"Uh-oh!"

What was your child's first word? Did it reflect his personality? One of Tyson's first words was, "uh-oh".

Think it reflects him?
With both of my boys, I noticed that their first words were words for immediate needs- mama, dada, juice. However, shortly after those necessary words, both boys picked up a word that they thought was "fun". I remember that Logan (who was an early talker) could say "elephant" when he was a year old.. That's certainly a fun word for a little one to say! In the same way, Tyson finds it fun to say the word "Uh-oh."

He's not just enjoying the mischief he is causing when he says the word; he actually enjoys feeling his little mouth make that round "oh".
While read alouds can help introduce new vocabulary, they can also reinforce your child's growing vocabulary. Looking for a "fun" word for your child or a "known" language pattern can help develop language.
I was able to find 2 cute books at the library using the phrase, "Uh-oh".
Uh-oh, Calico! by Karma Wilson
It seems that Calico can't do anything right. Mommy Cat reminds her that she still loves her, even when she has a lot of "uh-ohs" in a day.


Uh-oh by Rachel Isadora is an almost wordless picture book featuring a mischeivious toddler. Each page features a single word, like "diaper" followed by a picture of the toddler in his toddler environment. As the reader turns each page, he finds the toddler in some sort of mischeif in that same environment along with the toddler's signature phrase, "uh-oh!". The pictures truly tell the story and there is a lot to talk about on each page so each rereading of the book is fun! Logan (my two year old) even likes these books.



Because, Rachel Isadora is becoming one of our favorite authors, I have to mention we are also reading these two books that feature that same sweet toddler and simple language.
Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora and Peekaboo Bedtime by Rachel Isadora



I'm linking this up- go check out what other families are reading here:

Today's Special: Free Yogurt!

We love YoPlait yogurt at our house. I like to start my morning with YoPlait light. Recently, we had the opportunity to review YoPlait kids yogurt. Now it is your turn to try it out. YoPlait and MyBlog Spark have teamed up to provide a FREE FOUR PACK of YoPlait kids to my first 20 readers. Just click on Free Yogurt below and sign up! I hope your kids enjoy this yogurt too!


Disclaimer: Yoplait provided this opportunity and information through MyBlog Spark. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

Find the Little White Rabbit: Book Review and Bunny Craft

 A common theme found in early literacy, Little White Rabbit wonders what it would be like to be different. What if he could be tall like the trees or flutter like a butterfly? What if he were green or stone-like? Little White Rabbit enjoys his adventure and his imaginings until he is scared by a cat. Then he runs home, safe to his mother's arms.
I love books that encourage independent preschoolers to be independent yet relay the message that they can always come home to safety.
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. They will definitely get you in the mood for Spring. The fluttering butterflies bring a smile to my face and remind me that winter has passed!!!!!
I think this may be one of the best new books of 2011 so far.

For our story craft, I thought it would be fun to "find" a hidden rabbit. Before we began our project, I drew little white rabbit on white paper with white crayon.

Then I let Logan paint the paper with watered down green food coloring.

As he painted, the Little White Rabbit appeared.

Finding hidden pictures can be a great way to introduce any new theme to your child!

(The first attempt at this craft was a disaster as I drew a big white rabbit on white paper in crayon. However, I didn't color it in. It was too big and Logan couldn't really see the lines appear. Oh, and then he spilled all of the "paint" on the paper. Yikes! My recommendation? Keep the little white rabbit little. Color it in. And keep the paint out of the way of elbows.)

Brimful Curiousities recently did a review/craft on this book too. Check out her folded paper bunny-- great for kids a little older than mine!
And look at these darling handprint and footprint bunnies at Getting Messy with Ms. Jessi. We'll definitely be making these!
Happy Spring!
I am linking this up:

Playing With Puppets

My sister in law, Pam, gave my kids this awesome puppet theater for Christmas. It is so cool. It hangs from a tension rod on any door frame. How cool is that? My mother in law gave the boys animal puppets to go along with the puppet theater. We've had a lot of fun putting on shows. The boys just like to look through the "window".

Yesterday I shared some picture books that could be converted into puppet scripts or reader's theater scripts. Today I'm sharing some of our favorite ways to play with our puppets without using books. Nursery Rhymes and songs have been the best way to engage my kids in puppet play. They are still a little too young to invent their own stories but if I say a nursery rhyme, they are eager to act it out with the puppets and often join in with reciting the poem.Logan even digs through the puppet pile and comes up with rhymes that would work with that animal.
 Repeated recitings of nursery rhymes helps to grow a child's vocabulary of rare words. Also, being able to chant nursery rhymes fluently will prepare your child for future success as a fluent reader. In Mem Fox's book, Reading Magic, she asserts that a child who enters school knowing just 8 nursery rhymes will be prepared to become a successful reader.

Here are a few nursery rhymes and songs that have been great for our puppet play:
Hey Diddle Diddle
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Jack and Jill (we use animals for Jack and Jill and the boys are fine with that but if you have people puppets-- or even dolls-- you could use those)
The Bear went over the Mountain
5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Finger puppet for 5 little monkeys available at DLTK free template)

I am linking this up:

HOP is a must see movie-- no foolin'

HOP, a new movie from Universal Pictures, will be released April 1-- April Fools Day! On Saturday, Logan and I were able to attend a prescreening of the movie thanks to Socialmoms.
HOP is the story of E.B., the teenaged son of the Easter Bunny. E.B. loves rock and roll music.On the night before he is supposed to take over the family business of "eastering" (my words), he runs off to Hollywood to "make it" as a drummer. In Hollywood, he runs into Fred, an out of work slacker. (Well, actually, Fred runs into E.B.. literally. Fred has recently been kicked out of his parent's house, yet he is housesitting in a Hollywood mansion. E.B. turns into a horrible houseguest and a troublesome friend.
I'm not a movie critic nor do I know a great deal about special effects, but this movie had some AMAZING effects. The movie was produced by the same people who did Despicable Me and Alvin and the Chipmunks. I could not believe the life-likeness of E.B. It was easy to forget he was animated. James Marsden (Fred) did an wonderful job of interacting with E.B. Both E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) and Fred delivered some pretty funny lines-- funny for the adults too. The best part was I didn't find the jokes to be hokey or just thrown in to humor the adults. I really laughed at many of them.
The soundtrack was great. My little music lover was loving all of the song choices. He was dancing in his seat most of the movie- I'm sure the guy next to him loved that. There was a good mix of new and "old" (and by "old" I mean my generation... like Every Rose has it's Thorn by Poison).
The entire audience seemed to like the film. For the most part, it kept Logan (age 2-- almost 3) attention. This was actually his first movie in a theater!! There was a kid around 12 years of age sitting next to me and he seemed to LOVE the movie. And I heard a Grandma telling her granddaughter how much she loved the movie as she was leaving.
While the movie didn't boast the most orignal storyline-- it was a cross between The Santa Clause and Alvin and the Chipmunks-- it was a fun way to introduce the fun traditions of  Easter to Logan.
I would definitely recommend this Easter movie. I'd like to thank Socialmoms for the opportunity to go and view it. Also, our Universal representative in St. Louis was amazingly nice and handled a roomful of parents and tons of little kids in rabbit ears.
I received 2 free tickets to this movie. I did not have to blog about it but I wanted to share our experience. I did not receive any compensation for this post.
Oh, and I did find these HOP books on Amazon-- I haven't read them yet so I can't recommend them but they might make a fun Easter basket stuffer.
   

Puppet Plays From Picture Books

Creating puppet plays from favorite picture books is a great way to improve fluency in early readers.
According to Tim Rasinski, "Fluency is the ability to read accurately, quickly, expressively, with good phrasing, AND with good comprehension."
According to me, Rasinski is the guru of fluency. He has spoken and written on fluency and has a vast database of fluency research. I got the chance to hear him speak once and he was phenomenal and funny. very very funny. Check out his website, it has lots of great fluency resources.
Repeated readings of a familar text help your child orchestrate their reading strategies on the text. Performing the text can be a fun way to practice a repeated reading.
Consider retyping the text or writing the text onto chart paper with a large font and plenty of spacing between words. This will help your child be able to manage holding the puppet and reading the text.

Book suggestions:

Elephant and Piggie books like I Am Going! This is a good choice because it only uses two characters.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear was one that worked well when I taught first graders-- especially if you have several students to do the play. There are printable puppets at DLTK for each animal in the story-- as well as ideas for using the puppets.

I also love this extensive list of K-3 Reader's Theater at http://www.readerstheatre.ecsd.net/collection.htm
There are scripts for books like:
"Fire, Fire!" Said Mrs. Guire By Bill Martin Jr.
As well as poems by authors such as Margaret Wise Brown


Things to look for when choosing a picture book to turn into a puppet play

• 2-3 characters in the story-- so children don't have to manipulate too many puppets
• repetitive texts
• familiar sight words
• a story that is able to be retold
• a book or story that interests your child

According to Tim Rasinski's site, when choosing books to teach fluent reading, consider these factors:

The Child can read 95% of words in the book accurately-- this article will tell you how to calcuate accuracy
The Child automatically recognizes most of the words
The Child can read the text with expression and proper phrasing

I am linking this up:

If you are interested in what I am reading check out my Spring Reading Thing Post.
Come back tomorrow for ideas for "play" with puppets-- no reading required!


Do your children perform puppet plays?
Where have you located good scripts for puppet play?

Happy Spring Reading Thing

Happy first day of Spring! I have had a countdown going for this day to arrive. Spring is my second favorite season--- following closely behind Fall. In my part of the country, Spring can be quite rainy and cold at times that's why it just can't be my fave season. I do love all the beautiful flowers and flowering trees that "spring" up this time of year, though.
This year I thought it would be fun to participate in the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Callapidder Days.
This is my first time participating and I am excited to get some "adult" reading time in and have some accountability. Reading is one of my ways of unwinding-- and reading while not staring at a computer screen is even more relaxing. I hope that the Spring Reading Thing helps me to make time for myself to do something that I LOVE!
Plus the Spring Reading Thing is super easy. All I have to do is compile a list of books that I would like to read between now and June 21st, the start of Summer. My list is pretty much a mix. I have some fiction- some nonfiction. I have some adult books and some young adult books. Almost all of these books were recommended by blogs that I follow. After I made my list, I realized maybe I should have linked back to the blog that recommended it. However, so many of them were recommended on so many blogs, that I found that to be an impossible task.
So without further ado... here is my Spring Reading List:

Young Adult Fiction:
The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier
 Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen


Adult Fiction:
The Girls: A Novel
Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
 Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer

Adult Nonfiction:
Life Without Limits:Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life by Nick Vujicic
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resillience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond
So,  that's my plan. I am a nonfiction lover so I think I could have made an entire nonfiction Spring Reading Thing but I decided to branch out a bit. I still have a few titles in the back of my mind but I'm honestly not sure I can make it through all of these so we'll stick with this for now. I'd rather not be an underachiever who has to report back that I didn't make it through half of my list :)

What are you reading? Have you read any of these titles? Which one should I pick up first?