Starting With Stories: Engaging Multiple Intelligences Through
Children’s Books by Pam Schiller and Pat Phipps
This book covers 100 picture books, some classics (Blueberries for
Sal) and some new releases (Fancy Nancy). Each book has a summary,
learning literacy ideas, special activities, learning activities,
further reading suggestions, and extension thinking questions. Some
reproducibles.
Sing! Play! Create! :Hands-on Learning for 3- to 7- Year-Olds
by Lisa Boston
Enrichment activities to extend lessons or gatherings or just for
rainy day fun are presented in a colorful format. Clever craft
ideas, songs, and games are suggested under the broad themes of “At
the Pond”, “In My Garden”, “At the Zoo”, and “On the Farm”. Some
reproducibles.
Poetry Aloud Here!: Sharing Poetry with Children in the Library
by Sylvia M. Vardell
Ideas for promoting, presenting, and sharing poetry are included as
well as Poet Profiles of several well-known poets, a large
bibliography of poetry books, and websites and lists of popular
poets.
26 Read & Write
Mini-Books: Beginning Sounds From A to Z by Nancy I.
Sanders
A little 8-page book for each letter of the alphabet can be
reproduced from this book. The short story uses both the long and
short sounds of vowels and includes pictures for context clues.
How to Do “The
Three Bears” with Two Hands: Performing with Puppets
by Walter Minkel
This book covers how to use different types of puppets and tricks
for successful puppet performances. The scripts of five puppet plays
are included.
Picture Books
Plus: 100 Extension Activities in Art, Drama, Music, Math, and
Science by Sue McCleaf Nespeca and Joan B. Reeve
Specific picture books are mentioned for each activity as well as
materials needed, procedures, recommendations, and additional
extensions. A wealth of ideas!
Collaborative
Bridges: Me, Myself & You by Pat Miller (K-2)
Collaborative Bridges: It’s Alive
by Pat Miller (K-2)
Collaborative Bridges: People, Places &
Things by Aileen Kirkham (3-5)
Each book has six units that contain a library lesson and a
classroom lesson and bridge activities that extend the lessons
either in the library or the classroom.
Transition Time:
Let’s Do Something Different! by Jean Feldman
Many terrific and creative ideas are presented for successful
transitions for morning arrival, circle time, cleaning up, lining
up, settling down, changing activities, waiting, and ending the day
using fingerplays, songs, chants, games, flannel boards, and much
more.
It’s in the Bag!
20 Complete Literature Bags and Centers by Karen A.
Moran
Each of the 20 lessons features one book with skills, comprehension
stimulators, word challenges, fluency builders and reproducibles to
assemble a center or bag for grades Pre-K to 2nd grade.
More Simply Super
Storytimes: Programming Ideas for Ages 3-6 by Marie
Castellano Boyum
Thirteen themed storytimes are presented with activities,
fingerplays, songs, snack ideas, name tag ideas, props, gross motor
activities, fine motor activities, math & science activities and a
wealth of books to share. Reproducibles included.
Big Ideas in Small
Packages: Using Picture Books with Older Readers by
Molly Pearson
The five units of humor, science, history, biographies, and art and
poetry have many picture books listed in each subject. Most of the
picture books have a short summary and some have discussion
questions and activities listed to go along with the book.
Follow-the-Directions Art Activities: 20 Easy Seasonal Projects With
Step-by-Step Instructions and Templates That Give Kids Practice in
Reading and Following Directions by Teresa Cornell
and Amy Weaver
Easy step-by-step directions are given showing how to assemble 20
clever seasonal art activities for grades K – 2. Reproducibles.
40 Wonderful Blend
& Digrah Poems: A Delightful Collection of Poems With an
Easy-to-Use Lesson Plan to Help Young Learners Build Key Phonics
Skills compiled by Shelley Grant and Dana Haddad
Each of the 20 blends and digraphs have 2 poems, each accompanied by
an illustration, which the sound demonstrate the sound. For example,
the digraph sh has the tongue twister “She Sells Seashells” and
“Shirley Shepherd”. Reproducibles. K-2
Money Math
Learning Centers: 10 Easy Centers With Skill-Building Activities
That Teach Counting, One-to-One Correspondence, Sorting, Addition,
and Subtraction – and Meet the NCTM Standards by
Shirley Barulich
Each center idea includes skills taught, a note to parents, what
you’ll need, class discussion guidelines, setting up the center
instructions, center time directions, enrichment activities, and
literature links. Reproducibles including play money. K-2
Great States Quilt
Math: 50 Reproducible Activities That Motivate Kids to Practice
Multi-Digit Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division,
Fractions and Decimals – and Learn Facts About the 50 States
by Cindi Mitchell
Each state page includes state facts, a picture of the state flag, a
state challenge story problem and the quilt puzzle and key for color
coding it. Reproducibles. Grades 3-5
Circle-Time Poetry
Around the Year: Delightful Poems With Activities That Help Young
Children Build Phonemic Awareness, Oral Language, and Early Reading
Skills – All Year Long!
By Jodi Simpson
Twenty seasonal poems are presented with suggestions for introducing
the poem, talking about the poem, working with words, shared
writing, extending the poem and literature links. Reproducibles.
PreK-1
The BIG BOOK of
Pre-K Learning Centers: Activities, Ideas & Strategies That Meet the
Standards, Build Early Concepts & Prepare Children for Kindergarten
by Diane C. Ohanesian
Each of the five sections of the book contains center ideas in math,
science, literacy, art and dramatic play. Each center lists the
materials needed, the skills and concepts, variations, how to, and
extending the activity ideas. About 90 centers are presented. Grades
Pre-K
Great Glyphs All
About Me: 12 Skill-Building Activities That Motivate Kids to
Collect, Display, and Use Data – and Connect to the NCTM Standards
by Patricia Daly and Teresa Cornell
Each of the 12 activities explains how to use the glyph, extensions
in math and language arts and literature links. Reproducibles.
Grades 1-3
Poetry
Comprehension Skills (Five books for grades 2, 3, 4,
5, and 6)
Twenty lessons are correlated to state standards and include
activities, creative writing suggestions, how to introduce each
poem, lists of difficult vocabulary words as well as ideas for
fluency practice. Reproducible pages.
Hands-On Archaeology: Real-Life Activities
for Kids by John R. White, Ph.D.
A collection of activities for grades 4 – 10 that allows students to
actually perform a dig, learn a variety of skills required for
collecting data, and appreciate their roles as “Stewards of the past.”
Reproducible pages.
Detective Club: Mysteries for Young Thinkers
by Judy Leimbach and Sharon Eckert
Aimed at grades 2 through 4, this book has six mysteries containing
several puzzles each. The majority of the puzzles are logic puzzles that
use a grid for the solution. Also included are decoding messages,
sorting information, and using inferential thinking. Reproducible pages.
Mystery Science: Case of the Missing Lunch by Connie
Gatlin
Third through fifth graders will love solving this mystery using
chemistry experiments, analysis of the crime scene and forming opinions
about the suspects’ alibis. The mystery takes between ninety minutes to
two hours. Reproducible pages.
Understanding Advertising by Katherine Howe and Judith
Edelstein
Lesson plans, extensions, and reproducible worksheets will give students
the information they need to become well-informed consumers as well as
providing tools for creating their own advertisements. Grades 4-6.
On Trial: A Criminal Trial Simulation – The
Case of the Big Bad Wolf by Margaret Schweitzer
Students will conduct their own non-scripted trial performing opening
statements, calling and questioning witnesses, and giving closing
arguments to get a better understanding of our court system. Grades 4-6.
Real Life Math Mysteries: A Kids’ Answer to
the Question, “What Will We Ever Use This For?”
by Marya
Washington Tyler
Real life story problems that illustrate how math is all around us.
Solutions are presented in the back of the book. Grades 4-6.
Writing Through the Year: Building Confident Writers One Month at a Time
by Sandy Woolley
Each month includes sentences of important dates, journal writing
topics, a particular writing skill, and vocabulary development skills.
The lessons are divided by grade levels from first to sixth grades.
Bringing Mysteries Alive for Children and Young Adults
by
Jeanette Larson
This book has great ideas for integrating mysteries into the
curriculum as well as programming ideas for ages 2 to 12. It also
includes an annotated bibliography of resources and mystery books, a
chapter on mystery series, and a chapter on defining the mystery genre.
Little Hands Celebrate America!: Learning about the U.S.A.
through Crafts & Activities by Jill Frankel Hauser
Divided into four sections, this book features crafts, information,
and extension activities for patriotic symbols, geographic landmarks,
historical landmarks in time and American holidays.
Teaching Kids to Read for Dummies by Tracey Wood, Med
From the "For Dummies" series, this book gives tips on preparing your
child, building words from letters and sounds, understanding sight
words, choosing reading books and much more.
Transition Tips and Tricks for Teachers by Jean Feldman
Nine chapters of terrific activities, tips and tricks to make clean up,
lining up, rainy days, circle times, and starting or ending the day more
fun.
6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades
by Ruth Culham
6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide Grades 3 and Up by
Ruth Culham
Looking at actual examples of children's writing, teachers learn to
evaluate what these writers need and then teach them ways to improve.
The books contain scoring guides, trait definitions, trait-specific
lessons, activities and lots more to meet teacher's needs.
Mind Sparklers: Book 1 for Grades K-3
by Robert E. Myers, Ed.D.
Myers displays a wide assortment of activities to spark creative
thinking using open-ended questions. Each activity is keyed to a subject
or subjects in the curriculum and coded to Torrance’s creative thinking
abilities. Reproducible pages.
Do You Know the Muffin Man?
By Pam Schiller and Thomas Moore
Songs, chants and rhymes are used as a springboard for literacy
activities, learning centers and outdoor play or music and movement
activities. Geared to the preschooler, the book contains 69 lessons.
First Time Analogies: Grades K-2 by Dianne Draze and
Analogies for Beginners: Grades 1-3 by Lynne Chatham
Analogies require the ability to see relationships, think flexibly, and
exercise creative and analytical thinking skills. The first book, First
Time Analogies, has pictorial and symbolic analogies so it can be used
with non- readers. Reproducible pages.
Can You Count in Greek?: Exploring Ancient Number Systems by
Judy Leimbach and Kathy Leimbach
Exercises using Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Hindu-Arabic,
Quinary, Binary, and Mayan number systems convey the underlying
principles of “more than,” “less than,” and “equal.” Reproducible pages.
I Believe in Unicorns by Bob Stanish (K-4)
An imaginative idea is presented on the left page of the book and on the
right page are “creative thinking skills”0, several “getting started”
ideas, “upon completion” activities, and “what else” extensions.
Reproducible pages. 47 lessons.
Creative Writing:
Using Fairy Tales to Enrich Writing Skills by Teresa
Cannon Hackett (Grades 4-8)
Each of the 10 mini-lessons presents a literary concept, such as
figurative language, point of view, and adding suspense, which is then
applied to any fairy tale the student chooses to read. Reproducible
pages.
40 Reproducible Forms for the Writing Traits Classroom
by Ruth
Culham and Amanda Wheeler
Contains reproducible pages of checklists, graphic organizers, rubrics
and scoring sheets, planning and record keeping forms, and parent
communication tools to boost students writing skills using the seven
traits of writing.
101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children
by Abigail
Flesch Conners
The activities are divided into sections according to the instrument
played. Known melodies are put to different words pertaining to a
specific theme.
How to Help Your Child with Homework: The Complete Guide to Encouraging
Good Study Habits and Ending the Homework Wars
by Jeanne Shay
Schumm, Ph.D.
Each of the eleven chapters deals with an area of homework beginning
with “Getting Started” and moving through different subjects, such as
spelling, reading, and foreign languages. Advice on using technology and
playing games with your child are covered as well. Some reproducibles
included.
The Giant Encyclopedia of Learning Center Activities for Children 3 to
6: Over 600 Activities Created by Teachers for Teachers
edited
by Kathy Charner, Maureen Murphy, and Jennifer Ford
Beginning with ideas for Learning Center organization, the book proceeds
to list 47 different themes each having many suggested activities to go
with that topic. Some of the themes include: Barber Shop & Beauty Salon,
Construction, Fire Station, Ice Cream Shop, Math, Picnic, Safari,
Sensory, Shoe Store, and Storytelling. The ideas in this book are a
collection of activities submitted by teachers from all over the United
States. Some reproducibles included.
Reading Games for Young Children by Jackie Silberg
“Each chapter in this book is full of fun and developmentally
appropriate games that are necessary for learning to read, including
games of alliteration, oral blending, writing, alphabet recognition,
letter sounds, word play, and rhyming. These games will develop a love
for language and joy of reading.” from Reading Games for Young Children,
page 9
Preschool Math by Bob Williams, Debra Cunningham, and Joy Lubawy
A wide assortment of math activities as well as extensions and
suggestions for documenting the child’s learning are presented in such
imaginative ways as art math, cooking up math, body math, and wet and
messy math to name a few.
Character Education
by Sharron L. McElmeel
A wonderful book which links specific children’s books to character
traits such as caring, humility, goalsetting, problem solving, and
perseverance. After each book discussion and activity notes are
included.
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
“After decades of research, scientists and child development experts
have come to a clear conclusion: Play is the best way for our children
to learn.”
