Wow! I am posting the last week of school, with my friends...I feel excited and sad. With this mixed set of emotions, I promise to get through this blog without shedding a tear (I hope). I always find it bittersweet when my first grade friends move on to McKinley. I will miss them but I feel excited for all they will learn and how much they will grow and have grown (Sniff, Sniff).
This week in the library I really wanted my first grade friends to always remember what we did here at Kennedy. The fun they had and how capable they are as they leave. So, we have been reading the book
Memoirs of a Goldfish By Devin Scillian.
First Graders created their own book reflecting on things like
Me, Favorite School Activity, Favorite Book(come on you know I had to throw that in there)
Recess, Specials, Lunchtime,
My Friends, I'm Happy..., I'm Grumpy..., When I grow up...
As we worked on this lesson, I found myself smiling, laughing and tearing up. These kiddo's are so awesome and I am so lucky to share assignments like this with them. Something that they can keep forever. I told them that when they get as old as I am it won't be so easy to remember things from first grade. Make sure to write down all of the things you don't want to forget. This set them off on a writing frenzy! I absolutely loved it.
Kindergarten friends and I shared the stories of Miss Bindergarten celebrates the last day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and The Last Day Blues by Julie Dannenberg. We then created a poem and all signed our names for an end of the year teacher gift. They were so excited to share it with their teachers. Lots of hugs, high fives, smiles and well wishes for Summer break. It is such a bittersweet time of year. I am going to miss these kiddo's over the next few months, that is to be sure.
Free 2014 Summer Reading Programs for Kids
- Junie B Jones Reading Club
– Sign up and get a FREE starter Kit that includes a copy of Junie B
Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, Activity sheets and a membership ID
card while supplies last.
- Book Adventure
– Sylvan offers this FREE reading incentive program. Basically your
child reads books and then takes a simple comprehension quiz to make
sure they understood what they read. The quiz is usually about 10
questions long. They earn points based on how much they remember from
reading the book.
- There are hundreds of books to choose from in all reading levels.
These are common books that can be found at your local library. Once
they have earned enough points they can trade them in for some really
neat prizes!
- Barnes & Noble Imagination Destination -
This summer reading program through Barnes & Noble gives your child
the ability to earn a FREE book after reading 8 books and keeping track
of them in a reading log.
- Local Public Library -
Don’t forget to check out The Abilene Public Library and other local libraries. Salina Public Library has a wonderful summer program as well. check them out to find out which
programs they’ll be offering this summer. My kids have participated in
several Summer reading Programs through the library and it always
includes FREE books & prizes.
- Chuck E. Cheese -
Earn 10 FREE tokens every time your child reads for 2 weeks in a row.
Just fill out the form and bring it in to claim your free token.
- Scholastic Summer Challenge -
Log in your reading minutes to the Scholastic site and your child will
be able to participate in a World Record challenge as well as earn
digital prizes!
- Pottery Barn Summer Reading Challenge
– Open only to children under 10 years of age on any day during the
promotion period. Must present completed Award-Winning or Early Reader
book list to receive a free book at participating Pottery Barn Kids
stores.
We love these kinds of programs. They are free and keep the kids busy and excited about reading until school starts again.
You will need to register and sign up for these programs. Click the links
Another fun activity I am doing that I shared with the students is my
photo a day challenge.
I will post another one each month of the summer. You can take these photo's in any order. I will
be posting mine on instagram and also here on my blog. Please share a link with me on my blog and I will check out your photo's too. I would love to see what you are up to this summer.
Drumroll Please....I know many of you have been waiting for this list for sometime. I hope you enjoy it. It took a long time to pick and choose I hope you find some good books through this list.
Aliki. My Hands or My five Senses
Allen, Kathy and Tom Sperling. The First Independence Day Celebration
Tedd Arnold, Tedd.Fly Guy series
Boyton, Sandra. Going to Bed Book
Brown, Marc. Arthur's Off to School Or Any of the Arthur or other D.W. titles
Brown, Rick. Hooray for the 4th of July
Brown, Margaret Wise. Summer Noisy Book
Carle, Eric. Do You Want to Be My Friend?
Carlson, Nancy Look Out First Grade Here I Come!
Christelow, Eileen. Five Little Monkeys series
Cosby, Bill. Little Bill series
Crews, Donald. Bigmama’s; School Bus; or other titles
Cronin, Doreen.Thump, Quack, Moo or Diary of series
Davis, Katie. Kindergarten Rocks!
de la Casas, Diane. The Gigantic Sweet Potato
Eastman, P. D. Sam and the Firefly
Fleming, Denise.The Cow Who Clucked
Fowler, Alan. Inside an Ant Colony or any in Rookie Read Aloud series
Fox, Mem. Whoever You Are or Possum Magic
Franco, Betsy. Summer Beat
Freeman, Don. Corduroy stories
Galdone, Paul. Jack and the Beanstalk
Gevry, Claudine. Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer
Gibbons, Gail. Fire! Fire!
Havill, Juanita. Jamaica and Brianna
Henkes, Kevin.Owen; Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse; or other title
Heine, Helme. Friends Go Adventuring
Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum or Sheila Rae, the Brave
Holabird, Katharine. Angelina Ballerina or any other Angelina title
Hudson, Wade. Jamal’s Busy Day
Hutchins, Pat. The Doorbell Rang
Isadora, Rachel.123 Pop; ABC Pop; Hansel and Gretel or any other title
Ives, Penny. Celestine, Drama Queen
Johnson, Angela. Lilly Brown’s Paintings
Jonas, Ann. Round Trip; Splash! orWatch William Walk
Joy, N. The Secret Olivia Told Me
Kann, Victoria. Pinkalicious ; Purplicious; Emeraldlicious or Goldilicious
Kannenberg, Stacey. Let's Get Ready for First Grade
Keats, Ezra Jack. Pet Show! or titles in the Peter series
Kimmelman, Leslie and Nancy Cote Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney!
Kirk, Daniel. Library Mouse
Lata, Sara L. What Happens in Summer?
Leedy, Loreen. Mission: Addition or Subtraction Action
Lionni, Leo. Alexander and the Wind Up Mouse or other titles
Litwin, Eric. Pete the Cat Series
London, Jonathan. Froggy series
Lyon, George. The Pirate of Kindergarten
Marzollo, Jean. I’m a Seed
Mayer, Mercer. Little Critter Series
McKissack, Patricia. Flossie and the Fox
Numeroff, Laura. If You Give a Cat a Cupcake or other titles
Piper, Watty. The Little Engine That Could
Pingry, Patricia.The Story of America's Birthday
Provensen, Alice and Martin. The Year at Maple Hill Farm
Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria or Goodnight Gorilla
Roberts, Bethany. Fourth of July Mice!
Rosenthal, Amy. Duck, Rabbit
Rauzon, Mark, Water, Water Everywhere
Rylant, Cynthia. Mr. Putter and Tabby or The Relatives Came
Saltzberg. Barney. Crazy Hair Day
Scarborough, Sheryl. We Read about Bugs or other in series
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are or Chicken Soup with Rice
Seuss, Dr. Hop on Pop; The Foot Book; or any other title
Simon, Seymour. Snakes
Slate, Joseph. Miss Bindergarten series
Taulbert, Clifton. Little Cliff and the Porch People or other title
Teague, Mark
. How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Thomas, Shelley M. Good Night, Good Knight
Walsh, Ellen. Mouse Count or Mouse Paint
Wells, Rosemary. Timothy Goes to School
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Summertime in the Big Woods
Williams, Vera B. A Chair for My Mother
Wing,Natahsa. The Night before Summer Vacation
Zion, Gene. Harry the Dirty Dog
Series Read A Loud For The Family
I have had several families with older siblings come into the library
requesting suggestions on read a loud stories and series for the family.
I have been getting my reading on so to speak.
I expect this is what I will be doing for most of my
summer.
Enjoy your summer!
Happy Reading,
Mrs. Shamhart
