Tuesday, April 4, 2017

HI HO LIBRARIO

Hi ho librario
Live at Five I will go.
Books you'll want to make.
I can hardly wait!!!!

Children can learn the parts of a book as you sing this song to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.”

     The author writes the book.
     The author writes the book.

     Hi ho librario
     The author writes the book.

     The illustrator draws the pictures…
     The publisher makes the book…
     The copyright tells the date…

It's good to have children collaborate and make class books, but you also want to give them ample opportunities to make individual books. Here are two simple books you can place in your writing center for independent writing.

Little Books
Place four to six pieces of paper on top of each other. Staple the four corners. Cut into fourths, and you’ll have four little books.
              

                                                
Fold and Staple
Fold two sheets of paper in half and staple. How easy is that!!!!  (Sometimes I'll place a white sheet on a colored sheet and then fold and staple.)
                                       
Story Stick Starters
Everybody gets writer’s block every now and then. These story sticks might be the cure to prompt your students and motivate them to write.
                          
Cut 3” circles out of each color of construction paper. Let the children cut out pictures of people, places, and events from the magazines and newspapers. You will need 5-10 of each. Glue the pictures of people to the orange circles, the pictures of places to the green circles, and the pictures of events to the yellow circles. Tape the circles to jumbo craft sticks and place them in a cup or can.
Invite the children to choose a stick of each color to help them write a story. The orange will be the WHO/the main character. The green stick will be WHERE/the place. The yellow stick will be the WHAT/the plot.

*Use photos of classmates, the teacher, famous people, animals, etc. for the WHO sticks.
*To encourage informative writing, tie in the story sticks to units of study or current events. For example, you could use pictures of Presidents, habitats, or environmental issues.
*Let two children work together to write a story.
*Place the sticks in the writing center for independent work.


Hint!  For younger children use the story sticks to encourage oral language.  Make sticks with interesting characters or objects and let them choose one or two and create a story using them.