Manners, Please?

Today's book choice is "Manners on the Playground", written by Carrie Finn and Illustrated by Chris Lenseh.  This sweet picture book not only incorporates the content of manners but it does so in a way that children can relate to in everyday situations.
This story begins with the line"The playground is for everyone", the continues in a manner that pulls children into the story, because we all know how much children love their playground time.  After capturing the children's attention the book says, "There are lots of ways you can use good manners in the play ground."  Then as you flip the pages the book gives real life examples of children taking turns, saying "Thank you", listening to the teacher's instructions, sharing, team work, good sportsman ship, saying "Please", helping each other, saying "Excuse me", cleaning up, and most importantly playing safely.
As you can see this story gives many ways to use good manners and does so, using instances that children could face on the playground. This concept was not only brought down to a children's level of understanding, but it was done so in a way that children could really relate to their own playground experiences.
This story was not only a great way to incorporate the concept of manners but it also can be used to establish rules and playground manners that must be used when playing, to avoid hurting feeling or one another.
Since this book can be so easily related to children's personal experiences  I choose the sketch-to-stretch strategy to use with the book.   To do this activity I would read the story aloud to the classroom, then ask the children to individually draw what the story meant to them.  Whether, they had experiences like the ones the characters had in the book, or whether they have had an opportunity where they could have used better manners.  After the children have completed their drawings the teacher could ask for volunteers and either have the children tell about the story or even act it out, as if they were really on the playground.  This activity and book could not only encourage students but it would also reinforce the importance of using good manners.

As well, there are also many other books such as this one, where the use of good manners are incorporated in real life experiences. :) ei.  Manners at a Friends House, Manners at School, etc.all written by the same author.

Have you used your senses today?

Do you know what the five senses are?  Have you even wanted to learn more about them while venturing on a delightful journey, with the famous Ms.Frizzle?  Written by Ioanna Cole and Bruce Degen, the non-fiction information book The Magic School Bus - Explores the Senses, is a refreshing way to explore and/or teach the concepts about our senses.  

This book, although it has fictional characters the material and concepts of the senses are very factual and full of information for children to learn about in a fun way.    The Magic School Bus stories are known for their adventures.  So would you like to take a guess at where The Magic School Bus will be headed today?

The eye is the first destination for Ms. Frizzle and the children.  Entering through the cornea, the iris and finally through the pupil.  "Frizzle Fact - When the muscles of the iris tighten, the pupil gets smaller.  Then less light enters your eye.  When the muscles relax,the pupil gets larger.  More light gets in."  another fun fact that their adventure entailed was the meaning of the word "iris"  Iris comes from a word that means "rainbow."  A rainbow has lots of colors, just as the Iris in our eyes come in many colors too.  I thought this was pretty interesting the way the detailed the factual information in a fun way that would allow children to grasp the concepts a little easier.  Their journey continued as they entered the inside of the eye and related it to a camera.  This again, gave detailed factual non-fiction information on the eye in a way that gives children a visual illustration of what it would be like in the actual eye.  There are also detailed captions on each page that give cute facts as well.  For example, "Actual size: The retina in your eye is no thicker than a page in this book!" I thought this was neat because the children could hold a sheet of paper and visualize the size of their own retina, and making the learning engaging for kinesthetic learners.  

This is the journey obviously through the sight sense.  The other senses are explored as well, in the same manner.  All of the details and explanations on the senses are very vivid and detailed in a child friendly manner.  

I would defiantly recommend this book to a teacher, mother, father, or parent who is trying to teach a lesson to children about what the senses are, what they are made of, and how they work.  This book not only gives an excellent representation of each sense, but it does so in a way that really captures the attention and gives fun facts that allow the learning to be a fun and memorable journey through the senses.