Two great champions of reading for pleasure return to remind us that it really is an important thing to do – and that libraries create literate citizens
Words and Pictures by Grant Snider
Check out these memes about overdue library books that will make you laugh out loud. We've also included three library display inspiration to help you sk for library books to be returned.
Reading > everything. Especially spring cleaning.
Are you studying ancient history this year? If so you should check out this Ancient Sumeria booklist and look for the books at your library.
The PBS cartoon "Arthur" that aired when we were kids had some real life lessons to teach us, and we never really appreciated it.
Sarah Andersen knows what it is to be a bookworm. Here are 3 times she nailed it in her webcomic.
Featuring hilarious library puns, funny literary jokes, and more.
You know when you get home from vacation and have to get back to regular life but your brain is still in vacation mode? Well, even if you don't know...I've now described to you whats happened to my brain. Hopefully I can kick things back into full gear soon. In the mean time, I'm going to distract myself further with some more hilarious library memes. (See volume 1 and volume 2 if you also want further distraction) Because obviously, this is the best solution. And in case you're thinking all these memes are simply for enjoyment...don't forget! You can make a library display out of anything (mwahaha)
Lots of free coloring pages and original craft projects, crochet and knitting patterns, printable boxes, cards, and recipes.
This will open your eyes.
The monumental Musaeum of Alexandria was famous for its legendary library. The tragic story of the building’s destruction continues to be a painful one for people who love ancient history and literature. So what treasures were lost in its devastating fire?
Okay, I have a new favorite reading lesson-- my asking questions lesson! When I got a chance to work with Scholastic last spring, they gave us a bag of swag that any teacher would love, and it included the book This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, which is perfect for teaching a reading lesson about asking questions! (I’ve linked it to Amazon here, but I also highly recommend finding it through Scholastic Reading Club :) On my CRAFT board, we list "Ask questions before, during, and after reading" as a reading comprehension skill (although some of my kids think it belongs under Response to Text, so we concluded that it could go as either!). This is a really important skill for some of my struggling readers, because some of them never question what they read. They are just reading to get it over with! (oops- took this picture before we added it!) Asking questions before reading gives them a purpose for reading and gets them engaged. When they are looking for the answer, students read more intently. Asking questions during reading makes sure they are thinking about what they read. Asking questions after reading causes them to be reflective about the author's choices and sometimes helps them draw a personal opinion about the text. Asking questions is a great place to start students’ thinking while reading! I love teaching questioning towards the beginning of the year, because this is a gateway skill to deeper comprehension. Asking questions about the text isn't too hard to do (especially with a well-chosen text!), so it helps to build the habit of thinking as they read. It's also a great way to get students started in their reading response journals because it's a pretty clear-cut type of response that most of my students feel confident trying. I used this book with my 2nd grade group and all the way up to my 5th grade group. It's great for teaching this skill because the title and cover instantly intrigue them. Kids wonder, "Whose hat is it?" and "Why is a fish wearing a hat?" I tell them we are going to look for the answers to our questions as we read, and we start the read-aloud. As we read, I stop every few pages and ask the students to whisper to their partner something they are wondering about the story. Then, I choose a few students to tell their questions out loud. (I get 100% participation this way, and more confident kids who are willing to share!) We keep track of our questions on a chart like this- both adding new questions, and putting check marks next to our questions that get answered. (My markers are dying—ugh!) Of course, the chart I made for my partner turned out even better. (Isn't that always how it works?) She actually laminated it so she can use it again sometime (which is such a great idea, especially for us as reading specialists who might teach a version of this lesson to each grade level!). This book also makes a great review for "the three ways to read a book," or using the pictures as readers to help us understand. (Actually, you could use this book to teach that lesson, too, but I just used it as a review.) The book is being told from the little fish's point of view, and so the text only tells us so much. If students don't read the pictures, they won't know the entire plot- and they won't enjoy the book nearly as much! (Here, the text tells us that little fish doesn't think the crab will tell anyone where he went... but the illustration tells us that the crab does tell!) The younger kids, especially, love "catching" the discrepancies between the text and the pictures. At the end of the book, the text stops and we just see illustrations. Some kids are always shocked by this! And, immediately, they all have opinions about what happened to the little fish. Some think he was eaten, some think he just gave the hat back, and some think he ran away. The ending of the book is left open and never actually tells us what happens, and so my students are always left with questions about the book after we finish it! (See why I think This Is Not My Hat is such a perfect picture book to teach questioning?) With the older students, we went a little deeper and discussed the author's choice to leave the story open-ended, and debated whether or not we liked it as readers. (Reviews were very polar in my group-- most kids either loved it or hated it!) The next day during another mini-lesson, I read aloud a different book (usually tailored more towards the group's grade level) and let students practice asking their own questions along the way in their reader's response journals. Eve Bunting's books tend to work really well for Asking Questions lessons (like The Wednesday Surprise), but I also love The Lotus Seed and Chicken Sunday for teaching asking questions. And don't forget to throw in a non-fiction book-- sometimes these are the most important ones in which students need to use the comprehension strategy of "ask questions!" Once we've practiced as a whole group and shared with our reading partners, I'm able to look through their notebooks and make sure they seem like they're getting it. (Glancing through their reading notebooks- even if you don't take a grade yet- is so important, because this is the perfect time to lead a strategy group for those students who need some extra support). From here, I like to let students use Post-It notes to practice this strategy in whatever they're reading independently. I also try to fit in a little time at the computer lab (or at a computer center) using the amazing site Into The Book. If you haven't used this free site, you are missing out! For each reading comprehension skill, there are videos, a song, and an in practice activity. Usually, there are at least two, so you can do one together (especially if you have a SmartBoard or something similar) and have students complete the other independently. Their questioning lesson is a great way to guide student practice of using this strategy to actually help them comprehend. A good list of mentor text suggestions: http://www.mauryk12.org/literacy/reading%20mentor%20texts.htm A great list of resources, including some sample lesson plans for teachers: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html#questioning Share your tips in the comments below or on my Facebook page here! I would love to know your favorite books for teaching kids to ask questions and what other strategies you use.
Folktales, Fables, Fairytales, and Tall Tales come up at some point throughout the year with all grade levels from Kinder to 5th grade. Over the years, I’ve found some absolutely WONDERFUL anchor charts that helped me create a visual reminder for my students. Here are some of my favorites! These... Read more
...is a sane librarian. Right? Right. So I'm going to post my favorite, hilarious book memes today. Because, yeah, Summer Reading is right ...
If you would like to nominate Incidental Comics as a "Best Webcomic of 2011," you can go here to voice your support. No pressure! Thanks to all my high school English teachers for providing the deeply ingrained knowledge behind this comic. And a very special thanks to my proofreaders at the Kansas City Star, who put up with my three consecutive misspellings of "Onomatopoeia." And finally: English teachers and students, past and current - you can get a poster of this comic for your classroom or reading nook here.
Thank you to Diane for submitting this fun book report poster. It’s legal size (paper) worksheet and is great for lower grades (or as an easy project for upper grades). Great end of the year …
Bookworms can relate to this pet peeve.
TOP TEN TUESDAY January 20, 2015 It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s topic was a freebie so I chose: My Top Ten Fantasy Books (s…
Educate yourself on "deceitful mouths," "selfish ears" and "gross, sensual chins."
Check out these fun activities from Award Winning Author/Illustrator Jarett Lerner to do at home or in the classsroom. Includes comics, drawing, and more.
Some bookworms are created; others are born.
“Halfway Down” (A Singable Poem)
The great part about the Discworld series is that every single book is a standalone novel; they’re just all set...
22 Just Right and Funny Memes Ha. *~artsy~*It's the dude from the math problems. Ew.I can't handle this! Lean...He got it. Sigh.REALLY?Oh kid, we see you.
Such a loss. 📚😭
If you're looking for a reading challenge, here it is: fifty books to read before you die.
A chart from Macmillan Education lists 10 English idioms that use the word ‘book’.
