Guest Readers

A blast from the past! Mrs. Kaberle AND Mr. Kramer stopped into our classroom to share their favorite books with us! The surprise was exciting!! The students LOVED having past teachers stop in for a hello and for story time!

Mrs. Kaberle brought in a few books from her favorite author! If You Give a Mouse a Brownie, is one of the newest releases in this series. Mrs. Kaberle had a first with our classroom, not one person in our group had read this story yet and it was a new story to us all! Needless to say we enjoyed the new adventure of the mouse. 

When you give him the ice cream, he'll probably ask you for a spoon. He'll start drumming on the table. Drumming will get him so excited he'll want to start a band. . . .
Thank you Mrs. Kaberle!

Mr. Kramer read us a story, Yo! Yes?, that uses a lot of voice and emotion while reading! He not only read a story to us but pointed out a variety of punctuation throughout the story and how it changes the perception of the story line when you use voice!
Thanks you Mr. Kramer! 

Mr. Tiesworth stopped in to read up Spoon! This was his first read to an elementary classroom and he did a great job and we had a good time with a few laughs! 

Spoon is about a happy little utensil, that lately feels like life as a spoon just isn't cutting it. He thinks Fork, Knife, and The Chopsticks all have it so much better than him. Spoon serves as a gentle reminder to celebrate what makes us each special.
Thank you Mr. Tiesworth!

We had another duo in to read! This time a father and daughter team!
Mr. Laprade and (big sister) Taylor

They each had their own books and gave us two great stories back to back.

Mr. Laprade read Why Explore by Susan Lendroth.

This story gives readers the drive to discover and explore. Along the way, readers will learn how far human curiosity has taken us, and consider both the costs and rewards of pursuing the unknown. 

Thank you Mr. Laprade!

Taylor read Little Louie by Kathryn Finney.

We all had a soft spot for this story. Little Louie is the fictional story of a very real rescue dog. Louie teaches kids to celebrate their strengths and to never give up their dreams. Everyone who reads this book will want to give lovable little Louie a forever home!

Thank you Taylor!

Mariah, big sister to Daegan, came down from fourth grade to share a favorite story of hers, A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.

The character, Camilla Cream, is very, very worried about what other people think of her. In fact, she's so worried that she's about to break out in...a bad case of stripes! We made great connections by finding the moral of the story, that being different is okay and everyone is unique.
Thank you Mariah!

I invited all parents in to read, so my Dad joined in on the fun! Mr. Hardy read Casey at the Bat by Leroy Neiman.

This classic tale of baseball hopes and dreams comes to life like never before. From the 1888 debut, this embraces baseball as the national pastime.

Thank you Mr. Hardy!

Mrs. Johnson stopped in to our classroom between teaching sessions to share a favorite of hers, Bad Dog, Marley! By John Grogan.

Marley, a lovable puppy, who is a new pet to a home. But Marley doesn’t stay a pint-sized pup for long. He grows and grows, and the bigger Marley gets, the bigger trouble he gets into. Big, bad-boy trouble. Kids anxiously await to see if Marley gets to stay or find a new home!

Thank you Mrs. Johnson!

Mrs. Maniaci came back in to continue the story from last week, Next Spring an Oriole by Gloria Whelin.

Thank you Mrs. Maniaci!

Mrs. Jacobi stopped in to read The Legend of the Sleeping Bear Dunes by Kathy Jo Wargin.

It started with a mother's love, fleeing from a forest fire, a mother bear urges her two cubs into the watery shelter. She knows if they can swim across to the opposite shore, they will be safe. Mother Bear guides her cubs across the great lake, Lake Michigan. And the story of what happens once Mother Bear reaches the far shore becomes the legend behind the natural wonder known as Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Thank you Mrs. Jacobi!

One more duo! Mr. & Mrs. Rintala took time away from their busy High School schedules to read our classroom a couple stories! Since our schedules are the same for school hours, both readers taped themselves! The anticipation of who would show up on our screen was sweet!

Both shared a couple poems from the book by Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Rintala!

Reading Friends!

We had fourth and fifth grade reading friends come in to kick off our Read-A-Thon week! We were able to share stories back and forth and log all minutes we read or listened. 

Our friends also showed us how to use our Whooo's Reading website so we can manage our minutes on our own.

Now we are off! The enthusiastic and engagement is there!

Keep on reading!!

 

Reading in the Hallway!

We had so much fun taking our books to the hallway and reading with a friend, a family member or ourselves! The twenty minutes we read were also logged for our beginning minutes on our Whooo's Reading website! Great way to start our Westwoods Read A Thon!

Keep on reading!!

 

 

Evening of Art posters

Orders are now being taken for posters of the 2017 Westwoods Evening of Art.
Each class has a collaborative project. the projects are listed by teacher on the link below with a photo of what the print will look like. 
Exact print numbers will be ordered so please be sure you place your ordered by Thursday, April 13th.

http:/tinyurl.com/wwartnightprints

Prints are $10.00 each
Checks made payable to Westwoods
If you are sending in cash, please be sure to place your child's name on the envelope and Westwoods Evening of Art Order

Whooooo's Reading?

WESTWOODS!!!

The Second Annual Read-a-Thon kicks off Monday, March 20 

(and lasts through Thursday, April 13th)

Monday students are bring home usernames and passwords for their personalized private accounts at the Whooo's Reading website 

https://api.whooosreading.org/  

Please help them ACTIVATE their online accounts and start reading! 

Please join us Tuesday, March 21, at 8:45 AM for an All-School Read-In!  

We are really excited to promote reading and to help our school raise the necessary money for our ongoing needs. Thanks for your support! 

Your child will not be able to invite any sponsors without your authorization. Instructions on how to use your parent account herehttps://api.whooosreading.org/guides/parent?d=10355. Directions also at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYxHl6rKdcM

Hallway Reading!

Hallway School Read-In

Our annual read-a-thon begins this week! 

To kick it off this year we are taking our books to the hallways and inviting you in! 

If you would like and are able, bring a book and join your child outside our classroom door. 

Reading begins at 8:45 and we will read until 9:10. 

Hope to see you there!

Guest Readers!

Thank you to all of our SURPRISE guest readers this week!!

The students had so much fun wondering who was going to be walking into our classroom and what story we were going to hear. Even if the stories were new or old we love a great read aloud and can't get enough!

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Wandel! We had a duo of parents!!

 We, especially Mallory, were lucky enough to hear two stories back to back!

The Green Tortoise

Author and illustrator Eric Carle, writes about a foolish tortoise finds a way out of his heavy shell. The only problem is, once he leaves his home, he’s too scared to walk anywhere! This silly tortoise learns the hard way that there’s no place like home.

Walt and Pepper

A fun story by Lisl Weil. A neighboring cat and dog think they are enemies until one of them is missing for a while. Very cute story!

Thank you Mrs. Schook!

 The students listened and laughed with the stories and poems read from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shell Silverstein!

This classic collection of work is both outrageously funny and at times profound! 

Thank you Mrs. Dion!!

We heard the catchy story Tikki Tikki Tembo. 

Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-
chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo!

The students loved to hear about the boy with the long name who fell down into a well. Writers Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent's re-create an ancient Chinese folktale and hooked our attention.

Thank you Mrs. Slader!!

We heard The Giving Tree. written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Once there was a tree...and she loved a boy

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, but shows the gift of giving, with open interpretation in the end.

Thank you Mrs. Maniaci!! 

We started a pioneer adventure perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book not only connected to the Westward Expansion we are learning in the classroom, but also to the play Laura Ingalls Wilder we saw at Lars Hockstead. She was only two chapters in, so we look forward to Mrs. Maniaci's visit again next week to hear more!

Thank you Mrs. Schripsema!

We heard An Awesome Book! Literally! 

This book was based on the simple concept of dreaming big! The inspiring book was written and illustrated by Dallas Clayton.

Thank you again to all our guest readers! 

Please sign up if you are interested in reading to our classroom next week. There is still room! 

Here is the sign up.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0F49A5A82CA4F58-surprise