I’m so excited about my new blog topic – TUESDAYS FOR TEACHERS!
I’ll be saving my Tuesday blog spots to highlight fun ideas for using my books in the classroom. Some activities will come from my fabulous Curriculum Guides (which were created by award-winning teachers!) and others will come from activities I’ve used and experiences I’ve had while visiting schools, book stores and libraries — virtually and in-person. If you’ve got an activity to share, let me know. I’d love to include your ideas (along with photos from your classroom if possible) on my blog.
To kick things off, here’s a simple activity I did, yesterday, with kindergartners who were cracking up over my book TOO PICKLEY! 
TOO PICKLEY! Yukky and Yummy Plates
Meets Academic Standards for PreK, 1st Grade and Kindergarten in:
- Math
- Literacy
- Art
- Physical Education/Health and Wellness
- CCSS.Math.Content.K.MD.B.3 Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count.1
- CCSS.Math.Content.1.MD.C.4 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Activity:
The number one question I get from kids who read TOO PICKLEY! is
At the end of the story, what had been on the little boy’s plate?
My illustrator, Genevieve Leloup and I deliberately left that a mystery. We wanted to involve the reader in the story and get a discussion going. So we encourage the questions:
What do YOU think was on his plate?
Really observant kids might look at the few crumbs remaining and guess a cookie, an orange and some peas.
Kids who have read my dedication page might guess hot dogs.
But then you’ll have those kids who fully immerse in the story and say, “Peanut butt
er and jelly. Because I love peanut butter and jelly.”
That’s when it’s time to invite kids to tell you what would be on their “So Yummy” plates. How about their “So Yucky” plates? This would be a great time to talk about tastes, healthy eating and where foods come from.
Finally, using grocery store ads, glue sticks and paper plates, have kids create their own “So Yummy” and “So Yucky” plates and present them to the class. This is a great sorting activity. Extend it to K-1 by having the class graph their responses to common foods.
Here are my yukky and yummy plates!
How do yours compare!
Teachers, I’m anxious to hear how you might extend this activity. Or send me your Yucky and Yummy photos. I’ll be happy to post them on my blog. Better yet, let’s set up a Skype visit. It’s easy! Check out my My Time Out for Teachers page for all the details.
For more ideas on how to use my books in the classroom and other resources for teachers and librarians, please visit my “Teachers” page.
Happy Tuesday!
