Feed Me Books Friday: Learning and Laughing

Less “Lazy Days”

I can’t believe the start of school is less than a month away! I had grand plans for all the academic practice I would do with B this summer to make sure he didn’t slide backward in any of the skills he honed in preschool. What do they say about the best laid plans? That’s not to say he didn’t learn this summer. He’s been a backyard explorer, a road-trip navigator, a shopping assistant, an eager participant in the library summer reading program, and a teacher to his brother. I still want to make sure we brush up on those 3 Rs before kindergarten begins, so I’ve been trying to be sure we include some letters and numbers in our daily play. An easy way to review and refresh is with thoughtful book choices.

Riddle and Review

One of our summer library finds that was quickly added to our purchasing wishlist is Q is for Duck, An Alphabet Guessing Game, by Mary Elting and Michael Folsom. While the title might sound initially confusing, I’ll bet you can figure it out… How is Q related to a duck? (Quack!) The layout of the book is what really makes it fun. The letter is introduced in one spread with an illustrating clue: “A is for Zoo. Why?” The answer is not revealed until you turn the page, allowing you and your child to make an educated guess at the target word before checking your answer. This is also an excellent opportunity for letter sound practice:

• Does zoo begin with A?
• What letter does zoo begin with?
• What sound does A make?
• Is there anything in a zoo that begins with A?
• Do you see anything in the picture that begins with A?

B loves riddles and puzzles, so the Q and A format of the book and the picture clues are really engaging for him. I love that he’s reviewing the letter sounds and exercising those cognitive muscles of deduction.

More Puzzler Practice

A fun craft for letter recognition is the clothespin match wheels by confessions of a homeschooler. Your child can practice lowercase and capital letter matching as well as matching letters to pictures with the beginning sound. Also great for letter sound practice is the alphabet wheel found at a to z phonics where your child can match the letter to a picture beginning with its sound in the window flap. We made both – the turning wheel and opening flaps are a hit, but need to be laminated or made from cardstock (or both) to be durable. The clothespin matchup is fun with a time challenge or as a waiting game. We used smaller size clothespins from the craft aisle at the dollar tree to make less weighty.

Appropriate for: preschoolers, primary grades.

image courtesy Tim Harrison, fotopedia.com

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Feed Me Books Friday: Library Appreciation Week

A Little Goes a Long Way

As a former public school teacher, and as a mom, I can attest to the fact that it only takes a few words of gratitude to make someone’s day. At our public library branch, National Library Week comes and goes without much hoopla. I have to imagine the drastic budget cuts and short-staffing don’t leave much room for celebration, but I don’t want the caring staffers who entertain, motivate, and instruct to go unnoticed. Last year, we made a poster with a short “thank-you” verse highlighted by some strategically placed candies. (If you’re interested in the full text of the verse, leave me a comment and I’ll email it to you.) This time, our project is a combination of this year’s theme (Create Your Own Story @ Your Library) and an extension of a library-themed book we recently found – where else? – at the library!

An Alphabetic Introduction:

When I came across L is for Library during one of our weekly visits, my first thought was “yikes! I hope I didn’t miss library appreciation week!” My second thought was, “If I didn’t, I’ve got to do something fun with this book!” Sonya Terry’s rhyming tour of the library functions both as a review of the letters of the alphabet and a introduction to library vocabulary for young listeners. A is for author, D is for Dewey decimal system, F is for fiction, and while the couplet on for each letter gives a brief explanation, opportunities abound for extended explanation of the vocabulary presented. The illustrations include lots of humorous details that invite close and repeated readings. While the bouncy rhymes (April is poetry month, after all) and funny illustrations are enough to keep listeners entertained, the language begs for expansion and cognitive development.
Appropriate for: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Primary Grades


Our Story:

Letters and beginning sounds are the topic of conversations, questions, and games more and more often lately. So I decided to use L is for Library as a jumping off point for our appreciation project. We are actively building our list of alphabetic words that B associates with the library and his activities there. So far, we have B is for book, F is for friends, and S is for songs, among others. My plan is to have B illustrate each word on a square of paper, then assemble the squares quilt-style for presentation to our children’s library staff. I’ll add a picture once we complete the project this weekend.


A Couple Worthwhile Links:

• Use this page from the American Library Association to find out current political issues facing libraries and how you can become involved.
  
  
• This interesting compilation of 85 reasons to be thankful for librarians is sometimes serious, sometimes tongue in cheek.
  
  1. You can find a bunch of lesson resources if you want to expand on library appreciation with your little on at home. There’s even a playlist of library songs, including: "The Story of My Feelings" by Laurie Berkner, "Tell Me Another Story" by Barney Saltzberg, "When You Start to Read" by Russ, "Go Wild - READ" by Lucas Miller, "Seven Nights to Read" by The Good Rockin' Daddies, "Hangin' Out with Heroes at the Library" and "Take Me to Your Library" by Monty Harper, "At the Library" by Hap Palmer, "Library" by Meeka and her Cool Cousins, "The Library Boogie" by Tom Knight, and "The Library" by Barney.If you’d enjoy another great library-themed book, check out my Comin’ Down to Storytime post from last year’s Love My Library link-up at Little Page Turners.
     
  
  
  Give your library a shout-out in the comments!
   
  
  
  
  
  
  

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