Real Books for

Real Readers

I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
by Mo Willems,
Hyperion Book, 2011

See below!

ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read! Now Available

ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read! by Nellie Edge book and CD features an innovative “Multisensory ABC and Phonics Immersion” strategy, creating an engaging and memorable way for children to learn letters and sounds and begin the reading process.

See video clip: Kindergartners Perform ABC Phonics

Purchase Online Now

Save on our most popular Nellie Edge Read and Sing Big Books™.

• I Can Read Colors
• I Have a Cat
• Mary Wore Her Red Dress
• I Love the Mountains
• The More We Get Together

See video clip: The More We Get Together

Nellie Edge Read and Sing Spanish Big Books™ Set

• Mi Rancho
• Los Pollitos
• De Colores
• Las Mañanitas
• Un Elefante Se Balanceaba
• PLUS: In Celebration of Spanish Folk Songs CD features Hector Pichardo singing

1. The Earth is Wet: Celebrate the Seasons with Poetry

The Earth is Wet The earth is wet. The sky is gray. It looks like it Will rain all day. –Karla Kuskin			Whether the Weather Whether the weather be fine Or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not. –Traditional
See Songs and Rhymes for a Rainy Day, A Nellie Edge Read and Sing Big Book™ in our Online Bookstore.

Yes, it rains in Oregon, and once again, we are hoping our inevitable April showers will bring May flowers! Consider greeting your children at the door with a small poem reflecting the weather or the changing seasons.

See article: Wondrous Words About the Weather: A Poetry Ritual
Parents as Partners: Learning the Language of Weather

April is Poetry Month!

Weave poetry into your ongoing science adventures. Here is our expanding collection for your Poetry "I Can Read" Notebook:

• April Showers Bring May Flowers: Weather in Poetry and Song
• The Science of Spring in Songs and Rhymes

When children memorize, recite, and perform the words of carefully selected poetry, they develop English language fluency with the most exquisite language we speak; they practice high-frequency words and phonics in an authentic context; and, most importantly, they develop a love for the sounds of language.

• Community is served when children learn things “by heart.”
• Owning wonderful words enlivens the art of speaking and writing.

What words do you carry in the corners of your mind from  your own childhood? Let's help our children paint words in their own memories that will last a lifetime!

• See Sample Child-Illustrated Pages: Small Poems of Some Delight Collection
• See Online Bookstore for Poetry Anthologies

2. Oviparous and Metamorphosis: Voracious Vocabulary

I am continually delighted when master kindergarten teachers integrate powerful vocabulary into the life of their classroom. 

Wise teachers build voracious vocabulary learning habits systematically, mindfully, and playfully throughout the curriculum.  Their classrooms are talking classrooms.  In those classrooms, rich vocabulary is introduced through authentic learning experiences and often reinforced with poetry and song—and the children in those classrooms become natural collectors of wonderful new words. SAT Vocabulary in kindergarten? Why not!

See article: Children are Voracious Vocabulary Learners
Parent as Partners Letter: Voracious Vocabulary Learners

"The Metamorphosis" Song

by Diane Bonica

Tune: Alouette

(Used with permission.)

Metamorphosis, meta, meta, morphosis.
Metamorphosis, it’s a word for change.
If you are a caterpillar, you’ll become a butterfly.
Caterpillar, butterfly!  Caterpillar, butterfly!
Metamorphosis, meta, meta, morphosis.
Metamorphosis, it’s a word for change.
(See entire song)

"Oviparous Song"

by Diane Bonica

Tune: Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song

(Used with permission.)

There's a word that we have heard and YOU should learn it too!
Oviparous!  Oviparous!  They lay eggs for you!
Oviparous…egg layers!  Oviparous…egg layers!
It is a word and we have heard it’s true, true, true!
So come along and join this song for all egg layers too.
Oviparous!  Oviparous!  They lay eggs for YOU!

• See our beginning collection of Spring Science Explorations in Poetry and Song: Bugs, Butterflies and the Earth
• See Diane Bonica’s Science Gallery on her award winning website!

(Diane Bonica, Master Teacher, will join us August 1-3 for our Summer Joyful Accelerated Literacy Seminars.  We are planning a Saturday Workshop in her amazing kindergarten in September 2011.)

3. Earth Day and April Science Connections

April 22 is date of the annual Earth Day. To celebrate Earth Day, Sharon Mattioli wrote this song, which became an illustrated class Big Book for shared learning around this important theme.

"I Love the Earth"

Tune: Eency Weency Spider

I love the Earth and everything that lives.
I love the flowers and beauty each one gives.
I love the animals and the fish at sea.
For I am a part of Mother Earth,
And it's a part of me.

• I love the Earth: “I Can Read” anthology page
• Explore the Earth Day Unit: Thank you, Terry Tunkel at Calico Cookie

Here is a great link on recycled inventions for your Earth Day theme or year-round Kindergarten Recycled Inventions.See photos and parent take-home letter from Mrs. Brittany Buchel's Kindergarten class.

Some Direct Links to Spring Science Themes

Oviparous Animals

• Testing the Strength of an Ordinary Egg
• Calico Cookie
• Little Giraffes

Insects

• Little Giraffes
• Mrs. Pohlmeyer’s Kinderpage

4. Real Books for Real Readers

There is nothing as motivational to a beginning reader as real library-type books with engaging illustrations and delightful language. While it may be helpful for emergent readers to experience the predictable security of a few leveled readers with a very limited text, children know the difference between these “practice reading texts” and real books, the kind they choose and can’t wait to take home and read with their family—over and over again. Often, the motivation alone pushes children to a higher level of reading fluency, because they delight in reading real literature again and again.

We found this to be true with our Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems. The children were so engaged with the hilarious stories that they loved reading them to at least three appreciative listeners, who signed their initials the on special Elephant and Piggie Book Club Bag that we created. See Photo Essay: The Elephant and Piggie Book Club. More details will be available in our For the Love of Literature Manual later this spring.

For a look at some of our other favorite “Real Books” for Beginning Readers, see our Children’s Literature Book Lists:

• Favorite Predictable Books: The Classics
• Favorite Predictable Books: New Titles
• Start The Year With "Just Right: I Can Read Books"

Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli. (Candlewick Press, 2009)

Big Cat, Small Cat by Ami Rubinger. (Abbeville Press, 2009)

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett. (Simon and Schuster, 2007)

5. Kindergarten Seminars from Coast to Coast: The Daily 5™, I teach K!, and Joyful Accelerated Kindergarten Literacy

Daily 5™ Kindergarten Workshops

We encourage all educators to spend time studying with Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (“the sisters”), join their amazing website, and read their insightful books.  You will love these workshops and the accompanying DVD!   See www.thedailycafe.com for workshop details.

• April 8, 2011 – San Antonio, Texas
• June 27, 2011 – Tacoma, Washington
• July 19, 2011 – Wrentham, Massachusetts
• July 25, 2011 – Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Michigan

Excerpts from The Daily 5™: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades, by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, Stenhouse, 2006.

If you are frustrated because you are spending too much time trying to manage students and not enough time offering the most rigorous and joyful literacy curriculum possible, then the structure of the Daily 5™ may be what you are looking for… 

…We begin asking ourselves, “What meaningful activities does research say my students should be engaging in that puts them in charge of their own learning, is self-motivating, is worthy of their time and effort, and will improve their skills?” 

I teach K! National Kindergarten Conference

July 11-14, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada

This annual conference is a fun, practical, and very high-energy experience!  Say “hi” to Dr. Jean and Shari Sloane. See I teach K!

Nellie Edge Joyful Accelerated Kindergarten Literacy Seminars

Portland, Oregon – August 1-3, 2011
Limited to 75 participants

These are the seminars that teachers tell us have transformed their classroom!

Unique Northwest Professional Development Opportunities

• Presented by award-winning kindergarten teachers
• All seminars held at the lovely Sheraton Airport Hotel Portland, Oregon
• Three beautiful professional literacy resource books and DVD included
• Professional Development Credits or WA clock hours available

See seminars details for more information.

Day 1 – August 1, 2011 – Portland, Oregon

Begin the Year with Best Practices in Joyful Accelerated Kindergarten Literacy: Proven Strategies that Produce Exceptional Gains presented by Nellie Edge

Day 2– August 2, 2011 – Portland, Oregon

Writing to Read in Kindergarten: Explore the Power of “Kid Writing”
presented by Julie Lay and Nellie Edge

Day 3 – August 3, 2011 – Portland, Oregon

Multisensory Teaching of Foundation Skills: Explore the Magic of Fingerspelling and Signing Songs presented by Diane Larson and Nellie Edge

“All of the best things I do come from Nellie Edge Seminars.”
~ Laura Stasack

6. April Salem Kindergarten Cadre Meeting and May 7th Workshop

Reading Workshop Within “The Daily 4,”Class Libraries, and the Salem-Keizer Comprehensive Literacy Model: How They All Fit Together

with Katie Nelson, Winter Curry, Janice Wurgler, and Nellie Edge
April 7, 2011 – 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

McKinley Elementary, 466 McGilchrist Street SE, Salem, OR 97302
School Phone: 503-399-3167

We will briefly address some of these questions:

• What Is Kindergarten-Friendly Handwriting and Why Is It Important?
• How Do We Use the “I” Chart for Nurturing Independence?
• Why Is a Great Class Library so Important?
• How do Read and Sing Books Continue to Provide a Foundation for Fluency?

Don’t miss the Saturday May 7 Workshop with Katie Nelson, Winter Curry, and Nellie Edge! Kindergarten Cadre member registration fee is $129 through April 15 or as space is available. See workshop invitation for more information.

Spring Smiles!
Nellie Edge