Touching Texture

I was stuck; thinking about what I could possible read/teach/share when my first graders arrived in the Library.  And then I had one of those casual conversations that occur in the hall or in the copier room or by the mailboxes. 

The art teacher mentioned that she was doing "texture" with the first graders, explaining the difference between texture you can see with your eyes and texture you can actually feel.  Ding!

First I showed the students Lois Ehlert's book Snowballs.  I had recently purchased a new copy because our only other copy was falling to pieces.  The illustrations are so incredibly vibrant!  I read the book and asked the students, "If you could touch the mittens/birdseed/buttons/bottlecaps, how would they feel?".

Then we moved on to The Black Book of Colors.  This is a book that is in Braille as well as in standard text.  The students were able to actually feel the Braille and the raised illustrations.  {On a related note, twitter.com/LizB does a braille storyhour which I cannot wait to hear about once she escapes San Diego.}

What are your favorite textured books and/or what has been your most recent "copier room" lesson plan?

From the Home Office: Poetry Picks

I'm finally feeling like my old self and just in time, since Winter Break is officially over!

As if to buffer ourselves against the winter chill, many of my grades are beginning poetry units.  I've found several ideas that I will be trying with my first, second and third graders.

This year I will once again create "Spine Poetry" with my third graders.  I can no longer remember who suggested this idea, but it's a lot of fun.  Students roam the fiction shelves in search of three or four books to stack  - forming a poem in the process.  Here are some pictures of last year's poems:

Here's a great website to use for composing poetry on the fly, especially if you are lucky enough to have an interactive Smartboard!  Use this to reinforce sight words too!

And finally, I was intrigued by this idea of Paper Bag Poetry.  I may have my students compose their poems directly onto a brown paper lunch bag. 

How are you fending off the winter blues with a poem or two?