Book of the Month: Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

Thanksgiving is approaching and we are helping children to learn about being thankful. The winter holidays are also approaching and it's a time when we often talk to children about giving and being kind. Hopefully these are lessons that we teach our children all year long and this is a great book to help start those discussions.



I love this book for may reasons. The main character is being raised by his grandmother - that family structure is a reality for many children and this book makes it seem so normal that children can easily relate. He wants a pair of sneakers that are just beyond the family's budget, again another reality for many children. In the end, he finds a pair at a thrift shop but they are too small, and he gives them to a friend. The book touches on giving to others, kindness, bullying (the other children laugh at Jeremy's Velcro sneakers), and friendship.

I do take issues with two words in the book: "rich" and "dumb." Jeremy goes to the thrift shop in the hopes that some "rich" child donated the sneakers. The word rich is not concrete to a young child and people who aren't rich donate to thrift shops. Jeremy also uses the word dumb in a moment of frustration. But don't let those words discourage you from picking up this book. The lessons far outweigh those two words.

Related Activity:

Have children donate items to a thrift shop.

Teaching Kids News by Joyce Grant

Last year, I partnered with my son’s grade-three teacher to talk to the kids in his class about “the news.” Because I’m a journalist, it’s something I know a bit about and I thought the kids might be interested in finding out more about their world.

It turns out we vastly underestimated their interest!

Each week I brought in a stack of newspaper clippings and talked about them with the class. We followed a couple of major breaking stories (the G20 summit, the oil spill) and we also talked about interesting or funny stories that would crop up during the week. It might be anything from the discovery of a new species to a space shuttle launch.

The kids actively participated in the weekly sessions, wanting to share their own knowledge about the news stories and also wanting to know more. Pretty soon, kids’ parents were coming up to us saying, “My son just explained to me what’s happening at the G20!”

That weekly media lesson sparked an idea for a website. What if we brought kids the news in kid-friendly and –appropriate language? It would encourage kids to read, because they desperately want to know what’s going on in the world. It would also encourage parents to read with their children.

My son’s teacher, Jonathan Ophek, added the final, brilliant piece of the puzzle: what if we added “curriculum connections” to each article, so teachers could use each day’s article right in the classroom? Teachers would be covering the curriculum using current news events pulled from today’s headlines.

So Teaching Kids News was born.

The site began in September 2010 and was relaunched in its current form in January 2011. We haven’t done much marketing of the site yet, but already more than 1,000 teachers and parents use the site every day. Some days, particularly when big news is breaking, we get more than twice or three times that number. (Our biggest day has been over 6,000 individual users.)

Our goal is to get kids reading, and we think that by bringing them news that is not only easy for them to read but put into “context” for them, we’re able to do that. At the same time, Teaching Kids News provides instant lesson plans for teachers and parents who are home-schooling their kids.

And as one CBC reporter said, TKN’s politics section is a great place to brush up on what’s happening in the world—for anyone, kid or adult!

Joyce Grant is a journalist and owner of Teaching Kids News, http://www.teachkidsnews.com/. She also blogs at Getting Kids Reading, http://www.gkreading.com/.

Playdough: Where Learning and Rolling Pin Meet

Playdough Fun

What To Do:

1. Find your favorite playdough recipe on-line. When working with young children, I prefer a non-cook version like the "No-Cook Play Dough" recipe on this page. I suggest adding a few drops of food color to the water.
2. Gather ingredients. Your child can help you measure, pour, stir, and knead.
3. Allow children adequate time and space to play with the dough. Adding objects like rolling pins, cookie cutters, mallets, plastic forks/knives will extend children's experience with the dough. Discount School Supply makes some great (and affordable!) play dough tools like pizza cutters and rolling pins.
4. Optional: For scented playdough, add powdered drink mix to the water instead of food coloring!

What Children Learn:

• Math - measuring ingredients
• Chemistry - Difference between solid and liquids and what happens when you add liquid to dry ingredients
• Colors - Allow children to choose what color you will add to the water; you can extend this learning by dividing the water in half and make 1/2 red and the other yellow. When children pour the two colors into the mixing bowl, they will observe the color change!
• Fine motor skills - kneading, rolling, pinching, and exploring playdough exercises the muscles in the fingers which children will need to hold a pencil or tie their shoes!
• Literacy - add letter-shaped cookie cutters while children are playing with the play-dough

Sample Questions to Ask or Conversations to Have:

• What will happen if we mix this red water with this yellow water?
• What do you think will happen when we pour the water into this bowl?
• How does the playdough feel? (This is a more open-ended question than, "Is it sticky?" or "Is it soft?")

You Might Want to Avoid:

• Making complicated models as children may become frustrated when they cannot duplicate your model.
• Telling children what to make and how to make it. Let THEM be their own designers, architects, and creative thinkers!

Update: After attending my first #GNO on Twitter, I want to thank @hlkljgk for sharing this link for glow in the dark play dough!

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

Love, Peace, and Kindess in Preschool

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday and next month red & pink hearts will remind us to feel all warm and fuzzy for those that we love. So, I thought it was only fitting that this week we turn out attention to books that promote peace, love, and kindness. Children are naturally good-natured; choosing books that support healthy emotional development can help that good nature continue to blossom.

Often, we early childhood teachers turn their focus to the skills that look nice and neat on a checklist - recognizing letters and numbers, assembling a puzzle, pedaling a tricycle. It is often more challenging to assess a child's social and emotional development. Often, parents ask the preschool teacher, "Is my child ready for kindergarten?" And the discussion usually begins, and too often ends, with talking about STUFF the child "knows" - the cognitive aspect of development. But we know that being “ready” for school is so much more that letters, numbers, and shapes! We need to raise children who are NICE human beings – the kind who know how to get along with others. Here are a few books that will turn the classroom spotlight onto behaviors that promote love, peace, and kindness. Go hug somebody!

I Did It, I'm Sorry by Caralyn Buehner: This book has different behavioral scenarios followed by multiple choice answers. It’s a great book to read over time or teachers can read scenarios that relate to things that are happening in the classroom. A preschool teacher I work with reads one scenario each day and the children have the opportunity to discuss and illustrate the best choice. (Thanks to Ms. Renee for sharing this book and idea with me!)




It’s Mine! by Leo Lioni: Three frogs learn the value of sharing. Here’s a spin on “Show and Tell.” Instead of calling it Show and Tell, I called it Sharing Day. Depending on the number of children in your class, you can have Sharing Day 2-5 times a week. I assigned one day of the week to 3-5 children. For example, Billy, Monica, and Susanne might have Sharing Day on Monday; Kayla, Lauren, and David would be assigned to Tuesday, etc (I made a huge chart with the days of the week across the top and children’s names and pictures under each day – this way children and parents would remember their day). During Sharing Time, each child gets to sit in the rocking chair and tell us three things about their item. The rest of the students get to ask questions (learning to ask appropriate and relevant questions is a skill that children can learn in Pre-K and K – I used to tell the students, a question is something that you want to know about your friend’s item). After the children told us about the items, we would sit them on a special shelf for other children to actually play with. Sharing is a skill that children are just learning and sharing something that they brought from home is hard. So keep it short so that the child can return his item to his/her cubby. The other children learn how to be extra careful with an item that belongs to someone else. Of course, in the beginning of the year, I send home a note to parents about the goals and procedures of Sharing Time; this way, parents understand that it’s not wise to send something that is irreplaceable or extremely valuable. You can also visit my previous article for more ideas on It's Mine by Leo Lioni!



The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister: The most beautiful fish in the ocean won’t share his shiny scales which leaves him lonely. As a follow up art activity, give each child a few pre-cut fish scales (finger-paint paper works well since it’s shiny and flexible). Allow them to paint them various colors (“marbling” works well too) and sprinkle with glitter. When they are all dry, attach them to one big Rainbow Fish to hang in the classroom. Looking for more, fishy ideas?



Because of You by B.G. Hennessy: Children learn that they have can have a positive impact in the world. Even young children can learn the value of volunteer service. Children can (with the help of parents) collect hats/mittens for a local shelter, paint a mural for a local senior citizen’s building, sing songs at a nursing home, or help students in a younger classroom.

Swimmy by Leo Lioni: Swimmy and his friends learn that teamwork works! Make a bulletin board display entitled “Fishing for Teamwork” and post photographs (with captions) of children engaged in everyday teamwork activities. Examples: cleaning up block area together, carrying a tub of sand, sharing play-dough, etc. You’ll find that as you start to highlight teamwork, the children will bring instances of teamwork to your attention so that you can put it on the bulletin board.

Can You Say Peace? By Karen Katz and The Peace Book by Todd Parr are both books that help make an abstract concept, such as peace, meaningful to young children. Make a peace mobile or learn about the kindness campaign by visiting Celebrating Peace. SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: During this time of war, we have to be considerate and respectful of our troops. Be mindful if children begin to talk about war and/or soldiers. Regardless of our grown-up opinions of the war, we don’t want to suggest to children that our troops are not peaceful. It is hard for children to understand that soldiers, who children may associate with weapons, are peaceful. It is most important that you tread these waters carefully since some of your students may have family members who are in the Armed Forces.


Teaching Peace by Red Grammer OK, OK, OK.... so this one isn't really a book. But the songs on this CD will encourage and inspire! With songs such as Teaching Peace, Say Hi, and I Think You're Wonderful, you and your children will be singing these catchy lyrics in no time.

Join In and Play by Cheri Meiners: This book is part of a series that includes Talk and Work it Out, Share and Take Turns, Be Polite and Kind, and Understand and Care. They make a great addition to a classroom library since they can help children discuss real-case scenarios, feelings, and possible solutions. Of course, real-life situations are often the best teachable moments but these books can help children begin to think about their feelings and the feelings of others.

Children See...Children Do

This video was posted on Twitter today and I thought it was worth sharing here because it deserves more than the 140 character limit that Twitter has. This message speaks volumes to parents, teachers, mentors, grandparents, godparents, and other adults who have influence in a child's life.
It's no surprise to us that children like to imitate adults. As a former kindergarten teacher, I only had to look in my dramatic play area and see my students pretending to go shopping, cook dinner, feed the baby, go to work, drive a car...we have more of an influence on children then some of us even imagine. As teachers of young children, take a peek on your playground at recess to see children "playing school." As parents, watch your child play "mommy and daddy." They want to emulate the people that they look up to so it is up to us to provide a positive example of how to live!
How have you influenced the children in your life?

Thank You to @urbaneducation for sharing this wonderful video!