Books
While we can have lots of fun with different dictionaries, they don't make for great read-alouds. Instead we have a few about words and books in general:
Who better to teach us about fancy new words than
9780062352149
$17.99
Of course there are a million Fancy Nancy books now, but this original is a lot of fun as an introduction. It also offers a great extension: let the kids pick out some fancy clothes for you, then hit the local burger place for dinner in style! Your kids will LOVE it, and chances are it will be something the other diners talk about for the rest of the week.
Books are a great way to learn new words, and they are also a good way to learn important facts.
9780316343480
$17.99
Unfortunately, lemmings don't know HOW to read, so they never quite got the memo about NOT jumping off cliffs. This book is absolutely hilarious! Reading the lemming parts in a high squeaky voice is not required, but highly recommended.
Extension: what are some other 'facts' about animals that turn out to be not-so-true? Some examples:
- Lemmings follow each other to jump off cliffs to their deaths
- Camels store water in their humps
- You can't teach an old dog new tricks (can you think of a way to test this?)
- Bats are blind/get stuck in your hair
Check out more at National Geographic for Kids
We can even segue into how to take care of books with
9780316222587
$17.99
Poor Louie! His perfectly nice story is being completely ruined by readers who don't know how to treat a book properly. When things are ruined, there's just no reason to go on...is there?
Extension: Talk about a time when your plans were 'ruined', or create a scenario together. What can you do to salvage the day?
For older readers:
9780689818769
$7.99 (PB)
Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school — and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there's nothing Nick can do to stop it.
I love the way Clements' books often start out with the kids seeing the adults as the 'bad guy', but then some turn into allies. And this one is just plain fun! The obvious extension: come up with your own 'new' words, and see what you can do to get them to catch on! You can also look up words newly added to the dictionary and discuss how that happens.
Prereading Skills
This topic works in nicely with the prereading skills of Letter Knowledge and Print Awareness. In story time this week we just put out paper, magazines, scissors, glue and markers, and gave several suggestions. Depending on age or interest, children could:
Point to pictures they liked, maybe help cut them out, and their caregiver would label them - matching text with objects.
Look for examples of a specific letter printed in different ways:
Or cut out words that have special meaning for them.
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