Count Down to Father's Day: Book Recommendations and a FREEBIE

Hi All.
It's Amber from School is a Happy Place.  Although I'm on summer break, I know many of you will still be in school for a few more weeks and are thinking about what to do for Father's Day.  In preparation for Father's Day, I'd love to share some favorite dad themed read alouds.  A few of these books may already be in your library and others may be new titles that you will want to check out.

Here's a rundown of what these Dad books are about...

 

Because I'm Your Dad is by Ahmet Zappa.  The adorable illustrations in this book tell about the fun relationship between the dad and his little monster.

My Dad Thinks He's Funny by Katrina Germein is a creatively illustrated book that plays up the so-bad-they're-funny jokes that many dads love to share with their kids.

A Perfect Father's Day by Eve Bunting follows Susie as she makes her dad feel special on Father's Day.

How to Surprise a Dad is a delightful book by Jean Reagan (the author of How to Babysit a Grandpa).  This book is full of tips of how to surprise a dad.  In the end the kids are able to surprise dad with a birthday party.

Daddy Sat on a Duck (The Daddy Series) is by Scott Cohn.  This book is a great read aloud for students that enjoy potty humor.  Know any kids like that? ;)

Liz Rosenberg's Tyrannosaurus Dad tells the story of what it might be like to have a t rex as a dad and eventually as a hero.

Vader's Little Princess and Darth Vader and Son, by Jeffrey Brown, are humorous accounts of Darth Vader's parenting trials and tribulations.  

Maria Catherine's book Time Together:  Me and Dad is a beautifully illustration book about small moments that children and dads spend together.

Jan and Mike Berenstain's The Berenstain Bears:  We Love Our Dad! is one of many Berenstain Bears books that feature lovable Papa Bear.  In this book, the cubs pour all their energy into spoiling Papa.

Norman Bridwell's Clifford's Day with Dad, Clifford spends a day in the country play, digging, and fetching with his dad.  

Guess How Much I Love You is by Sam McBratney.  This sweet story is about a bunny dad and son expressing how much they truly love each other.

Saturday is Dadurday, by Robin Pulver, is about a young girl spending QT with her dad after baby twins arrive in her family.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems is one of my very favorite books.  The relationship between Trixie and her daddy is so adorable and true-to-life.

Did you have any idea there were so many great books about dads?  I'd love to know if you have any favorite read alouds that shine the spotlight on dads and their relationships with their children.

If you would like to have your students make their own books for Father's Day, check out my Father's Day mini booklet, My Rad Dad.

Students complete sentences and add their own illustrations to these simple booklets.  They usually turn out super cute.

Click on the picture below for your own FREE copy.

Happy early Father's Day!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by.

Fiesta Fun: Ideas for Cinco de Mayo and a FREE Math Mini Book

Hola!  It's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.  I'd like to share a few ideas for Cinco de Mayo learning in the primary classroom.
One quick and cute activity to use with your young learners is to make a paper sombrero.  To make them, I sketched a quick one out and copied it on construction paper.  The kids decorated them and attached them to sentence strips that fit around their heads.  You can even have them write their spelling words (or something of the sort) on the back, if you want your project to serve double duty.

Here are a couple of books I'll be using for read aloud:  Cinco de Mouse-O! by Judy Cox and Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds.

Both of these books are really fun for this time of year and provide jumping off points for some discussion of Cinco de Mayo and some Mexican traditions.

I love working with word problems using holiday themed math mini books.  Next week, we'll use our Cinco de Mayo math mini book.  This mini book reviews calendar skills, time, graphing, double digit addition/subtraction, fractions, and more.
You can have a FREE copy of Celebrate Cinco de Mayo:  A Math Mini Book by clicking on the picture below.

Tuesday will be May 5th.  I hope I've started your wheels turning about how you can fit a little Cinco de Mayo learning into your class.
Thanks for stopping by.
Adios.

The Easter Egg: A Mentor Text and a FREE Bunny Craftivity

Hi friends, it's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.  I'd like to share one of my favorite Easter themed mentor texts, The Easter Egg by Jan Brett.  (If you do not have this book, you have to check it out.  It is wonderful).

It is about a young bunny, Hoppi, who is trying to create his first Easter egg to give to the Easter Rabbit.  He sees all of the other bunnies working on their eggs and he can't decide what kind of egg to create.  As the story continues, Hoppi chooses to help another forest friend instead of completing his Easter egg artwork.  Hoppi's selflessness is eventually rewarded in the end.
The message in this book is so special and the artwork is tremendous.  The Easter Egg is exactly what you would expect from Brett.

The Easter Egg can be used for many classroom activities: comprehension, retelling, context clues, inferencing.  It inspired us to create out own Hoppi artwork that will be brightening up our classroom for the next few weeks.
Like Hoppi, students decorated their most beautiful egg.  They made patterns, illustrations, team logos, and more.  After they made their eggs, they put together a simple bunny pattern. Our bunnies are brown to look like Hoppi.  (maybe should have went with gray...oh well)

The buns also look adorable in the traditional white.  You can even use up some scrapbook paper leftovers decorating the egg.

If you would like a FREE copy of this bunny pattern, click on the picture below.  It's a very simple project that is perfect for spring in your classroom.  It's always so fun to see how students' personalities shine through in projects like this one.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Happy Easter!

Let the Good Times Roll: Mardi Gras in the Classroom (Including Two Freebies)

Hi all.
It's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.
I've spent the past few days mentally going over all the special days coming up in February.  There's Valentine Day, Groundhog Day, African American History Month, Presidents' Day, Dental Health Month, and the Super Bowl.  This year Mardi Gras even falls in February.  So many opportunities to do something a little out of the ordinary in your classroom.

This year Mardi Gras will be on Tuesday, February 17th.  While I do not live in an area that has big Mardi Gras celebrations, I think it's really important for my young learners to be exposed to all sorts of traditions and holidays.
In my class, we'll have a King's Cake and read some books about Mardi Gras.  We'll also make our Mardi Gras Kids for display in the hall outside our class.

You are welcome to a FREE copy of this craftivity.  Just click on the picture above.

I use Mardi Gras Kids as a spelling art project.  But, the pattern also includes a writing sheet for students to write about if they were "King for a Day."

For math we'll work on my Mardi Gras Math Mini Book.  This mini book is a collection of Mardi Gras themed word problems focusing on double digit subtraction, patterns, time to the half hour, place value, and more.

For your own FREE copy, click on the picture below.

There are many more ways to learn and celebrate Mardi Gras with your students.  Integrating traditions and holidays, like Mardi Gras, into your curriculum is a wonderful way to get your students excited, engaged, and informed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Make Way for MLK: A FREE Learning Packet and Book Recommendations

Hi all.  It's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.  While I'm still totally loving winter break, I'm also mapping out all the special learning opportunities January has to offer.  New Year's, the 100th Day of School, and Martin Luther King Jr. are a few of the important themes that will shape our time in the classroom.  

Today I'd like to share a few things we'll be using to learn about Martin Luther King Jr.  Some of the activities my young learners will be doing are in my packet, Make Way for MLK:  A Martin Luther King Jr. Freebie.

This packet includes two literacy centers and two math centers (both with recording sheets), as well as a writing craftivity. 

One of the math centers provides practice with addition facts.

The other one works with time to the hour.

One of the literacy centers allows students to practice sorting sentence by type (asking or telling).

The other literacy center works with rhyming words.

My favorite part of this packet is the writing craftivity, I have a Dream Just Like Martin Luther King.  With the pattern, you can have your students create a MLK peek over or you can have them make one that looks more like themselves.  Either way can work.

You can click on one of the pictures to check any of these activities out.

There are also some really fabulous books about Martin Luther King Jr.  My First Biography: Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer is a great choice for early elementary students.  The story is very simple and the illustrations are appealing.

The other biography I recommend is National Geographic Kids:  Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kitson Jazynka.  Like the book above, this one offers basic biographical information about King.  However, this text goes into more detail and uses actual photographs.

After reading these biographies, we will take a little closer on the March on Washington and the I Have a Dream Speech.  We March by Shane Evans is a book I found last summer.  It follows a family as they join the 1963 March on Washington.  The illustrations are very engaging as they focus in on individuals that were at the historic event.

My final recommendation is I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   The content of this book is King's famous speech and the illustrations are outstanding.  My copy (from Amazon) also came with a CD of the speech.

There are certainly many more activities and books that you can use for your study of Martin Luther King Jr.  I hope some of these suggestions can be of use to you as you plan for MLK learning in your class.

Thanks for stopping by.

Diary of an Elf: A FREE Writing Activity

Hi All.

It's Amber from School Is a Happy Place.

Does an elf visit your classroom?

Well, for the past few years one has came to see my kids.  They seem to enjoy spotting our elf and doing elf themed activities during the few weeks leading up to Christmas break.  

I am not very creative when it comes to staging my elf.  But, that doesn't seem to matter one bit.  Just the fact that he moves from place to place is super exciting.

One elf themed activities that I love using with my young learners is my elf journal, Diary of an Elf.

With this journal, students can record basic information about their class elf.  They can write about the elf on a daily basis, every other day, or once a week.  It is totally up to you.  

This assignment is a great way to introduce voice and perspective in writing.  The best entries tend to be when students pretend to be the elf and write their entries first person.

We start our journals on the first day that our elf arrives.  After I read The Elf on the Shelf and our class chooses a name for our elf, we complete the introduction and calendar pages.  For the next several days students write about our elf on the journal entry pages.

This activity is fun and very simple to execute.  Most importantly it engages students and works a little more writing practice into the day.  

You can click here if you would like a free copy of Diary of and Elf to use with your students.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy teaching!