Ideas, please. I'm thinking: Charlotte's Web The House at Pooh Corner (series) Dr. Doolittle I've got a list for Year 0 from Ambleside, but it's just a list and I've no idea if books are chapter books or just stories here and there. What I want to do is find a chapter book for each of my themes, and read the book to the kids through the week. I might find that I can't read the whole book to them in a week, and have to go more general than that, but that's my game plan for now. What grade-level of book is generally thought of as fit to read to a 4-5yo K-er? If you read them to them in K and 1st, what are they supposed to read in 2nd and 3rd?? I'm confused. And nervous. School starts this week (Tuesday, sorta, Wednesday really)!! I've never schooled K before, and I find that I'm kind of putting off making any solid plans for it. :roll: Help!
I'd go to Sonlight or Winter Promise and look at their book lists for Kindy. It'll give you a starting point. Maybe ask your librarian for suggestions.
Don't worry about running out of books to read! There's too many, lol!!! I can't get through history in a decent amount of time, because we have so many books I want them to read, lol! What are your topics? What about "Wind in the Willows"? Also, the other two books by E.B.White are "Stuart Little" and "Trumpet of the Swan". Both of them are good, too! "Mr. Popper's Penguins" is good.
Our library has chapter books in a section all to themselves. I've found several great series for my young ones there. We spent last year (K5) reading a lot of Arthur books (the PBS show).
For read-alouds you could probably do the Magic Treehouse series. They are historical in theme and really good books. Not all that long either.
If you have the Year 0 list go look at the Year 1 and 2 list. They also have additional books at the bottom of the pages for free reading. I love the suggestions there! I really dont' think you have to worry about running out of books. I too will be reading a lot this year off Year 0.
"Old Mother West Wind"!!! It's a great little read-aloud! It's an older book. I'm too lazy to go upstairs to get the author's name for you. Tina, who use to post on here all the time, told me about them a while ago. GREAT book!!!
Thanks, ya'll!! I'll check into years 1 and 2; I already looked at SL and WP lists. :lol: Like I said, it's just hard to tell if they are chapter books to last the entire week, or a story you can finish reading in 10 minutes or less. Checking with my librarian might actually be my best bet.... But, just in case anyone decides they want to help me plan for the year :lol: or it sparks any ideas, here's my theme list for the year! ARG! I thought I put these in my Works Calendar, but they aren't there! I must've done a recover that went back further than whenever I did the entries. Gr. I wonder if OpenOffice has a calendar program.... Good thing I have these saved somewhere else! ABCs All About Me Families (including Pets)------Socks, unless there's a better one about families? Community Transportation Fall/Apples Bears-------------------------A.A.Milne Winnie the Pooh books Fire Safety Bats/Spiders/Skeletons Pumpkins Halloween---------------------doesn't Roald Dahl have a book about Witches? As an base we're reading books about monsters (think Where the Wild Things Are) and candy. We aren't big on Halloween, but we do fun fall things, costumes, and sweets. Space Scarecrows/Harvest Thanksgiving/Turkeys Polar Animals-------------------Mr. Popper's Penguins, maybe? Gingerbread Helping Others --------these two will be in a single week combination theme. Gingerbread man and baking for a day, then decorating and making a house with the gingerbread while we do a helping theme for the other 3 days in the week. (4 day schedule) Christmas--------traditions over the world, and Christian themes New Year Winter Snow Mittens Fairy Tales----------Hans Christian Anderson's tales (I have two big books of them) Valentine's Day Dental Health Flat Stanley Dr. Seuss--------------He didn't do any chapter books, did he? Pond Life Ireland/St. Patrick's Day Oceans and Beaches Weather/Spring Easter Flowers and Plants Farm -------------------------Charlotte's Web Forest Rainforest Mother's Day African Safari Bugs
Dr. Suess (to my knowledge) never did any chapter books, but you could read one a day and discuss similarities, writing style, differences. Maybe get two Whoville based books and compare/contrast. Did he do a good job being consistent from one book to the other? Is that even important, why/why not? You see where I'm going with that. Even a little guy/girl can learn about these basic literary concepts.
Oh, be sure to read "Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom!" when you do the alphabet, if you're unfamiliar with it! It's a picture book, and technically it's an alphabet book, but unlike you've ever read. I mean, most alphabet books show a bunch of things that start with a letter. Not this one! It's SO cute!!!
Oh, there's an adorable book, I think it's called "The Spooky Halloween Party"! It's an Early Reader type of book. It's about a boy who goes to a Halloween Party in an apartment building, and doesn't know who ANYONE is. He's beginning to think that all his friends have been turned into something else, when he realizes he's at the WRONG party. His friend lives in a different apartment in the building! Really cute story! Also, get "The Teddy Bear's Picnic", based on the song. There's several picure books of this available. My favorite is my some guy named Michael...Hague, maybe?...something like that! You could also read Paddington Bear.
For oceans and beaches check out the Dolphin adventure and Dolphin treasure set. The girls loved them. You could also use these for family. The dolphin family is really great.
Sure! Not sure what you mean, but... sure! :lol: I have files and websites and such for all of the activities we're going to do. I have a list of books (short) for each theme, some from our home shelf and some that I want to buy or find at the library. Yep, our ABC theme is based on Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom! I think most of the bear ones mentioned are on our list, though I'd not heard of those dolphin books. Are those chapter books? Anyway. Thanks for helping!
We went with the level books. They have level 1, 2, 3 etc A level a year is good, but more is great! ALso check for the Dick and Jane series, they are old but have a lot of good words for k-1 levels! Two of my kids read with them! I did not have the books with the first one. They loved them so much even after they got older they would pull out the Dick and Jane books. Now they also understand when someone mentiones the books in passing ! STEP into Reading, At Walmart! that is the level books I meant!
Just a thought to add, for the holiday ones, if you don't come up with anything interesting, Libraries usually set out all of their books related to that holiday as it approaches. You might find what you're looking for that way.
Are you familiar with the ValueTale Series? (Johnson) They are a wonderful collection of children's books that focus on famous people and their contribution to society. Unfortunately they are out of print, but easy to find on Amazon etc. They all have similar titles: The Value of... Believing in Yourself... The story of Louis Pasteur (My boys' favorite) Determination...Helen Keller Patience... The Wright Brothers (good for the transportation unit?!) Kindness...Elizabeth Fry Humor... Will Rogers Truth and Trust... Cochise Caring...Eleanor Roosevelt Courage...Jackie Robinson Curiousity...Christopher Columbus Respect... Abraham Lincoln Imagination... Charles Dickens Saving... Benjamin Franklin Learning...Marie Curie Sharing... The Mayo Brothers Responsibility... Ralph Bunche Honestly... Confucius Giving... Ludwig van Beethoven Understanding.. Margaret Mead Love... Johnny Appleseed Fairness... Nellie Bly Fantasy... Hans Christian Anderson Foresight...Thomas Jefferson Helping... Harriet Tubman Dedication... Albert Schweitzer Friendship... Jane Addams Adventure... Sacagawea My boys loved them at the age of 3 and older kids - 3rd grade seem to love them as well. -Jodi
I'm trying to think of some of the books we read... The Lighthouse Family Series by Cynthia Rylant Winnie the Pooh The House at Pooh Corner Charlotte's Web Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Henry Huggins The Adventures of Buster Bear (Burgess) Happy Jack (Burgess) We read a lot of Thornton Burgess at the end of the year. They are a bit more meaty than the others I've listed.
