In the wake of Cyclone Winston

February 26, 2016, 1:54 am

≪ Previous: Giveaways galore - but you had better be quick :)

Our hearts go out to those in Fiji who suffered losses due to Tropical Cyclone Winston last weekend.

Back in 1974, on Christmas Eve Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin with winds of 240km an hour and about 80% of the homes destroyed.

A new title Cyclone has been published this year (2016) by Scholastic, written as a follow-up to the CBCA Honour Books Fire and Flood written by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley.

Jackie French retells the destruction of Cyclone Tracy through the skilled use of rhyme and figurative language, including personification and onomatopoeia.
Free teaching notes for Cyclone are available here.

All three titles would work well together in a unit of work on natural disasters and all feature the impressive illustrations of Bruce Whatley.

Free teaching notes for Flood are available here and literacy activities are available here. Read a review of Flood and find other teaching ideas here.

Free teaching notes for Fire can be downloaded here and here. Again, a skilled use of rhymed couplets and figurative language brings this story alive, including the use of personification, onomatopoeia and similes.

Bruce Whatley uses colour in his illustrations to symbolise the different effects of fire - before, during and after the disaster.

All three titles would be wonderful for studying visual literacy and Whatley's choice of colour, technique and effect through the use of water colour paints to symbolise the events in each story. For example, in both Flood and Cyclone he uses a washed- out effect to symbolise the events in each story.

Other titles that could fit with a unit like this are reviewed in my previous blog post.

Blessings to all of those affected by Cyclone Winston last weekend.

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Fresh ideas for ANZAC Day

March 27, 2016, 8:26 pm

≫ Next: ANZAC Ted and other ideas for ANZAC Day

≪ Previous: In the wake of Cyclone Winston

ANZAC Day is commemorated in Australia on 25 April, when we honour and pay tribute to those who fought in wars to protect our country and our futures.

When I was putting together this bundle to support the reading comprehension of three ANZAC picture books, I was moved with great pride for the soldiers who fought in these battles, but also for the dogs that served beside them during World War 1.

There are 59 pages (including title pages and credits) in this bundle to support the comprehension of these three ANZAC picture books.

You can view an overview of the contents of each of the resources included in the bundle, through the images below, via this link, or by clicking on the image above to view a YouTube preview video of the resource.

My friend, Nikki Tester from Ocean View Learning Resources, taught me today how to make a preview of a resource in Powerpoint and then upload it to YouTube with music.

I am pretty proud of my very first attempt. You can view it and preview of my ANZAC Day bundle here or by clicking on the cover image above.

It was only when I was putting together the resource that I realised that all three picture books feature characters from the New Zealand troops who fought in World War 1.

The first picture book is, "The ANZAC Puppy" by Peter Millet. This is the true story of Freda, a dalmatian and the mascot of the New Zealand Rifles during World War 1. You can view a read-aloud of the story by clicking on the read-aloud hyperlink.

"The Red Poppy" by David Hill, features New Zealand's involvement in the battles of the Western Front, in France, through the eyes of the main character, Jim, with Nipper who is the messenger dog.

Instructions for how to make a red poppy pin are included in the bundle. A YouTube demonstration about how to make a memorial poppy is available here.

Finally, I selected "Caesar the ANZAC Dog" as my third picture book within the bundle. It more suited to the middle years (or upper years of primary school).

Caesar is a very famous dog now in New Zealand and the picture book is based on a true story.

Caesar, the bulldog, was the mascot for the Rifle Brigade. Caesar worked during the Battle of Somme in 1916 as a Red Cross dog, helping to rescue injured soldiers.

His official collar is held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and visitors may purchase a soft toy version of Caesar, complete with a replica of his official collar.

What I learnt from putting this resource together, is that not only did our soldiers show courage and bravery during World War 1, but so did the canines (dogs) who worked beside them. Sara Holton reminds us of this and the important role that dogs played in War on YouTube.

Author Stephen Dando-Collins speaks about some of the War dogs that inspired his writing of "Caesar the War Dog" which is a different story to the one above. This version is based on an Australian War dog serving in Afghanistan that worked as an explosive detection dog and became a special forces dog. You can view this interview here.

The bundle (resource) I created, includes higher order thinking reading comprehension activities for the three ANZAC picture books mentioned above and includes:

Synonym snap game
Adjectives cut & paste activity
Character traits
Story mapping
de Bono's thinking hats
Philosophy for children reflection - empathy, courage & enemies
The Four Resources Model & close reading teaching notes
Figurative language (personification & similes)
Song lyrics
How to make a poppy pin
Compare & contrast Venn diagrams (including a triple Venn)
QR code comprehension questions
Mapping
Close reading - Dogs at War
Research & information report scaffold and links...and much more!

You may also be interested in my friend Nikki's new resource for ANZAC Day. You can preview this resource hereor by clicking on the image below:

To find out more about this resource, click on this link here.

Make sure you also check out Nikki's resource on first and second hand accounts of events in Australia. It is just brilliant for close reading, higher order thinking in reading comprehension and critical literacy. You can find this resource here or by clicking on the image on the right. Find out about Nikki's other very popular resources here.

So, this ANZAC Day, when we say, "Lest we forget", let's remember our canine friends who fought beside their handlers or owners with determination, courage and bravery.

"We will remember them."

Other teaching colleagues from Australia or New Zealand are more than welcome to share a link to their ANZAC Day teaching resources in the comments section below (choose one your favourite or most popular link to share).

More ANZAC Day resources from Aussie or NZ teachers are available using these links:

Montessorikiwi - ANZAC Day Scavenger Hunt; ANZAC Day Flip Book

Tech Teacher Pto3 -

ANZAC Day Activity Pack - Craft, Word Search, Worksheets, Posters and more !

Lest we forget image sourced from here.

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ANZAC Ted and other ideas for ANZAC Day

April 8, 2016, 2:46 am

≫ Next: Hot off the press! "Anzac Ted" reading comprehension bundle

≪ Previous: Fresh ideas for ANZAC Day

Hi everyone

Following from my previous post about new resources for ANZAC Day, I am sharing some new ideas using "ANZAC Ted", a wonderful picture book by Belinda Landsberry.

It can be challenging introducing young students to the sensitive issues around war, death, dying and sacrifice that surround any study of ANZAC Day, however ANZAC Ted is a resource that does this is a sensitive way.

You can view a YouTube clip of ANZAC Ted here.

Peter Stanley provides a critical perspective and review on the picturebook here.

Rather than viewing the vocabulary in the picturebook as a barrier to comprehension, I saw this as a wonderful teaching opportunity and as a result I am creating a resource to support the comprehension of what I believe is a wonderful picturebook for introducing younger students to Australia's involvement in World War 1.

You can download a freebie of a template/outlinethat can be used for classroom displays during ANZAC Day from my TPT store here or by clicking on the image on the left.

Free teaching notes are also available online via this link.

I have uploaded a fun rhyming words game based on the picture book in my TPT store. You can view that here or by clicking on the image below.

It is such a fun game that can be played in several ways. Students work with a small group to match words that rhyme. If they draw a "poppy" card, they can either return all their cards to the centre pile, or every player has to return their cards to the centre pile (the teacher can decide which version to play). There is also the option to include the "slouch hat" cards, which give players another turn if they draw this card.

Watch this space, as I am still working on the complete resource to support higher order thinking and reading comprehension using this picturebook. Make sure you are following me on TPT so that you are notified when the complete resource is uploaded.

Many thanks to Iva from etsy for the custom-made clip art used in these resources.

Please note that you would need a copy of the picturebook to use these teacher support resources.

Have a terrific week everyone and all the best to my Queensland teaching colleagues who are returning to teaching next week.

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Hot off the press! "Anzac Ted" reading comprehension bundle

April 8, 2016, 10:30 pm

≫ Next: Incorporating Indigenous Australian perspectives within the curriculum

≪ Previous: ANZAC Ted and other ideas for ANZAC Day

I am so excited...It's a bit like giving birth when you finally finish a resource to the point where you could keep going forever but decide to stop! Today is that day and I am happy to share with you my new 70 page bundle to support the reading comprehension of "Anzac Ted" by Belinda Landsberry.

You can read my other post about this title with links to freebies here.

This is not going to be a long post, because I am now "post-resource-creation" tired! However, I would love it if you would take a moment to view my video preview hereor to click on the images below to find out more.

To check out the contents of this bundle, please view my YouTube preview clip here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0UkpbsRfmE

I would love it as well if you would share the URL for this blog post with your colleagues and networks. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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Incorporating Indigenous Australian perspectives within the curriculum

April 11, 2016, 3:27 pm

≫ Next: Hot off the press - Reading comprehension resources for "ANZAC Biscuits" by Phil Cummings

≪ Previous: Hot off the press! "Anzac Ted" reading comprehension bundle

Hi everyone

This is a very brief post. I wanted to share with you a post I did earlier this year for the Australian Teachers' Collaborative Blog on Australian Indigenous Perspectives.

It took me a great deal of time to research and consult about the ideas in that blog post and I hadn't realised that I hadn't shared that thinking and those ideas on my own blog.

This image was reproduced with permission from Magabala Books and the illustrator, Renee Fogorty, of the children's picture book, "Fair Skin, Black Fella".

The ideas and resources I shared are just terrific for embedding Indigenous Australian perspectives within the curriculumand I also shared ideas for developing critical literacy in the middle and upper primary years - ideas that I have seen in action in classrooms in very powerful ways.

You can read my blog post about ideas and resources for embedding Australian Indigenous Perspectives within the curriculum here:
http://australianteachers.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/australian-indigenous-perspectives-and.html

Please note that the giveaways mentioned in that blog post have been completed!

Have a terrific week!

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Hot off the press - Reading comprehension resources for "ANZAC Biscuits" by Phil Cummings

April 18, 2016, 7:37 am

≫ Next: Mud crabs, mangroves and memories

≪ Previous: Incorporating Indigenous Australian perspectives within the curriculum

I am so excited about my new ANZAC Day resource based on "ANZAC Biscuits" by Phil Cummings.

The resource is 40 pages and includes:

Word Work – vocabulary development: thinking maps, definitions, inferring and synonyms
Sensory language – Y charts
Making connections
Character traits – using text evidence
Student-generated questioning
Story mapping
Summarising parallel storylines
Analysing figurative language in the story
Matching adjectives and nouns from the story
Interactive notebook activity - summarising
Exploring verbs and nouns in cooking
Close reading activities – Investigating the history of ANZAC biscuits
ANZAC writing papers
ANZAC bookmarks

This new resource is so "hot off the press" that I haven't even had time to do a preview overview of it. I wanted to post about it because ANZAC Day is on 25 April here in Australia (next Monday). You can check it out by clicking here or on the image below.

I made this resource as I just love this picture book and I couldn't find any other teaching resources that use this fabulous picture book. "ANZAC Biscuits" is suitable for the early years for a read aloud. It was only when I was making up the resource, which I intended to initially be for the early years, that I realised the potential this picture book has, with what appears to be such a simple story, for exploring some higher order literary devices, such as parallel storylines and figurative language.

I have created two other resources for ANZAC Day based on picture books. One is a bundle for three picture books that feature dogs during the First World War. You can read about this bundle and view previews of the resources that accompany the three picture books in my blog post here. See the YouTube video preview of this resource here. View the resource on TPT here.

The other resource is a mega big resource of 70 pages based on "ANZAC Ted". You can read about my ANZAC Ted resource here and here. See the YouTube video preview of this resource here. View the resource on TPT here.

Check out my TPT store to download two freebiesfor ANZAC Day, including ANZAC bookmarks and an outline of ANZAC Ted that can be used for a class display.

I would love to hear what other Aussies or kiwis do in their classrooms for ANZAC Day. Did you know that the origin of the ANZAC biscuit is contested? Read more in my "ANZAC biscuits" resource in the close reading activities.

Have a terrific week everyone !

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Mud crabs, mangroves and memories

April 24, 2016, 7:49 pm

≫ Next: Mums matter

≪ Previous: Hot off the press - Reading comprehension resources for "ANZAC Biscuits" by Phil Cummings

Reading the newly published picture book, Crabbing with Dad brought back so many lovely memories for me of growing up in Far North Queensland and fishing with my brother on the beach...well, he fished and I carried the bucket. Memories of the cast net, the yabby pump, pippies, mangroves and mud crabs :)

Reading this picture book also brought memories of my very favourite poem studied in high school in Cairns, "The Crabs" by Brian Vrepont. I still vividly remember the lines in that poem and the sense of futility of the human condition in comparison to the simplicity of the existence of the crabs. Disappointing that there are a couple of typos in the version hyperlinked here, but nonetheless, I remember it well...

"I laugh, knowing crabs wiser than man;

When man, suicided from his home, the earth

Shall see no lord sun spray gold on wave,

Nor moon come like vespers, go in full song,

Crabs still will ply their chop-sticks,

Knowing nor caring that man is dust."

Crabbing with Dad is written and illustrated by Darwin-based author and illustrator, Paul Seden who is descended from the Wuthathi and Muralag people of North Queensland. This is the first children's picture book that he has both written and illustrated. It is published by Magabala Books, Australia's oldest independent Indigenous publishing company, based in Broome, in the far north of Western Australia.

I love so many of the picture books published by Magabala Books and have bloggedabout some of them before. You can read these other posts using the "search this blog" link on the right hand side or by clicking here. Free teachers' notes for many of the picture books published by Magabala Books are available here.

Crabbing with Dad tells the story of Mahli and Sam who go out crabbing with Dad in their boat to their secret spot in the creek. They set their crab pots and wait patiently until they pull up an angry crab and then more crabs and their Dad teaches them how to handle the crabs so they don't get nipped. Interestingly, nowhere in the text does it mention that the girl's name is Mahli (I found that out on the publisher's blurb about the book). The story is told through the eyes of Mahli, the narrator.

This would be a terrific mentor text for writing personal recounts and retellings and also for children to write about their favourite activities with their own fathers (making it a great choice of text and activity for Father's Day).

Some teaching ideas for Crabbing with Dad

Writing a narrative recount/retell of a personal experience
[Australian Curriculum: English Year 2 Achievement Standard: Students create texts, drawing on their own experiences, their imagination and information they have learnt]
Exploring figurative language and literary devices e.g. alliteration, consonance, assonance and sibilance - for example, from the text: "The fishin the creekSHIMMY and SPLASH and play hide and seek."
Examining subject specific vocabulary and phrases - e.g. longbums, shellfish, mangroves, fishing, tide, hunting, nippers, crab pots, untangle, crabbing, life jackets, mates, mud crabbing, sink the pots, glide to our secret spot, turn of the tide.
Investigating adjectives and noun groups e.g. slimy fish bait, secret spot. Students could expand sentences from within the text by using noun groups
[Australian Curriculum: English Year 2 Strand: Language; Sub-strand: Expressing and developing ideas: ...noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives (ACELA1468); Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (ACELA1470) ]
Questioning, inferring and justifying with evidence from the text: What's the difference between fishing and hunting? What does 'turn of the tide' mean? What does the sign mean in the illustration that shows Dad's mates fishing? What are longbums? What do the children do while they are waiting up the creek? Why do the children have to wait in the boat up the creek, away from the crab pots? What are mud crabs and where do they live? Which parts of Australia can they be found in? Why do you think the first mud crab was angry?
[Australian Curriculum: English Year 2 Strand: Literacy; Sub-strand: Interpreting, analysing, evaluating: Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)]
Interpreting visual representations in the text: Why do you think the author/illustrator wrote the words about the first crab catch the way he did?
[Australian Curriculum: English Year 2 Strand: Language; Sub-strand: Expressing and developing ideas:Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words (ACELA1469)

In preparing for this blog post, I did quite a few Internet searches and was really surprised by how few picture books or resources for children there are about mud crabs. If you know of any, please share the links in the comments below this post. It seems that hermit crabs are madly popular in primary schools, but other crabs have a very lean dance card. I will share some of the ideas I did find.

If you have been following my blog for some time, you will know that I love using multiple text sources, text sets or companion texts to support students to make inter-textual connections (text-to-text connections and intertextuality).

Magabala Books publishes a series called, Deadly Reads for Deadly Readers and within this series I found the text, Claws, Eyes, Flippers, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Speech Pathology of Australia Book of the Year Awards (Indigenous Children category). Has anyone seen or used this series before? I hadn't heard of it, so I decided to find out more. In the blurb for the book, the publisher's website states:
"Do crabs have claws or flippers? One of the first of four books in a series of levelled readers.The series has been carefully designed to provide young Indigenous and non-Indigenous children with engaging, enjoyable and meaningful experiences with print that will support their reading skills and their desire to read."

Free teacher notes are availablehere. The teaching notes, written by Trish Bremner, have links to the Australian Curriculum across several curriculum areas. The English notes include book sharing, modelled reading, shared reading, guided reading, repeated reading and independent reading ideas. They introduce teachers to the GRREaD strategyfor repeated readings of the text. If you haven't heard of the GRREaD approach before, it is worthwhile reading the teaching notes as a comprehensive explanation is included.

I found this other picture book, published in 2006 by the Batchelor Institute in the Northern Territory through the Book Depository, however I do not have a copy so cannot review it. The description of the book states that the book is:
"The story of the mud crab, the magpie goose and the pied cormorant who meet together to dance a corroboree. They all dance until they are exhausted when the magpie goose man and his family decide to become birds, the pied cormorant and his family decide to grow feathers and swim in fresh water and the crab man grows a shell."

I also found the title, Pet Crabs published in the series of Indji readers (for little fullas, for big fullas, Series 2). The blurb states:
"An old Koori lad tricks some 'gungies' (police) about his seafood hunting practices, highlighting laws about Native Title fishing rights."
Information about the Indji readers can be found here.

I love Bruce Whatley's illustrations and especially those in his picture books, The Ugliest Dog in the World and That Magnetic Dog. They are just terrific for teaching visual literacy. Looking for Crabs by Bruce Whatley is sure not to disappoint and I cannot wait for my copy to arrive in the post. You can read about Bruce Whatley and his works here.
The description of "Looking for Crabs" states:
"When you are on holidays and it's too cold to swim, what can you do? You can look for crabs! But search carefully, they are very hard to find. *Shortlisted, Young Adults Best Book Awards (YABBA) (VIC), 1994 and 1995 Ages 3+"

Our World: Bardi Jaawi: Life at Ardiyooloon is written by the children of One Arm Point Community School. Ardiyooloon is home to the Bardi-Jaawi people at the top of the Dampier Peninsula, 200km north of Broome in the north-west of Western Australia. In this book, readers follow the children as they go 'Camping at Gooda', and learn how to make mens' spears, how to dig for mud crabs, how to find fresh water and how to make damper. It sounds like it could be a useful mentor text for procedural writing.

I found the picture book, "Spearing Crabs" published in 2013 by Black Ink Press on Booktopia. The description states:
"Written and illustrated by youngsters, these small books tell some stories that are far-fetched and others very down-to-earth. They all share a lively Indigenous sensibility and sense of humour. With bright, spontaneous illustrations they will be enjoyed by other primary and even secondary students. They might even make books seem relevant and their short texts will be enjoyable for reluctant readers."

I also found another picture book published by Magabala Books, "Joshua and the Two Crabs". The description states:

"Joshua Button is a young Indigenous author with a keen interest in the saltwater country he has grown up in. His observations of his family’s fishing trip to Crab Creek give us a unique opportunity to see this adventure through his eyes. Joshua’s illustrations evoke the beauty of Crab Creek—a tidal creek that lies in the mangroves of Roebuck Bay near Broome in Australia’s north west."

I didn't know about Zombie Crabs until I started reading for this blog post. I am sure children would be highly motivated to read and learn about this phenomenon. This is the blurb from Fishpond for this non-fiction children's book published in 2015:
"A parasite exists that can make a male crab believe its a female crab. It forces the crab it infects to care for parasite eggs and even help release the larvae into the ocean to infect other crabs! These zombie crabs are never aware that they are infected nor do they harm the parasite."

I wonder if there are zombie crabs in Australia?

Not about mud crabs, but "Catching Blueys" looks like an interesting title written and illustrated in Cherbourg and published by Budburra Books. The description reads:
"Brave Mim knows the best way to catch blueys! Robyn shares her special family story about catching crawfish with her sister at the waterhole."

So, what all of this hunting around the Internet about mud crabs has reinforced to me, is that "Crabbing with Dad" by Paul Seden is a wonderful and welcome addition to a very sparsely published topic for kids - mud crabs and crabbing in Australia.

Just for fun, for an Art activity, I love this paper plate crab on the Crafts by Amanda website. Another idea for a "crab" hat was found on pinterest here. Ideas for Indigenous resource activities are provided by the Queensland State Library here.

More information about mud crabs can be found at these websites:
Fish Facts: Mud Crabs
Australian Tropical Foods: Mud Crabs
Cape York Travel Guide: Mud Crabbing

Please leave a comment if you know of any other picture books about mud crabs and crabbing in Australia.

If you love picture books as much as I do, you may be interested in joining our new Facebook group, Picturebook Fanatics - a support group for sharing ideas and picture book titles for people who are obsessed with picture books, like me :)

Please make sure you are following my blog, because I can feel a resource coming on...

Have a terrific week everyone.

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Mums matter

April 26, 2016, 7:23 pm

≫ Next: Fabulous new picture books and resources for Mothers' Day 2016

≪ Previous: Mud crabs, mangroves and memories

I'm just having a bit of fun on my blog this week, just being me. It will be interesting to see if anyone actually reads it, and if they do, please leave a comment below to prove it (Ta). It's just a bit of an experiment..even if it's just a comment, "I read your blog", I would appreciate it :)

I am loving these new picture books for Mothers' Daythis year.

Who doesn't love Nick Bland? Published in 2015, Some Mums is a joyful celebration of mothers and their individuality. It is a terrific mentor text for studying adjectives to describe qualities and characteristics of mothers and also for rhyming words. The illustrations are gorgeous and support visual literacy, adding meaning to the text. This lends itself so well to the children describing the qualities and characteristics that make their own mums unique and special. Free teaching notes for Some Mums are available here and Reading Time provides a synopsis of the bookhere.

The publisher's description states:
"Some mums are graceful and some mums are tough.
Each mum has her own way of being a mum and they are all delightful!
Another instant classic from Nick Bland!"'

Kylie's pink rating: Minimal use of pink. Mums represented with a variety of individual strengths and characteristics.

I just love Bruce Whatley's illustrations. My Mum's the Best, published in 2015 and written by Rosie Smith is another celebration of what makes mums special. Bruce Whatley's illustrations are gorgeous and add to the text about that special bond between mums and their young. You can read a review of My Mum's the Best on My Book Corner here or at Kids' Book Reviewhere.

Kylie's pink rating: Pretty use of pink on cover and no mums with blonde hair in the kitchen cooking :)

Dear Mum, I Love Youis a really special book. In the tradition of The Jolly Postman and Other Such Letters, it includes letters or postcards inside. Written by Ed Allen and published in 2015, this picture book would be a terrific mentor text for writing in the early years of school, with children writing their own letter, postcard or card to mum for Mothers' Day.

You can read a review of the book from Reading Time (the Children's Book Council) here, or by clicking on the image below. I am really liking this title as a picture book that has a lot of curriculum potential as a learning resource in schools. Each double page spread features a different animal mother and baby and a letter written for their mum. The illustrations by Simon Williams are just gorgeous. I love the way the letter from the chameleon is written in a range of changing colours - very clever and lends itself so well to inferring.

This picture book is not cheesy. It is authentic and has a depth of potential as a learning resource in so many different ways, including learning about animal mothers and their babies and letter writing. Have a read of an activity Melissa from Honey Bee Booksorganised after sharing this picture book. This is sure to be a picture book that is read over and over again and used time and again for real learning purposes in classrooms each year, that goes beyond making pink love heart cards...in fact, this is an interesting blog post I am currently reading that you might like to ponder: What typical preschool crafts are a total waste of time.

Pink rating: Limited use of pink on cover only. Great teaching potential.

All this pink, was making me think...I was looking for an "out-of-the-box" picture book where Mums are represented in different ways, other than through pink backgrounds, images and cleaning/cooking stereotypes.

With regard to teaching potential, I am loving My Mum Says the Strangest Things by Katrina Germein, illustrated by Tom Jellett and published by Black Dog Books (2016). This is such a fantastic picture book for teaching idioms and those sayings that all of our mums have that have become classics over the years. Oh look, the author has a Facebook Page- I'll just hop over and "like" that. All the authors and illustrators in this blog post probably have FB and twitter etc...If you know their links, please share in the comments below as I really do need to expand my groupie circles :)

Okay, back to My Mum Says the Strangest Thingswhich has so many teachable opportunities...The son shares some of his mother's sayings (idioms) which leaves the reader pondering about their literal meanings. Students could reflect on the unique sayings their own mothers have.
Kids Book Reviewinterviews the author here. That is such a good blog by the way - kindred spirits :) Free teaching notes for My Mum Says the Strangest Things are available here. You can also read an interview with the author here or view a video preview on the author's website here.
Pink rating: Was there pink in there? Great teaching potential.

Supermumand My Mum is a Supermum (also published in 2016) would make terrific companion texts for Mother's Day in the classroom. A time-release vimeo of Supermum is available here that shows how the cover illustration was created. This would be useful within the visual arts and design technology curriculum areas. My Mum has X-Ray vision would be an excellent companion text with My Mum is a Supermumas they have similar themes. Scholastic's blurb about Supermum reads:

My mum has secret superpowers,
she can do amazing things..."

Superheroes have all kinds of special powers. They are super clever, super brave, super kind and super fun. And so are mums!

What amazing superpowers does your SUPERMUM have?

Supermum lends itself beautifully to writing and children writing about their own mum's superpowers or to create a "Super Mum" card for Mothers' Day.
Pink rating: Minimal use of pink. Good teaching potential for descriptions.

I imagine there will be plenty of blog posts in the lead up to Mother's Day with links to crafts, so I will cut to the chase and just share the link to my pinterest board for Mother's Day where I have pinned plenty of ideas for home and school.

I was all excited when I came across The Messy Mother's Day in my search for alternative representations of mums in picture books. I thought I had finally a picture book about Mums that I could relate to, but it wasn't about Mum being messy (I like to call it "creative" by the way) but rather about the mess kids make when they are doing something special for mum for Mother's Day :)

On that train of thought, I am liking the sound of this new picture book by Emily Gravett (click on the image) about the perils of overzealous neatness and being too tidy :) You can never be too careful, I say!

I was looking for a picture book that was about real mums who aren't all pink, pretty and perfect :)

And then I found it...My Hippie Grandmother - I wonder if there is one about mums? I also wonder if there is a version about mothers who are addicted to picture books or have a picture book obsession? I am loving this description of the book on Amazon (and yes I bought it and I wasn't disappointed):

An enthusiastic ode to free spirits of all generations. (You're speaking to me sister!)

"Who says grandmothers have to wear tidy buns and be relegated to rocking chairs? In lilting rhyme and sunny psychedelic colors, Reeve Lindbergh and Abby Carter introduce the most vibrant, tie-dyed grandmother ever to dance her way across a picture book - together with her cat named Woodstock, her guitar-strumming boyfriend, her organic garden, and her very proud granddaughter. Flower power forever!"

I am suddenly feeling the need to do some composting, or companion gardening, or picking up those African drums or red uke I bought a couple of years ago and haven't learnt to play yet :) Kelly, if you are reading this, you are way ahead of me in the uke department :)

Now for older kids...this is way beyond the pink factor :) Grannies are mums too and for younger children, Our Granny is a classic. Our Granny is another picture book that is a terrific mentor text for teaching adjectives to describe grannies, to value difference and the illustrations are devine (as well as very funny!).

Gansta Granny sounds like a fun read for children aged 10+. You can read a review of it by Kids' Book Review here. It is written by David Walliams who is part of the Little Britain comedy team. The review states that this book, "has its thoughtful moments, with some interesting insights into parental expectations, the generation gap and the very special bond that can exist between grandparents and their grandchildren."

My Little Bookcaseprovides a list of titles with brief reviews about grannieshere. I am especially liking the sound of the picture bookMind Your Grammaby Yvonne Morrison (ching, ching = ordered!), who, by the way, has published some awesome picture books recently that are spot on for teaching critical literacy...watch this space as I will blog about them soon...

Here's a title I think I can relate to The Important Things (although I don't have this one) but this sounds like my kind of Mothers' Day picture book, that I think other single mums who have been mum, dad, best friend and worst enemy might also relate to (although I haven't read the text, I am very interested!). The publisher's description states:

The Important Things is the story of Christopher and his mother. Christopher’s mother does everything, for his father has faded from their lives. When they give away a box of his father’s old things, a series of events takes place to reveal the difference in which Christopher and his mother deal with the absent father.

And not a hint of pink in sight so far (except for her skirt on the cover). So, I needed to investigate further...Oh looky looky, the author, Peter Carnavas grew up in Brisbane, so he is a Queensland boy (I knew I was going to connect to this text) and he went to Runcorn, Currimundi and Caloundra schools for those reading who are a little bit local. In high school he had long hair and could play the guitar...and he also likes mangoes...hang on, back to the book :) Ha ha.

The author, Peter Carnavas, is a teacher (albeit retired, I think, working full-time as an author/illustrator). Wouldn't it be bizarre if he read my blog?! I don't think many people read my blog anyway, so it's just an extended conversation with myself really :) I wonder why he would write a picture book about a single mum and her child when he's married with kids? Hmm...I guess other children's authors write about animals and they are not animals! Ha ha ha - you should see the images on Peter's blog home page - they remind me a bit of Mr McGee. Oh goodness, now I am a bit embarrassed - look at all these picture books he has authored...I have so many of them in my collection! I wonder if he would do a guest post on my blog? Watch this space :)

Oh dear, I have stepped into dangerous, "interrogating texts" type territory here with this review of My Beautiful Mommy. This is not the alternative, representative example I was thinking of when I was searching for picture books that represent mothers in different ways in children's literature. My goodness, do we really need to expose little children to these adult concepts (i.e. plastic surgery and self-image)? This reminds me of a levelled reader we removed years ago that was about a married couple who were separated and when the children went to visit Daddy it was all about Mummy breaking her diet and how many donuts Mummy ate! There were parent complaints and the book was removed from the guided reading and home reading collections.

My Little Bookcase shares reviews of other picture books about mums for Mother's Day here. My Book Corneralso reviews picture books for Mothers' Day here.

The lyrics to a Mother's Day song called My Mum can be found here.

By the way, if you read this far and are wondering what Kylie's pink rating is - it's my original pink, cheesiness, stereotype analysis/reflection on how mothers are positioned or represented in titles to do with Mothers' Day.

There are so many wonderful choices to make Mothers' Day this year really special - and representative of difference - a celebration of all mums wherever they are and whatever they do! I would be really interested in reading about picture books that represent mothers from different cultural backgrounds in authentic contexts. If you know of any, please leave a comment below with the title/s.

Before you go, check out the 2016 CBCA notables book lists here.

If you love picture books as much as I do, you may consider joining our new FB page: Picturebook Fanatics. We don't have many members yet as it was only created about a week ago, but it really is a support group for those of us who love picture books, sharing new titles and ideas to use them in the classroom. Come and join the fun and help get the group active and happening :)

Have a good week everyone!

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Fabulous new picture books and resources for Mothers' Day 2016

May 2, 2016, 4:41 pm

≫ Next: All that jazz - a great new picture book for Rio - "Steve Goes to Carnival"

≪ Previous: Mums matter

I am excited to share with you four new reading comprehension resources I have made to support recently published picture books that can be used for Mother’s Day studies in the classroom.

After a few very long blog posts, I am working on being more concise, succinct, elliptical, economic, sparing, compact, pithy and brief, with the appropriate levels of brevity, in this blog post today :) A little bit of irony there.

If you would like to check out my new reading comprehension resources for these Mother's Day picture books (which I think are awesome, by the way), click on the image above or here and select "sort by" and "most recent" in the drop down menu under the "My Products" tab.

I have discounted all of these new resources for a limited time. You can save even more with the TPT storewide sale at the moment too :)

I have pinned lots of ideas for Mother's Day picture books, crafts, activities etc. here.

You can read my reviews of recently published picture books for Mother's Day and my mission to find alternative representations of mothers in picture books here.

Have a wonderful week everyone and Happy Mother's Day to all the mums in Australia, for next Sunday :)

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All that jazz - a great new picture book for Rio - "Steve Goes to Carnival"

June 13, 2016, 4:13 am

≫ Next: "Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

≪ Previous: Fabulous new picture books and resources for Mothers' Day 2016

With the Olympics coming up, it is great to discover a new picture book that is set in Rio. This would be a terrific companion text for Herman and Rosie.

You can read my previous post about other books that set the context for Rio and jazz here and preview my resource for Herman and Rosie here or by clicking on the image on the right. Free teaching notes for Herman and Rosie are available here.

Steve Goes to Carnival is a vibrant story set in Rio de Janeiro. Steve is a gorilla who lives at a zoo in Rio. In the evenings, he listens to jazz on the radio with his friend, Antonio the zookeeper. One night, Steve is feeling a little lonely and so he lifts the latch of his cage door and goes off to search for Antonio. At the tram stop outside the zoo, he finds a hat — the perfect disguise. Steve climbs aboard a tram and rides down the hillside, past the favelas and into the city.

It is carnival time in Rio! Fireworks explode in the sky and sequinned dancers shimmy along the avenue. ‘Feliz Carnaval’ cry the sambistas. Steve follows the sounds of a saxophone and discovers his friend Antonio playing in a quartet at the Blue Jaguar Jazz Club. When a beautiful dancer steps on to the dance floor, Steve takes her by the hand. They twirl and
twist to the music until suddenly, Steve’s hat falls off to reveal he is a gorilla!

Calmly, the dancer puts Steve’s hat back on his head and they spin this way and that way, this way and that way, all the way to dawn.

Steve goes to Carnival is a collaboration between Joshua Button, a young Indigenous artist from Broome and his mentor, Robyn Wells. Joshua is descended from the Walmajarri people of the East Kimberley in Western Australia. Robyn has a degree in Fine Arts and has lived in the Kimberley for many years. She is passionate about enabling young people to express themselves through language and art.

View images from the picture book here and on the publisher, Magabala Books' home page here.

Teaching Ideas

Research the animals in the zoo that are named in the story (e.g. jaguars, elephants, howler monkeys, sloths, anteaters, lions)
Explore the actions (verbs/processes) of the animals in the story (e.g. pace, stretch, hoot, chatter, whoop, holler, lick, wend, trumpet..)
Match the 'action words' (verbs/processes) to each of the animals
Sequence the events in the story
Discuss fiction and non-fiction texts
Explore personification (e.g. "the old yellow tram shudders")
Investigate noun groups and adjectives (e.g. the anteater's "long, sticky tongue" a "wide-brimmed hat")
Discuss alliteration (e.g. "sloths sway slowly", "twist and twirl")
Match the actions/sounds of the instruments to the nouns (e.g. the "piano tinkles", the "double bass pounds", the "saxophone wails", the "singer hums and trills")
Explore the language specific to the setting of Brazil (e.g. sambistas, 'Feliz Carnaval', Entra Senhor, saxofonista, Rio de Janeiro, favelas, fireworks, sequins, feather headresses...)
Locate Brazil and Rio de Janeiro on a world map
Investigate the subject specific vocabulary relevant to a jazz band (e.g. saxophone, bass drum, tambourine, trombone, double bass, piano, trumpet, samba whistles...).

If you are lucky to live in the north of the Western Australia, you may be able to attend the Book Launchof Steve Goes to Carnival in Broome on Friday 24 June. Find out more here.

To celebrate the launch of the new picture book Steve Goes to Carnival, I have created a freebie that includes bookmarks and a compare and contrast activity for both Steve Goes to Carnival and Herman and Rosie.

You can download your free copy at my TPT store here, or by clicking on the image below. Please leave feedback if you do download this freebie. Please also share this post with your networks - sharing is caring!

Have a terrific week everyone!

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"Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

June 24, 2016, 9:38 pm

≫ Next: "Mad Magpie" by Gregg Dreise

≪ Previous: All that jazz - a great new picture book for Rio - "Steve Goes to Carnival"

Hi there everyone

My last blog post was about this newly published picture book "Steve Goes to Carnival". You can read that blog post and more about the picture book here.

I have decided to giveaway my copy of the picture book to one lucky reader. There are three ways to enter the Rafflecopter (see below). This picture book hasn't even been launched or released yet, so be one of the first in Australia to enjoy it :)

The Rafflecopter starts tomorrow 26 June and finishes on 3 July.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enjoy and good luck!

Kylie

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"Mad Magpie" by Gregg Dreise

July 2, 2016, 8:42 pm

≫ Next: Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

≪ Previous: "Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

I absolutely love this newly published picture book by Gregg Dreise (published by Magabala Books. The illustrations alone are stunning, but the story itself has very important messages for our youth around anti-bullying and teasing.

You can read previous blog posts with an anti-bullying theme hereand here.

You can also preview my resource to support teaching with this picture book here. It includes:

Curriculum Integration:
- Australian animals research (birds)
- Social and emotional well-being – teasing, bullying, ignoring taunts
- Visual art – Indigenous Australian art forms
- Music – analysing song lyrics
- Reading comprehension strategies; vocabulary, character traits, making connections

This reading comprehension resource includes:
- Text connections
- Character traits
- Word work
- Synonyms
- Shades of meaning: synonyms for “anger”
- Magpie bullying strategies
- Idioms for anger
- Magpie bullying thermometer
- Proverbs, sayings and idioms about birds
- Research graphic organisers
- Bookmarks

I had so much fun during our giveaway of a picture book last week, so this week, I am going to give away a copy of my resource to support "Mad Magpie" to three readers of my blog.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy it :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

July 6, 2016, 2:12 am

≫ Next: "Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

≪ Previous: "Mad Magpie" by Gregg Dreise

It is with great excitement that I share with you some newly published picture books that feature food and good nutrition and would make excellent companion texts for titles like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. For those of you who know me well, you know I have a little addiction to picture books and need to emphasise that picture books can be used across all year levels, not just in the early years.

You can read my previous blog posts about Monster Chefhere and here.

This Hungry Dragon is a newly published picture book from Scholastic. This new title would be an excellent companion text to the There was an old lady who swallowed a...and the There was an old man who swallowed a...series. The hungry dragon eats and eats until he is as big as a house and explodes. This is a wonderful rhyming text and is also fabulous as a mentor text for teaching adjectives.

You can preview the resource I made for this picture book here which includes rhyming words games based on the book and vocabulary activities.

Budburra's Garden is a lovely picture book written by the children at Cherbourg State School. A summary of the storyline from the website states:

Join Sammy on a journey through Budburra’s garden, eating yummy foods and learning the colours on the way!

Budburra’s Garden introduces children (3-5 years) to the healthy eating concept of “eating a rainbow everyday” using colours and foods.

The book is artwork driven and very interactive, utilising repetition, descriptive words, visual clues and a back section including discussion points, fun recipes and bush tucker information.

I love the fact that this picture book was published in Cherbourg as I have a bit of a penchant for supporting the work of our Australian Indigenous picture book authors and illustrators, regardless of their age.

What's terrific about this picture book is that it introduces children to different nutritious foods (fruit and vegetables) according to their colours. It is also terrific to use as a mentor text to reinforce learning about adjectives. It also introduces students to traditional fruits and vegetables, but also traditional Australian Indigenous foods. The picture book includes information about the bush tucker found in Budburra's Garden at the back of the book and recipes to "Colour Yourself Healthy". I really think this is a powerful picture book with potential to be used on many levels.

I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal'sprevious titles Spoon and Chopsticks which are terrific companion texts to use with Spork by Kyo Maclear. You can read my previous blog post about these titles here. I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal's picture books as they take a real twist from different perspectives, so they are just terrific for critical literacy. The blurb for Little Pea states:

If Little Pea doesn't eat all of his sweets, there will be no vegetables for dessert! What's a young pea to do? Children who have trouble swallowing their veggies will love the way this pea-size picture book serves up a playful story they can relate to.

Oliver's Vegetablesand Oliver's Fruit Salad are lovely picture books that join this text set of companion texts of picture books that have similar themes and can be used together to consolidate learning. Oliver's Vegetables is a terrific companion text for The Very Hungry Caterpillar as it also reinforces learning the order of the days of the week. Read more on the author Vivian French's website here. I must say I love growing my own veggies so this picture book really appealed to me and it is terrific for encouraging kids to try different nutritious foods.

Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas is another hilarious rhyming text by Aaron Babley. You can preview my rhyming words games resource to support this picture book here or by clicking on the image of the resource. You can view other resources I have made to support Aaron Babley's picture books here.

My resource for Thelma the Unicorn has been particularly popular, probably because the picture book has such an important storyline about self-acceptance and self-belief. You can read about the awards this picture book has won here.

Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas has been shortlisted for the 2016 Australian Children's Book Week Awards!!

Together the picture books reviewed in this post would form the basis of a fabulous unit of work about food and to encourage healthy nutrition choices.

Watch this space as my next blog post will include a freebie for Budburra's Garden.

A big shout out and thank you for those of you who leave a comment on my blog posts, who follow my blog and who share my blog posts with their networks. It is very much appreciated.

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"Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

June 24, 2016, 9:38 pm

≫ Next: Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

≪ Previous: Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

Hi there everyone

My last blog post was about this newly published picture book "Steve Goes to Carnival". You can read that blog post and more about the picture book here.

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Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

July 6, 2016, 2:12 am

≫ Next: Smart About Sharks and a Giveaway

≪ Previous: "Steve Goes to Carnival" by Joshua Button & Robyn Wells - Rafflecopter Giveway of a copy of the picture book

You can read my previous blog posts about Monster Chefhere and here.

Join Sammy on a journey through Budburra’s garden, eating yummy foods and learning the colours on the way!

Budburra’s Garden introduces children (3-5 years) to the healthy eating concept of “eating a rainbow everyday” using colours and foods.

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Smart About Sharks and a Giveaway

August 18, 2016, 9:02 pm

≫ Next: "The Cow Tripped Over the Moon" and a giveaway

≪ Previous: Food Fabulous Food - Picture books about food - newly published titles and some older favourites

A newly published non-fiction children's book arrived today, "Smart About Sharks" written and illustrated by Owen Davey and published by Flying Eye Books.

You can view a preview of this new title at the author's website here.

I must admit, when it first arrived from the publisher, I didn't think this would be a title I would be interested in, but it is fascinating and I could not put it down. I have learnt so much!!!

This is an excellent text for modelling informational text features including: Contents Page, Index, diagrams, captions, flowcharts and labels.

I really love the play on words with some of the titles of the various sections, for example: "All Fins Considered", "Eat, Prey, Hunt", "A Bite to Eat", "Making a Meal of Things" and so forth. As an adult reader, this kept me amused and lightened the "mood" of an informational text.

Did you know?

Sharks are fish that don't have any bones.
Sharks are found in nearly every ocean on the planet.
Sharks are more than 200 million years older than dinosaurs.
Shark's nostrils are known as nares.
Some shark species are as tiny as a pencil.
The shortfin mako shark is the fastest shark in the ocean.
The epaulette shark can walk out of water and hold its breath 60 times longer than a human.
Some shark species can have over 100 pups in a litter.
Some sharks give birth to live young, some lay eggs and some carry eggs within the mother's body.

The author also includes suggestions for protecting the environment and our marine life at the end of the book.

"Smart About Sharks" would make an excellent companion text for other shark titles. You can see my previous blog post about two recently published picture story books about sharks and resources to support them here. You can also preview the resources here.

All of these titles would be super if you participate in Shark Week activities.

To celebrate the release of this newly published informational text, I will be giving away the complimentary copy that was sent to me by Walker Books. Please complete the Rafflecopter entries below for your chance to win.

(Open to Australian residents only due to postage costs).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have just received notification of a blog post from The Picture Book Review which features another shark title that you may be interested in. Click on the link hereto read the blog post.

Have a terrific week :)

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"The Cow Tripped Over the Moon" and a giveaway

August 27, 2016, 7:03 pm

≫ Next: PUT SOME MAGIC IN YOUR ART LESSONS

≪ Previous: Smart About Sharks and a Giveaway

I am loving this new picture book “The Cow Tripped Over the Moon” by Tony Wilson and illustrated by Laura Wood which has been awarded an Honours winner of the Children’s BookCouncil of Australia 2016 Book of the Year (Early Childhood) Award.

This picture book is so entertaining and is an innovation on the traditional nursery rhyme, "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon."

I have created a new resource to support this picture story book. You can preview it by clicking on this link or the image below.

This is an overview of just some of the 48 pages included in my reading comprehension resource. You can click on the image below to learn more or by clicking here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Cow-Tripped-Over-the-Moon-reading-comprehension-activities-2755867

This picture book is hilarious and shares the various attempts the cow makes to jump over the moon. I have included my favourite 4H reading strategy and graphic organisers. The resource also includes 4 rhyming words games. The picture book also has amazing potential for teaching about time and the sequence of digital times (with the matching analogue times).

If you have been following my blog for some time you know I love giveaways, so I will be giving away a free copy of my new resource to one of my blog followers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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PUT SOME MAGIC IN YOUR ART LESSONS

September 4, 2016, 9:27 pm

≫ Next: "Budburra's Garden", "I'm a Hungry Dinosaur" and a freebie

≪ Previous: "The Cow Tripped Over the Moon" and a giveaway

I am so pleased to welcome by Sarah Zunker (Prep Teacher in Sunny Queensland) as my guest blogger this week. Sarah is a member of the Australian Prep Teachers' FaceBook group and after I read her post on FaceBook, I invited her to share further via my blog as I was so impressed with the work she has been doing with her Prep class (5 year olds) and directed drawing.

The Magic Hat…The Magic Hat… It moved like this… It moved like that!

When I opened my classroom curriculum box I was excited to see the Mem Fox classic ‘The Magic Hat’. I knew I didn’t want to do the typical paper hat activity to accompany our Literacy lessons so I set to work thinking of how I could challenge my Preppies to create some quality art.

I decided on a directed drawing lesson using pen and paint. I promise that if you give this lesson a go, you will be amazed with the results and be so proud of your clever, little artists.

After you’ve read the book have a discussion around proportion. The wizard is giant size and the town looks really small in comparison.

When you plan out your artwork think about the amount of space the wizard will take up and trace that space with your finger. Now think about where the hill is going to go. Use your finger to trace a line where the hill will be.

Now we’re ready to start the drawing process. We start at his feet and work our way up to his hat. Follow the order below, stopping to check that everyone is ready before you start the next step.

1. Draw the hill.

2. Draw his shoes then his legs.

3. Draw the bottom of his gown.

4. Draw the sides of his gown up to his armpits.

5. Now it gets a bit tricky… Draw his head and beard.

6. Ok time to join up his head and body. Draw his arms, hands and wand.

7. Add his hat and some magic coming out of his hands.

8. Draw a couple of tiny trees on the hill.

Ok we’re ready for the painting process.

Use COTTON BUDS to:

1. Dot-paint his gown in a rainbow of colours. Use a dabbing or stamping technique for this.

2. Paint red and yellow stripes on his socks.

3. Paint his hat red and the wand yellow. Don’t forget to paint the magic coming out of the wand and his hands.

Finish with a green paint wash for the hill.

Here’s how to make a paint wash…

1. Put about a teaspoon of regular paint into a paint cup
2. Add about 3/4 cup water
3. Mix really well with a thick paint brush

*Do a little test sheet and if the paint is not transparent enough just add more water and mix again.

The finishing touch is to mount the artwork onto card to create a border. Go ahead and give it a go… I promise they will amaze you with the results!

RESOURCES:

A3 PAPER

BLACK MARKERS OR FELT PENS

PAINT (red, green, yellow, blue, pink, orange)

COTTON BUDS

THICK BIG PAINT BRUSH (for paint wash)

You can use the same technique and resources to create a Vase of Flowers artwork that is sure to impress! All of the children followed the same directions, yet every artwork is so unique. See the images left and below:

Thanks so much Sarah - your students should be so proud of their wonderful art work :)

I will be emailing you a couple of resources from my TPT store that are based around "The Magic Hat" as a thank you :) The Magic Hat rhyming words games and Hat Snap.

Have a terrific week everyone :)

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"Budburra's Garden", "I'm a Hungry Dinosaur" and a freebie

September 5, 2016, 7:25 pm

≫ Next: A new resource for "Sugarplum and the Unicorn" by Julia Donaldson

≪ Previous: PUT SOME MAGIC IN YOUR ART LESSONS

Recently I blogged about picture books that have been recently published that feature food. You can read that blog post here. I will post a section of my review of "Budburra's Garden" for those who missed the previous post:

What's terrific about this picture book is that it introduces children to different nutritious foods (fruit and vegetables) according to their colours. It is also terrific to use as a mentor text to reinforce learning about adjectives. It introduces students to traditional fruits and vegetables, but also traditional Australian Indigenous foods. The picture book includes information about the bush tucker found in "Budburra's Garden" at the back of the book and recipes to "Colour Yourself Healthy". I really think this is a powerful picture book with potential to be used on many levels.

I created a FREE resource to support this picture book. You can download it by clicking on any of the images about "Budburra's Garden" in this blog post.

Another terrific title that would fit in with this text set is "I'm a Hungry Dinosaur" by Janeen Brian. It was a Notable picture book in the 2016 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Children's Book Week Awards.

You can check out my resource to support this picture book by clicking on the image above or here.

Have a terrific week everyone :)

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A new resource for "Sugarplum and the Unicorn" by Julia Donaldson

October 10, 2016, 6:33 pm

≫ Next: Australian Dinosaurs - with freebies and three giveaways

≪ Previous: "Budburra's Garden", "I'm a Hungry Dinosaur" and a freebie

I just love text sets and I just love Julia Donaldson's picture books, so when I came across "Sugarplum and the Unicorn" I just could not wait to make a reading comprehension resource for it. You can preview that resource by clicking on the red hyperlink under the title, or here.

Below is a set of texts that would work well together as companion texts. My reading comprehension resource for "Thelma the Unicorn" by Aaron Blabey has been really popular and one of my best sellers. You can preview it here.

All three picture books have similar themes of wishing to be something more than you are.

You can view a book trailer for "Thelma the Unicorn"here. You can view the author, Aaron Blabey reading the book aloud here. He is one of my favourite Australian picture book authors :)

This is an overview of my reading comprehension resource for "Thelma the Unicorn".

Other titles that might work well in this text set include:
"Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great" by Bob Shea

"Bob is a Unicorn"

"Uni the Unicorn" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (song based on the book)

These picture books are terrific for helping children realise the importance of accepting yourself as you are, which is an important life skill.

Teacher reference:

"I Believe in Unicorns: Classroom Experiences for Activating Creative Thinking" by Bob Stanish. Has anyone used this book to support creative and critical thinking?

Can you think of any other picture books that would fit into this text set? If so, please share in the comments.

Have a great week everyone...

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