On the Table

I only have FIVE more days of school to go! I cannot believe it. I am torn. I am pretty much WORN out and need a good dose of summer relaxing, but I am going to MISS these kids soooooooooooo much! I have never had a group of kids so hungry for love and attention as these. I get about a million hugs (and sometimes KISSES) a day and I might go into withdrawals without my daily dose of being NEEDED so badly. Also, I am going to miss the excitement of our days and the fun that is involved with being a part of the learning environment. The planning and preparing of fun activities for the kids to do is one of the reasons I love teaching. I am also going to miss sharing my favorite stories with the kids. This week, I set up the table twice. We had a fun little "color review" day, so I put out my favorite color stories. We have also been wrapping up our unit on animals, so I set out some of the best (and most entertaining) animal stories that I had on my shelf. Here is what was on the table this week. . .
AMAZING ANIMALS
There are a billion, gazillion stories about animals, but I wanted to choose stories that really got the kids involved. All of these stories create laughing moments but also get the kids talking. "What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?" is a really fun guessing book that also fills you in on some of the crazy facts about how animals can do amazing things. Super cute artwork in that one too. Then, two of my favorite "dog" stories, "Officer Buckle and Gloria" and "Just Dog" remind us why dogs are man's best friend. I love how "Counting Crocodiles" gets the kids counting and then, "Chicks and Salsa", just a very funny story.
COLOR BOOKS
"The Crayon Box that Talked" doubles as a sweet story about "team work" and "A Color of HIs Own" is a good story about being happy with who you are. Also, you can't teach kids about "mixing colors" without "White Rabbit's Color Book." I also LOVE how "My Crayons Talk" introduces kids to the idea that colors can evoke feelings.