered.

• Scholastic.com shares information: Rosa Parks: How I fought for Civil Rights.

• The Library of Congress shares an American Memory of Dec. 1, 1955:  Today in History Dec. 1.

• The My Hero Project has information on a Freedom Hero: Rosa Parks.

• There is even a book on Big Universe Learning called Rosa Parks: A life of courage.

This book by Tonya Leslie shows how Rosa Parks lived her life courageously. She refused to change bus seats because she was African-American. Children will discover the bravery of Rosa Parks during a time of racial segregation.  Students will probably have lots of questions about why things were they way they were. This book and the discussion it promotes could be a great opportunity for learning.