Reading Group with Rand

I like being able to go help in the elementary school. With the new GATE program they are doing at the kids' school, the teachers get extra units to add to their curriculum. So Rand's teacher, knowing me and that I used to teach, asked me to take a reading group on Fridays and teach them. This was a huge unit all using books written by Cynthia Rylant. So I got to pick the books and come up with fun enrichment ideas to do with them. Rand liked having me come and often he and Seth would keep going with the activity once he got home. So here are a few things we did:

Bunny Bungalow & Let's Go Home - We did a compare/contrast chart with the books and talked about our houses.

This Year's Garden - After reading the book, the kids made their own garden on paper. Rand and Seth really liked this one and worked on theirs for hours.

Night in the Country - After reading, we talked about words that make us think of sounds. Then I played different kinds of music and had them dance or move (marches vs ballet) or think of what the music sounded like (animals, spooky houses, aliens, lullabies).

The High Rise Private Eyes: Case of the Desperate Duck - We did this for a few weeks. We talked about sounding out words. We talked about sugar cubes, tasted them and built with them, and did other puzzles.

The Relatives Came - The kids love talking as we read through a book. Then they drew pictures of them with a relative. Rand picked his fall off the trampoline and Brian coming to his rescue.

Tulip Sees America - We talked about maps and marked our own maps while they traveled in the book.

It has been fun to volunteer and get to teach just for this short time. I also get to stop in on Rhianna for a little while and help if I can.