This Literacy Life: Groundhog Day

Showing posts with label Groundhog Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Groundhog Day. Show all posts

Book Review Thursday ~ Substitute Groundhog

So, I have put off the whole book review thing for too long!  Each Thursday I will feature a book review just for you!  Sometimes I will even have activities and freebies for you.  But all times I will have a true book review for you, so you can make good choices about new and old books.

Without further adieu, here is my first book review!  For this first one, I am linking up with Tammy at 1...2...3... Teach with Me for her Book of the Month Linky.

Yesterday after testing I went into the first grade classroom and offered to read to the students for their unit time.  I had been sitting in my office with various children while they took tests on the computer for two weeks.  I really needed to do something productive!  The teacher, one of my best friends at the school, handed me a book I have never read ~ Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller, and I took off with it!

The book features Groundhog who gets sick just before Groundhog Day and can't perform his duty of checking for his shadow.  He notices that other animals have Help Wanted signs around the forest, so he decides to do the same.  He then interviews several animals by seeing if they can do the job.  When many of the animals can't do it for various reasons ~ the mole can't see, the eagle won't go down the hole, etc., he finds an unexpected animal to help him out and do the job.

I really enjoyed talking as the animals would have talked in the book.  It always makes the story more intriguing, and this book lends itself well to it.   The students laughed, and my friend really enjoyed listening to the story herself.

As a teacher, I would use this book as a springboard for teaching about animals' adaptations and how they are suitable for their environments.  In older grades, the students could research one of the animals and create a "report" of some sort on it.  They could then teach the class about it.

For the first graders I had, I would talk about the different animals in their actual habitats and with their adaptations for them.  Using real pictures would make it more "real" for them as well.  Students would then draw a picture of one of the animals in their habitat and tell why they are best suited for it with their adaptations.

All in all, this book was fun to read and had a lot more to it than just a fun Groundhog Day book.  I would actually be willing to read this book any time of the year!  If you haven't read it, get your copy today and check it out!

If you have any good ideas for books for a book review, please leave a comment below or email me at readerstars@gmail.com.   They can be picture books, chapter books, or even professional books!  I love reading new books and rereading old ones too!

Don't forget to head over to Tammy's blog to see what everyone else is reading! 

Until next time!
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Snow? Groundhog Day? No way!

We had snow last week, which resulted in a super long weekend.  Now, this Friday, the weathermen are all calling for snow on Friday. Not as much, but possibly enough to call off school.  Hmmm...

For the past two weeks I have been reading Monsters on Wheels from Reading A-Z.  I love that I get a lesson plan with each book.  There is a lot to do, and there are a lot of worksheets, which are not my favorite.  The "monsters" can't go play out in the snow on their bikes, skateboards, and such, so they find a way to solve the problem.  In this book, the phonics focus is long vowel CVCe words.

Fridays is our "fun day", and I wanted this one to be no different.  I created this "Snowball Fight" game, which can be played in different ways.  I am going to play it like a "Snap" game, where the students have to show their cards and say the words.  If the cards match, the first person to say the word wins the pile.  I have used short and long CVCe words in short a, i, o, u.  You can grab it here in my TPT store or here in my TN store for half price through Saturday.

I have also been testing this week, and Groundhog Day has sneaked up on me!  Last year I got to spend a great deal of time with my first graders reading my Groundhog Day Easy Reader.  I made this before I found Power Point and did a lot in Word!  I can't believe that in a year I have learned to do so much more!

 It is a fun book because it has two different endings, depending on which one you want.  I wanted "winter" last year because we kind of missed out on it, so I used that ending.  I am not sure which ending I will use this year.  It also includes picture cards to use for predicting and sequencing.  If you are planning for Groundhog Day and need an easy reader, you can grab it here at my TPT store or here at my TN shop.

 
 Don't forget to enter my Fabulous 400 Follower Giveaway and spread the word!  It ends in 3 days!!

Also, stop by Christi's blog to celebrate her Blogiversary! 
 Don't forget to enter for the tablet giveaway on Teacher's Notebook!  If you click through my link, I have a chance to win one too!  Only a few more days to enter!

I am also linking up with Racheal at Classroom Game Nook with February Activities.  I am going to see what awesome resources are out there for February!

Until next time!
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