Five Little Monkeys

I read the book Five Little Monkeys as an E book on Speakaboo.  I choose to read this book because I have not read many books that integrate math or numbers nor have I read many books for the kindergarten or first grade readers,  The book tells the story where there are five monkeys and one jumps off the bed and bumps their head so on and so forth til there are no more monkeys on the bed.  The book repeats the sequence until there are no more monkeys and that makes the text familiar and teaches students about repetition.

I would use this book to teach students about subtraction.  When a monkey would fall off of the bed I would press pause and have students how many monkeys they think will be left on the bed then I will press play and let students see if they are correct.  This book will teach students that you can have numbers in books and encourage students to use them in their own writing.  I will use this activity in my classroom.
 

The Valentine Contest

The Valentine Contest is an E book I read on Speakaboos.  It is about Princess Ana who is having a Valentines dance at her castle.  She wants to dance with someone at the ball so her father King Carlos decides they should have a contest and have people make her Valentines and she will choose the winner that gets to dance with her.  Three boys created Valentines the two that created Valentines that were based off of what they liked thought they would win but the one that created the Valentine that was based on what Princess Ana liked thought he did not have a chance.  Princess Ana chose the boy who created a Valentine that he thought she would like.

The Valentine Contest teaches readers to realize that everyone is different, that people like different things, and we should not be selfish and think about others.  The book also teaches a little bit about Valentines day and what it is so I would show this to students around Valentines Day.  Since they create Valentines in the story I would have students make Valentines to give to someone special at home.  This will be a great way to teach about the Valentines holiday,

A Christmas Carol

I read A Christmas Carol as an E book on Speakaboos.  I chose to read this book to get into the Christmas spirit and because it is a classic.  A Christmas Carol is about Ebeneezer Scrooge a greedy man who does not like Christmas, he is greeted by ghost of Christmas past, present, and future. By the end of the book he gives back to the community and he has the joy of Christmas.  This story teaches readers to give back to others because it will give you more joy than money ever will.

On Speakaboos you listen to the E book and read along with the story.  One thing that Speakaboos does is talk in different voices to represent the different characters.  I would use this to teach students how to use their voice to represent different characters and different emotions.  Students would practice this by reading aloud and using different voices with a partner.  A Christmas Carol is a good book to use to teach this because it has a lot of different characters and a lot of different emotions in the text.   

Like Bug Juice on a Burger, Julie Sternberg

Like Bug Juice on a Burger is a Poetic Novel written by Julie Sternberg.  The book is about a little girl named Eleanor who goes to summer camp but does not enjoy her time there until the end.  The story is written like a poem.  There also pictures that go along with the writing that look like they are drew by Eleanor.  It is an easy read that exposes readers to a different type of writing.

I liked this book a lot, it reminded me of my childhood of when I went to summer camp.  I would read this book to my class right before summer to get students excited about summer and going to summer camp.  I would have students write a poem about activities they do in the summer including going to summer camp.  This would teach students how to write poetry.  I really like this book and think it can teach students a new way of writing so I will have it in my classroom library.

America the Beautiful, Katharine Lee Bates

America the Beautiful is one long poem stretched throughout the book that is the song America the Beautiful.  The book has a lot of really cool features for readers to enjoy.  The illustrations go along with the poem and paint a visual picture for readers that go along with that stanza of the poem.  Each picture comes from a location of the United States and in the back of the book it tells readers where each picture came from and a little blurb about the place.  There was also a map that showed where the places the pictures came from.  It also talked about the author of the song and showed an original copy from when it was written.  I really liked this book.

I would use this book to teach about American history.  We would talk about the author of the song and why it was written.  I would also use the map to teach students about maps and map making.  Then we would talk about the different places and their importance.  This book is a great book because it can teach students many different things about American history.

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents, Susan Katz

The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents is exactly what it sounds like it is a picture book of poems about each of the presidents all the way from the first president George Washington to the current president Barrack Obama.  The book has historical facts about each presidents along with funny ones that children will relate to and be able to remember the presidents by.  Along with the poem the book has an illustration of each president and a caption of a historical fact that relates to the president and the poem.  Kids would really like this book and would be able to learn a lot of good information from reading the poems.

I have already used the book The President's Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents in a lesson I taught to my second graders.  I taught about our community leaders so I picked out a few of the poems and did a read aloud to the students to introduce them to different presidents and teach them about what they did as president.  I think that the students liked the poems and thought they were mostly funny but I think the learned something from them too,  I will use this book in my own classroom again one day.

Johnny Appleseed, Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet

Johnny Appleseed is a poem picture book written by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet.  The book tells the story of Johnny Appleseed, how he planted his apples and how he got his name.  The way the book tells the story is through poems.  The book is illustrated by S.D. Schindler and I think that the illustrations really bring the story to life for readers.  This will be a great book to have in the classroom library.

This book is a great book to use on Johnny Appleseed Day to teach students about Johnny Appleseed, how he planted his apples and how he got his name.  The book would also be a great book to use to teach students about how to write poems.  One thing I noticed when reading Johnny Appleseed was that there was a mistake right at the beginning of the book so I would use the book to teach my class about proof reading and revising their work.  This book can be used to teach multiple lesson not just who Johnny Appleseed was or what he did.