Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children

In honor of Fairy Tale Month at the Pratt Library, the Book of the day is

Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children is a collection of over 20 stories from Aesop, Hans Christian Anderson, and the Brother's Grimm.

Other fairy tale compilations:

Another Detour Down Memory Lane

So, yesterday, I had a moment of nostalgia that got me to thinking of more of my favorite shows from my childhood. I couldn't resist the urge to share them with you. Please tell us your favorites!

New Zoo Review



The Great Space Coaster



Captain Kangaroo


The Electric Company

Thanks for indulging me in this little detour of my normal blog posts. I think it's important, however, that we embrace our childhood. It reminds us to make sure that the children we teach today have wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

Memory Lane: Hodge Podge Lodge

This morning when I woke up, I had the memory of dream. I struggled to turn the fuzzy edges of the dream into a clear picture. I slowly began to remember the details of the dream: there was a little cabin in the woods where children came to learn about nature. The more I thought of this dream, the more it felt like deja vu. Was I ever in a cabin in the woods? I think not. I grew up in the city so I was trying to decide if this was a dream or a true memory. As I got out of bed and began my morning tasks, I had a sudden memory spark: HODGE PODGE LODGE. I kept repeating it in my head and the memories came spilling back of one of my FAVORITE shows from my early childhood. The show aired on Maryland Public Television in the 70s.

"We're off to the forest to see Ms. Jean. She lives in a house that is mostly green..." Oh my goodness...I LOVED that show. I found a great clip on You Tube but according to IMBD, most of the masters have been destroyed.

Growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I ended up a preschool teacher. And maybe, somewhere in my young impressionable mind, Ms. Jean had something to do with my love of children and animals! (Imagine my surprise to find that Ms. Jean is on Facebook!)

Teachable Moments by Renee Armstead-Johnson

This guest post is by preschool/prekindergarten teacher, Renee Armstead Johnson. Renee has been teaching preschool for over fifteen years!

Springtime is officially here and there are many wonderful ways to identify its presence. Our class recently went on a nature walk to observe the signs of spring. Some children observed the trees blooming, others saw butterflies, and we even found a few worms. One child commented that the worm looked like a caterpillar. So a teachable moment was born.

First, we discussed the similarities and differences between worms and caterpillars. We listed our observations on a chart. Shortly after this discussion, our Parent Committee donated butterfly gardens and Painted Lady Butterfly larvae to our classroom and this just made the children's interest grow even more! We collected and read many books about butterflies such as:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book
• The Butterfly Alphabet Book [BUTTERFLY ALPHABET BK]
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1)
• Jack's Garden

The children were then inspired to create their own predictable books about butterflies. They spent a great deal of time observing the caterpillar larvae. They really enjoy using the magnifying glasses to observe the creatures and draw pictures of each stage of development. During our discussions, we also learned the differences between moths and caterpillars!

The children are most proud of their new vocabulary: larvae, molt, chrysalis, metamorphosis. They enjoy explaining the stages of development to visitors who enter our classroom. They also began to spontaneously use materials that were in the art area to create butterflies: toilet paper tubes, scraps of paper, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, crayons, paint, markers, and glue.

Although this "unit" was not the original theme I had planned, it is a perfect example of how children can guide curriculum. Teachers just have to be willing to make every moment a teachable moment!

More Butterfly Links:

• Butterfly and Caterpillar Crafts and Student-made books
• Butterfly Facts from Scholastic
• National Geographic for Kids photos and video of Monarch Butterflies

The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora

In honor of Fairy Tale Month, the BOOK OF THE DAY is:

• Visit the Classic Fairy Tale page to find many fairy tale ideas, activities, and lesson plans.
• Add doll beds to block area (or housekeeping) and several "mattresses" (you can make them from felt or pieces of foam).
• Visit Scholastic's Teacher Guide on Discovering Fairy Tales.
• Have the children write or illustrate their own version of the story.
• Plant pea sprouts!
• Allow the children to to see peas still in their pods! They can shell the peas and eat them or use them in a recipe (like vegetable soup!)
• Read other books by Rachel Isadora such as The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Hansel and Gretel, or The Fisherman and His Wife.

The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney

In honor of Fairy Tale Month, the BOOK OF THE DAY is:

• During Choice Time or Center Time, allow students to listen to the story on Starfall.com.
• Make a Rebus Story on chart paper.
• Tie this story in with a unit on cooperation.
• First School and Hubbards Cupboard have an abundance of ideas, patterns, and lesson plans.
• Sing the Little Red Hen song.
• Learn about chickens! Check your local farms to see if they offer chick-hatching projects. We've used Quiver Farms and the experience has been great. First, check with your local licensing agency or health department before doing any animal project.
• Have a bread taste test, then ask the children their favorite and graph the results.
• Allow children to experiment with yeast and water to watch it rise; then bake some bread!
• Read Bread Bread Bread (Mulberry Big Book) by Ann Morris and Everybody Bakes Bread (Carolrhoda Picture Books) by Norah Dooley and discuss the role that bread plays in cultures all over the world.
• Read Teamwork also by Ann Morris and discuss the role that teamwork (or lack of) played in the story of the Little Red Hen.
• Read other versions of The Little Red Hen and compare/contrast the stories and characters.

Stone Soup by Jon Muth

In honor of Fairy Tale Month, the BOOK OF THE DAY is:

• Visit DLTK site for a variety of story-related activities, coloring pages, and recipes.
• Sing the Stone Soup Song (from Songs for Teaching).
• Share Stone Soup (Chinese Edition) with your class. Although you may not be able to "read" it, it is important that children are exposed to other languages.
• Add paper shaped like a pot to your art and writing areas. During Center Time or Choice Time, the children can choose to draw or paint pictures of their own version of stone soup.
• Have each child bring a vegetable to school, and make stone soup. There are many variations of recipes available online.
• Read other versions of this story such as Stone Soup by Ann McGovern.
• Make a flannel board story by cutting out a pot, stone, and vegetables out of felt. Use DLTK's coloring pages to find patterns.
• Make a Stone Soup Alphabet Book. Illustrate parts of the story and focus on the letters (ex: S is for soup, O is for onion, p is for pot, etc). You don't have to include all 26 letters! Just include a few that you might be working on during this unit.