October Reads

I have been reading like a mad woman recently. It's one of the few things that I feel I can do comfortably as a nine month pregnant person. (At least before I fall asleep. I have the hardest time staying awake right now.) Recently this led to me finding all kinds of cool books. I've been meaning to share them with you, but then Rachel shared her awesome post of Halloween Books and I felt like I had missed the party. I felt it again when Amy shared her favorite Monster Books. Seriously, with so many talented bloggers out there how am I supposed to keep up?

But I decided as long as I shared DIFFERENT books with you, you'd still pat me on the back and visit my blog again. Right? No. Hmmm. Well. At least I shared them with you and you have more options to look for in the future. Make sure you check out the two talented ladies above as well.

My October Book Picks:



Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Halloween: This book is perfect for encouraging fine motor practice, creativity, and engaging fast finishers. I recommend getting a coy of the book, copying out your favorite step by step sequence and placing it in a center with scrap paper, stationary, and books/paper for story writing. Have students illustrate their stories, add pictures to letters, or just work on developing their fine motor and sequence.



Andy Shane and the Pumpkin Trick: This book would be perfect for an October read aloud. It is a smal chapter book with fun characters. Andy needs to stop the pumpkin smashers from destroying Halloween. Have your student's write their own solution before you finish reading the book.



Dr. Pompo's Nose: You can't help but smile as you read this book. The pictures are amazing, the storyline is unique, and it lends itself perfectly to a writing activity. In the story one of the characters loses her nose. Other pumpkins who stumble upon it come up with all kinds of unique uses for it. Gather random items from around your home/classroom. Place them into a paper bag. Have each student reach in and come up with a new use for that item and write about it. Encourage them to be as creative as possible. Don't want to go around collecting 20+ items? (I don't blame you!) Have students work in small groups or write a story as a class. I think this would be a super cute class book if you took pictures of your students using whatever random object you decided to use in new ways.



Boo!: This book is adorable! It is perfect for young picture readers. The only word in the entire book is "Boo!" The pictures add so much more depth to the story. Students will feel confident as they read the pictures and words.
Working with older students who need to add more detail to their writing/illustrations? Read the book to them without showing them the pictures. It goes really fast. Then read it to them with the pictures. Explain how you can expand sentences to include more detail or add detail to illustrations in the text. Give each student a page to expand upon. Encourage them to use descriptive words, action verbs, and lots of details.



The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat: This book is perfect for beginning readers. It features a lot of words from the -at word family. Perfect for developing confidence and indulging in the Halloween spirit.