Kids love doing reader’s theatre. It can get noisy and chaotic, but they’re excited about reading and practicing fluency! Plus, my library is noisy and chaotic more often than not. I like my kids to be excited!

I did this lesson with my 3rd graders, since I did reader’s theatre with them last year and I knew they’d be pumped. I have lots of reader’s theatre books, but this lesson came from my favorite:

This is the second Read! Perform! Learn! book, and I love them both. They’re perfect for using in the library because the scripts are adapted from books. First I read the story so they can enjoy the illustrations and understand the plot, then they get to be the characters during reader’s theatre. This week I used the lesson that goes with Even Firefighters Hug Their Moms by Christine MacLean.

This is a cute story about a little boy who likes to pretend that he has different jobs (firefighter, police officer, astronaut, garbage truck driver, etc.). He’s too busy at all of his “jobs” to stop and give his mom a hug. The story itself is very repetitive, and gets extremely boring if you read is as many times as I do with 12 third grade classes. It makes a really great reader’s theatre script, though. The repetition works well for the kids when they’re reading their parts. I especially love the Read! Perform! Learn! selections because they select books with lots of onomatopoeia and put those into the script for the role of the “chorus.” This allows EVERY student to have a part, even if it’s a chorus role that’s shared with others. Even though the chorus is a smaller role that’s part of a group, it’s great for struggling readers because they have support from others but still get to participate and be proud.

Library Club is up and on its way. I’m teaching them how to check books in and out so they can help during their class time. They take their job so seriously — it’s so cute! They’re excited and working hard to learn how to help in the library.

I can’t believe how quickly this week has gone by. Tomorrow’s Friday! Woohoo!

Happy Monday!

Today I was going to start doing this C25K (Couch to 5K) program, which is an app for the iPhone that a friend recommended. But I don’t think my first day of a new running regemine should be done in the rain, so I’ll wait. I’m definitely going to do it soon, though, since I paid $2.99 for the app.

I’m going to write about this week’s 2nd Grade lesson today, and I’ll write about the 3rd Grade lesson another day this week. I’m posting this one first because I’m reading one of my favorite children’s books ever (okay, so I have a lot of favorites, but this is one of them)! If you have never read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, or any of the other “If You Give a…” books, then you are missing out. Laura Numeroff has created this precious series of books that’s great for teaching sequencing and cause and effect. I use it to teach a little bit of previewing, and we play the Mouse Memory Game after. Now that I have my fancy-schmancy document camera, this lesson is even better.

I start off by introducing the book, author, illustrator, etc. Many of the kids have at least heard of one of these “If You Give a…” books, so they get excited about the book. I let them preview the pictures before I read, and I ask them what they think will happen based on just the illustrations. My favorite is the illustration where the mouse realizes he’s thirsty again…the kids always think he’s choking or “actin’ crazy” like on of them said today. Then I go back and read the story to them. It’s a quick one, so the previewing helps it really sink in for them. And it must sink in so we can play the Mouse Memory Game. They get a paper and have to list all of the things the mouse asked for that they can possibly think of. Then we go over all of the things he asked for, which they really get into. The person with the most correct answers wins a pencil. My kids last year loved this lesson, so I was really excited about re-using it this year. Thankfully, this is a story that I never get sick of!

If you have a child in your life and they do not own this book, then you need to go and buy it for them immediately. I gave my niece If You Give a Cat a Cupcake along with a play cupcake kit for her birthday. She’ll be getting If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for Christmas this year, along with many others.

Now it’s time for me to do some grown-up reading. I’m three chapters in to Fearless Fourteen, and I’m already hooked!