Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Reading Aloud in Kindergarten

In February I was the guest reader in my son's kindergarten classroom. He and I spent some time the night before my visit to look over his favorite picture books and select the ones I would read. I told William that my goal was to read "fun" books his teacher had not already shared with the class. I also told him he needed to think about selecting books that both the boys and girls in his class might enjoy. William then picked out several of his favorites and told me to "surprise him" by picking from the pile he had made. My final choices?
  • 19 Girls and Me by Darcy Pattison - What happens when a young boy finds that his kindergarten class is full of girls? While his second grade brother is worried that playing with girls will turn John Hercules into a sissy, John Hercules learns how much fun pretending with friends can be.
  • Big Chickens by Leslie Halakoski - Alliteration abounds as 4 cowardly, cautious, careful, chicken chickens walk into the woods to escape a wolf. This is a fun romp that the kids loved.
  • A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson - Meet a greedy frog who eats "ONE tick, TWO fleas, THREE flies (Oh my!),/ FOUR slugs (Ew, ugh!) in the belly of the frog/ on a half-sunk log/ in the middle of the bog." When his belly grows to an enormous size, that log he's been sitting on decides it's time to eat.
I will make my second, and last appearance this Friday. So far, William's pile includes the following titles.
  • Clancy the Courageous Cow by Lachie Hume - Clancy is a belted Galloway without a belt. Find out how he saves his herd teaches two very different groups of cows to get along. For more, Fuse #8 has written a terrific review you should read.
  • Chowder by Peter Brown - The Wubbington's bulldog is treated more like a child than a dog. Find out how he finally makes some animal friends who accept him for who he is.
  • Enemy Pie by Derek Munson - When Jeremy Ross moves into the neighborhood, a young boy's summer is ruined. With the help of his dad, he decides to make an enemy pie to get rid of Jeremy, however, for enemy pie to work, the boy must spend an entire day with Jeremy. Will enemy pie work?
  • A Spree in Paree by Catherine Stock - Monsieur Monmouton takes his farm animals on a day trip to Paris, where they take in ALL the sites. The ink and watercolor illustrations are fabulous.
  • Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel - When a Chinese boy falls into a well, help doesn't come quickly because the boy's name is long must be pronounced in full. The name? Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo. What fun to read!
Clancy the Courageous Cow is one I'll definitely take with me. The other two titles are up in the air. So, good readers, what do you think? What books do you think a group of Kindergarten kids would like to hear on a Friday afternoon?

5 comments:

  1. I think that Kindergartners would like to hear just about any nicely read story on a friday afternoon. I know mine do. It sounds like you and your son are having a great time in kindergarten!

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  2. I vote for Tiki tiki Tembo...
    Somebody read that to me when I was in junior elementary school, and I still remember it with a smile some 35 years later. Go for it! I'll bet you can get the whole class to say his name along with you.
    All your book choices sound like winners. What a treat for the kindergarten class.
    -tripleblessings

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  3. I know it's not in the list and I know it's a beginning reader, technically, but my preschool-aged daughter and I are loving Mo Willems' My Friend is Sad so much that she has memorized the book. You'd think she was reading it, but we've read it so much she remembers what is said on each page and stands there, flipping through the book, and reciting it. It's just so much fun and would be such a great read-aloud.

    Good luck!

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  4. All your selections look good. I especially like Enemy Pie. I hope the reading went well.

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  5. Author Derek Munson (Enemy Pie) will be on blog tour Sept. 21-27, 2008. If you are interested in scheduling an interview, please contact me.

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