Tacky the Penguin

Tacky the Penguin is one of my favorite stories for winter! He's just so loveable! I love how he is true to himself and doesn't care what others think of him.

I found this awesome professionally done video read-aloud. The sound effects add a lot to the story.

I also created a book study for Tacky the Penguin. You can find it it my TPT store HERE. It is full of fun literature-based activities! A FREEBIE from the unit is included below. :)

I also included it in my Helen Lester Bundle. If you already own this bundle, you can redownload it and get the Tacky unit for free. It now contains 3 book studies and 3 scoot activities. You can check it out HERE. 

I am a huge fan of integrating literary texts with informational texts. My unit for Tacky would blend beautifully with this non-fiction study on Penguins. It has text in 3 formats: real-world photos, colorful clipart, and a line art student booklet. You can see it HERE. 

I hope this freebie from Tacky the Penguin will be useful to you! You can download or print it through Dropbox by clicking HERE or on the picture below. 

Enjoy! Be true to yourself! 

Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella FREEBIE

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Do you ever feel like Cinderella? I may not be covered in ashes and soot, but I do go home from school covered in ink smudges and feeling exhausted. In honor of all of the hard work you do each day, I just uploaded a new freebie to my store.

I love all of the different versions of Cinderella stories. I have activities for most of them in my fairy tale unit that's available {HERE}.   When I wrote that unit, I had never read Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella. It is absolutely delightful! You can grab a free comprehension activity for the book {HERE}.

Jan Brett's work is masterful --as always! She used many breeds of chickens in her illustrations. She even traveled to Russia to study their architecture and traditional clothing. Jan used both of those to create a marvelous authentic setting for her chickens. 

This video from Jan Brett's YouTube channel is fantastic! She will show you the live chickens that she used as models for her characters. She explains lots of interesting facts about the chickens and her trip to Russia. If you are interested, you can also have your students follow Jan through a directed drawing of Cinders. I hope you enjoy it! 

Authors in the Spotlight 3

I had such fun researching the authors in my latest update to "Authors in the Spotlight"!

Did you know that:

• Dr. Seuss was the editor who approved the publishing of Stan and Jan Berenstain's first children's book.
• Norman Bridwell originally wanted to name his dog character Tiny, but his wife disagreed and asked him to name the dog after her childhood imaginary friend, Clifford, instead.
• Beverly Cleary is still alive and living in California. She will be 100 years old next April!
• H.A. and Margret Rey were German Jews living in Paris, France when they heard that the Nazis were about to invade. They fled on makeshift bicycles. They carried only warm coats, a bit of food, and the illustrated manuscript for a book that would be published in 1941. That book was none other than Curious George. They escaped Paris only a few hours before it was overtaken! 

These fun facts and many more are in the newest version of my TPT product "Authors in the Spotlight". This set includes information on Hans Christian Andersen, Stan and Jan Berenstain, Judy Blume, Norman Bridwell, Marc Brown, Beverly Cleary, Steven Kellogg, Arnold Lobel, Robert Munsch, and H.A. & Margret Rey. 

If you have already purchased this set, go to your My Purchases Page on TPT and download the update for FREE! Click the picture above to see the full project description. 

Authors in the Spotlight Update

As promised, I just finished updating my Authors in the Spotlight product. I added biographies, birthdays, and contact information for Lewis Carroll, Tomie dePaola, Julia Donaldson, Anne Fine, C.S. Lewis, Leo Lionni, Laura Numeroff, Barbara Park, Peter H. Reynolds, J.K. Rowling, Shel Silverstein, and E.B. White!  If you have already purchased this product, visit your My Purchases page on TPT to grab this new set for free! If you have not bought it yet, you can check it out {HERE}.

One of the authors in this set is Peter H. Reynolds who wrote The Dot. I found this nice read aloud/animated version online and thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Authors: Implementing Author Studies in the Classroom

Did you ever run through the library to see if your favorite book was on the shelf? Have you ever said, "Preorder? Yes, please!" to your computer screen? Then, chances are you have had a favorite author. Your students are no exception to this rule. Which books do they rush to grab from the book baskets or bookshelf during Read to Self time? You know which ones! That is why you stock up on those books when they are the $1 book in the Scholastic flyer or in a collection pack at Sam's Club. 

Would your students like to be introduced to more books by their favorite authors or even learn more about the life of the author? Maybe an author spotlight is a feature that you want to add to your classroom next year. It can be very easy to set up and maintain. Here is a quick example I created about Kevin Henkes with labeled instructions for implementing this idea in your room, too. 

Sorry this picture isn't cheerier. It is summer and this was taken in my home office. I refuse to step foot into the school building until August! :)

1. The chart paper I had at home isn't lined. So, I improvised by adding some printed words and clip art (Thanks, Melonheadz!)

2. I found a picture of Kevin Henkes through Google images and printed it out.

3. I added his biography from my new Authors in the Spotlight pack.

4. I scanned some of my book covers and printed them out.

5. I placed all of the books by Kevin Henkes that I had here at home in a basket. 

6. I added a touch of whimsy with a stuffed character. I ordered this Penny doll this week because my RtI students are starting out the year reading Penny and Her Song.

7. Kids love choices! So, each red folder contains a different activity from my new pack. Students can choose how they want to respond to what they read. Find out more below! 

I just added this set of biographies and activities to my TPT store. The activities included are completely generic and can be used for any author study. Right now, the pack features biographies (color and b/w) for Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Doreen Cronin, Roald Dahl, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Kevin Henkes, Ezra Jack Keats, Ruth Krauss, Beatrix Potter, David Shannon, Mo Willems, and Margaret Wise-Brown. If you are interested in this pack, you may want to purchase it soon. I will be adding more biographies to the set when the artist is finished creating more images and the price will increase. If you buy it now, you can download any updated versions for free!

Here is a sneak peek at one of the activities in this set! Many thanks to my sweet soon to be second grader for his help on this one! It is summer after all, but he was a good sport about it! I did let him dictate his sentences though. ;)

Which author's books are a must have in your classroom library? I know that my room couldn't function without the works of so many talented authors! It is hard to choose a favorite!