• Orientation: Rules & Expectations - We talk about school and library rules and expectations and good choices.

I usually read one or two of the following titles:

• David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon

• David Goes to School by David Shannon

• No, David! by David Shannon

• Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard

• The Pigeon HAS to Go to School by Mo Willems

• We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

• How to Take Care of Books - I teach a three-part series to lay the groundwork for their first checkout!  

• How to Choose a Book

• How to Check Out a Book:  Kindergarten students will check out for the first time during the week of September 29th!

I read from the following titles:

• Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss

• Clifford's Puppy Days by Norman Bridwell

• I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems

• Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard & James Marshall

• Read It, Don't Eat It! by Ian Schoenherr 

• Stella Louella's Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst

• We Are in A Book by Mo Willems

• We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

• Identifying Story Elements & Reading the Pictures -  To connect with the Kindergarten Stories unit (CKLA), I read Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson.  Student identify story elements, and we compare the story to the original Goldilocks version.  We also talk about "reading the pictures" to see what information the author/illustrator gives us in the pictures that is not in the text.   I'll also show and tell students about our "green dot books" - early readers that they can check out.

• Comparing Story Elements - We will read 2 different versions of the Japanese folktale, Peach Boy.  Students will compare the versions I read with the one they have heard in class with their Stories unit and draw and write one similarity and one difference.  

I read from the following titles:

• Peach Boy by William H. Hooks

• Tasty Baby Belly Buttons by Judy Sierra

• AES: Authors Engaging Students -  We are participating in the AES (Authors Engaging Students) program that is a collaboration between GCS Library Media Services and Greensboro Bound.  Classes will start learning about authors Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Patrice Gopo.

I read from the following titles:

• • • Cats in Construction Hats by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

    • Cake vs. Pie by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

    • All the Places We Call Home by Patrice Gopo

    • Ripening Time by Patrice Gopo

• North Carolina Children's Book Award (NCCBA) & Stations - I introduce students to the stations they will be rotating through in the coming months.  Each class period, I read-aloud from one or two of this year's North Carolina Book Award candidates, students rate the books from 1 to 5 stars, and then they work on a designated station with their group members.  Near the end of March, students will vote for their favorite book, and I will submit our votes to the North Carolina Library Association's Youth Services Section who will tally up the winner!

Stations:

• Magnetic Tiles:  Students use their creativity and problem-solving skills to build different structures.  They can free-build or try to build one of the suggested structures.

• STEM Straws and Connectors:  Students use their creativity and problem-solving skills to build different structures.  They can free-build or try to build one of the suggested structures.

• KEVA Planks:  Students use their creativity and problem-solving skills to build different structures from these wooden maple planks that each measure 5/16" x 7/8" x 4 5/8".

• Puppets:  Students can read with puppets, create a puppet play, and/or create a book about a puppet or to read to a puppet.

• Choice Station:  Students will select an activity that they will enjoy from the choices given.  Not everyone can work on the same choice.  They will need to have more than one backup choice.  Choices include:  Reading/checkout, cup-stacking, kitchen/restaurant/grocery store (plastic foods, baskets, menus), coloring (collaborative coloring poster, individual coloring sheet), bookmarks (coloring or create-your-own), arts & crafts (various supplies)  Additional choices may be added based on student input.