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Happy Easter! Happy Spring Break to everyone! We had a great celebration and Ms. Scott read...An Extraordinary Egg.

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Another book with a great realistic fiction character...Hward B. Wigglebottom listens To His Heart

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We had a SURPRISE visitor to celebrate PARP week!  Thank you to Mr. Karsten who came to read us a David Shannon book about toys!

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We continue to learn about our book friend Junie in the new book...Junie B. Jones Monkey Business.

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We were being word detectives. We learned that we can collect words WHEREVER we are! We noticed how Luna, the Word Collector, found and shared important words.

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What an exciting day! Our student teacher, Miss Scott, read us a story (Rain Song) and helped us to write rainy day stories to make our new bulletin board!

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In Math, we are learning about data, graphing and tally marks! Loreen Leedy is an author who loves to write about math. Her characters helped us to see many ways to make different types of graphs!

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Junie B. Jones is A Party Animal! We love learning about Junie and her antics during party times!

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I grew up in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. It was a small town surrounded by farmland . . . the kind of town where you greet people by name on Main Street. It was only an hour's drive to the ocean. So every summer we spent family vacations on Long Beach Island. My brother and I would ride the waves during the day and play miniature golf at night. It's the kind of idyllic memory that stays in your head long after you've grown up and moved away.

After graduating from high school and spending two years at Rider University, I transferred to the University of Alabama where I met my husband, Richard. Eventually his job brought him to Arizona. We both fell in love with the desert and wanted to stay here forever. Still, during the heat of the Arizona summers, those ocean memories would come rushing back. So-after years of sweaty summers-my husband and I finally built a house on Long Beach Island, the same island where my brother and I rode the waves as kids. In the story business, that's called "coming full circle." These days, Richard and I divide our time between the desert and the ocean. In the words of Junie B. Jones, I'm a lucky duck.

Q. What inspired you to start writing?

In my case, it was sort of "reverse" inspiration. I got a degree in secondary education. My plan was to teach high school history and political science. But, because of a scheduling problem my senior year, I ended up doing my student teaching in the seventh grade. The word disaster doesn't really cover this one. I'll spare you the details. But as I ran screaming from the school building every day, I knew that I would never be a teacher. My husband and I married after graduation, and started a family. A few years later, when I was ready to go to work, I was still haunted by the memories of student teaching. So I was "inspired" to try my hand at writing instead.

Q. How did you go about getting published?

The first children's novel I wrote was Operation: Dump the Chump. As soon as it was finished, I bought a copy of Writer's Market, found some addresses, and started sending it off to publishers who were accepting unsolicited manuscripts. It was rejected three times. All three rejections managed to work in the classic industry one-liner, "It isn't right for our list."

The fourth time I sent it to Alfred Knopf, Inc. A few weeks later, they called and said it was exactly right for their list. I felt like I'd hit the lottery.

Q: You've written middle-grade novels, early chapter books, and picture books. Which do you like writing best?

I can't really say which I like best. But after all the Junie B. books I've written, those certainly come the easiest. The middle-grade novels are more of a challenge. But in some ways, that makes them more rewarding. The last two I've written (Mick Harte Was Here and The Graduation of Jake Moon) were both about very sensitive topics, so it took a long time to get them exactly right. But I think those two books have made me the most proud.

Q. Tell us about your most recent picture book.

It's called, MA! There's Nothing to Do Here! It's about a baby in utero who is bored out of his mind. The idea for it was born (so to speak) when my daughter-in-law, Renee, invited me to my first grandson's ultrasound. Although I had never had an ultrasound myself, I'd seen pictures of other babies in utero. But I wasn't prepared for how amazing it would be to see my own little grandbaby on that screen. I felt like I was watching the Discovery Channel.

Q. How much did you continue to think about the baby after seeing the ultrasound? How did this develop into the idea for the book?

A. On the way out of the doctor's office, I remember thinking, Okay, so now we're all going back to our busy lives. But the baby is still in there just floating around. Except for an occasional kick or hiccup, he's got absolutely nothing to do.

A few months later-when I was getting ready to give Renee a baby shower-I wrote this poem, framed it, and gave it to her as a shower gift.

Q. Of the characters you've created, who is your favorite?

A. This would be a bit like picking a favorite child. I don't have a single favorite character, but again, I lived with the characters Mick and Phoebe Harte and Jake and Skelly Moon for a very long time. So those four are the most dear to me.

The characters I've had the most fun with have been the little ones. Little kids are so free to say whatever is on their minds. They aren't silenced by peer pressure and the notion that they have to sound cool. Molly Vera Thompson in The Kid in the Red Jacket is six, and Thomas Russo in My Mother Got Married and Other Disasters is five. They both were such fun to write about that they led to the creation of Junie B. Jones.

Q. Is Junie B. modeled after you as a child? Did you ever do any of the things that Junie B. does?

A. I was sent to "Principal" in first grade for talking. There were lots of notes sent home that year, as well. My father was on the Board of Education. Not good.

Q. There's been some criticism of the Junie-speak in the series. How do you answer concerns that Junie's grammar is not good for young readers?

A. Honestly, most of the grown-ups I hear from are writing to tell me that Junie B. Jones got their reluctant readers to read. I have drawers full of letters from parents and teachers that are so meaningful to me, I can't bear to part with them. These are adults who understand that fictional literature plays a whole different role in children's lives than a book of grammar or a basic reader.

That having been said, there are always going to be a handful of people who denigrate books that speak in a voice other than their own. I've stopped trying to explain the concept of literature to people like that. Wasted time better spent.

8. What makes you laugh?

My sense of humor is a little bit off-center, I think. In the movies, I usually laugh at parts that no one else seems to think are funny. Then there are movies like Young Frankenstein where I laugh from the opening scene straight through to the end.

Lots of other things make me laugh, as well. My husband and sons make me laugh. My dog. My grandsons. Friends. The absurdities of life. My lopsided cakes. The list goes on . . .

What advice do you have for teachers that are aspiring writers? For kids?

There's nothing revolutionary in my advice, I'm afraid. It's the same old stuff. Write as much and as often as you can. Try different genres to find your niche. Then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. And-above all-be your own worst critic.

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Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal (Junie B. Jones, No. 10)

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Amazon.com: Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal (Junie B. Jones, No. 10): 9780679886631: Park, Barbara, Brunkus, Denise: Books

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We read an Irish fable by Tomie DePaola to get ready for St. Patrick's Day...

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BIG SNOW! (We hope you were inside and took some time to read something wonderful!)

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Another Pete the Cat - Rockin' In his School Shoes! This may be our FAVORITE from the series.

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Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes: A Back to School Book for Kids

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Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes: A Back to School Book for Kids [Dean, James, Litwin, Eric] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes: A Back to School Book for Kids

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We are starting to research in the Library.  We came up with so many ideas (animals, sports, etc.).  Ms. McBride will help us during Technology to find great books to help us become RESEARCHERS!

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We are so excited to be beginning an author study which will get us ready for our field trip at the end of the month. Our students look forward to book after book of Pete the Cat. Today we read Pete the Cat-Pete at the Beach. We are thinking about Realistic Fiction and how to write fiction stories that are based on true stories.

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Happy Dr. Seuss day! What a fun time we listened to Yertle the Turtle, read about Dr. Seuss's life, had Seuss-snacks, and made Seuss hats!

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Getting ready for Presidents Day...we read Looking At Lincoln, A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln, and Abe Lincoln Remembers.

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biography & autobiography - presidents & first families (u.s.)

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history - united states - civil war period (1850-1877)

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biography & autobiography - presidents & first families (u.s

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history - united states - civil war period

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / political

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / presidents & first families (u.s.)

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juvenile nonfiction / history / united states / civil war period (1850-1877)

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juvenile nonfiction/biography & autobiography - presidents & first families (u.s.)

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - civil war period (1850-1877)

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Lincoln's legacy is everywhere - there he is on your penny and five-dollar bill. And we are still the United States because Lincoln helped hold them together. But who was he, really? The little girl in this video wants to find out. Among the many other things, she discovers our sixteenth presiden...

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One more event to celebrate today...the 100th day of school! We are 100 days smarter!

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We are SO lucky to be able to Skype with TWO authors today! Our second author virtual visit was by Denis Markell reading his book Hush Little Monster. As luck would have it, his wife the illustrator Melissa Twai was also able to chat with us!

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Happy World Read Aloud day (and we also celebrated the 100th day of school)! The first author who Skyped us was Hayley Barrett reading the book No, Norman! We were excited to have the opportunity to ask her questions about books, writing, and being an author!

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We are trying to READ AS MUCH AS WE CAN to reach our goal of 100 books by the 100th day. Another Valentine fun story....

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Happy Valentine's Day! We enjoyed a holiday book...Today is Valentine's Day

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We LOVE Junie B. so much, we started our new chapter book called Junie B. Jones - Boss of Lunch! We have a reason to laugh on EVERY page!

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Getting ready for our trip to the Southold Post Office, we read two books: The Mail Carrier by Dee Ready, The Post Office Book by Gail Gibbons

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The Post Office Book by Gail Gibbons | Scholastic

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A step-by-step description of what happens to mail from the time it's deposited in the mailbox to its arrival at its destination.

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Thanks to Wyatt, we are reading a FUN chapter book from the Junie B. Jones series: Junie B. Has a Monster Under Her Bed
nom

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We listened to Mo Willem's book We Are In a Book. This will help us to write about character traits, and think about words that describe characters, and notice the words that authors use to tell us about interesting characters. Piggy and Gerald were FILLED with interesting character traits...

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We are thinking about characters and character traits in the books we love. Ike's letters will help us think about characters in Dear Mrs. LaRue!

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The Night Gardener is ANOTHER Caldecott nominee!

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Stay safe during the Nor'easter storm tonight! We were happy to have time for one more story! Will this be the new Caldecott winner?

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It is Caldecott day! Today we read Have You Seen Elephant?

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We have been asking ourselves, "What's happening?" on each page to think about all the parts of our fiction books. We listened to another book that may ba a Caldecott winner. Today's story is called They All Saw a Cat. This book may win for its illustrations!

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New York Times bestseller and Caldecott Medal winner They All Saw a Cat is a visual delight and a charming read-aloud that invites kids and parents to explore the concept of perception. New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. In addition to the Caldecott Honor-winning They All Saw a Cat , and he has illustrated a number of other picture books focused on animals and nature., starred review

The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws . . . In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, author and illustrator Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?

ENGAGING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING: Children will love following along with the simple, fun story, while parents will appreciate the book's clever and thoughtful lessons about how everyone has a unique perspective.

INCREDIBLE TALENT: Brendan Wenzel is a , he's also the creator of Hello, Hello! and A Stone Sat Still Shelf Awareness The Huffington Post

Parents, grandparents, and educators

Preschool and kindergarten level readers

Gift givers looking for a fun, interactive family read-aloud book

Fans of picture books like I Want My Hat Back , Ricky the Rock That Couldn't Roll , The Wonderful Things You Will Be , What Do You Do With a Problem? and The Day the Crayons Quit

RAVE REVIEWS: This bestselling book has earned multiple honors and starred reviews. Highlights include:

"An ingenious idea, gorgeously realized."-

"Both simple and ingenious in concept, Wenzel's book feels like a game changer."-

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Amazon.com: They All Saw a Cat (Brendan Wenzel): 9781452150130: Wenzel, Brendan: Books

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We are so happy to know that we can get ideas for writing from ideas that we have...and this read aloud shows us the importance of Ideas All Around Us!

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Readers ask themselves, "What's happening?" as they look closely at stories before they even read the words!

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We read another book that could be a Caldecott winner - it is called Be a Friend. We learned about mimes and friendship.

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Mrs. Wineberger's new favorite book! SHE is hoping this one wins the Caldecott. It is about a HORRIBLE bear...!

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We read Thunder Boy Jr....a native american story about a boy who does not like his name. This story will also help us think about parts of fiction stories (setting, characters, problems and solutions).

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Getting ready to write book reviews.  We know that book reviews tell A LITTLE BIT about a book,  include a personal opinion, some information from the book (evidence), and have great conventions (authors make sure that a book review is ready for publication - it is a final draft).

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Have you noticed that many apostrophes are in titles? Squirrel's New Year, Santa's Toy Shop, Rabbit's Snow Dance, David's Drawings, and Trevor's Wobbly Tooth! We are so very excited about the snow and wintry weather and noticing apostrophes...here is another one by Robin Pulver called Mrs. Toggle's Zipper

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We are learning about the Caldecott Medal in Library/Technology. One of the great books that may win the award this year is...

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Our first big snowfall! We celebrated Indie's birthday, made snowflakes and REAL snow people, and read about snowmen.

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Happy New Year! We talked about making resolutions for the new year. We had so many good ideas for resolutions and goals after reading Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller.

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We are so excited about our new favorite author (Barbara Park) and first grade character Junie B. Jones. She is a writer and we have been enjoying reading about her funny life!

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holidays & celebrations - christmas & advent

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juvenile fiction / holidays & celebrations / christmas & advent

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juvenile fiction / readers / chapter books

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juvenile fiction/holidays & celebrations - christmas & advent

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juvenile fiction / holidays & celebrations / christmas & advent

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juvenile fiction / readers / chapter books

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juvenile fiction/holidays & celebrations - christmas & advent

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Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May)

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It's holiday time, and Room One is doing lots of fun things to celebrate.Like making elf costumes! And singing joyful songs! Only, how can Junie B. enjoy the festivities when Tattletale May keeps ruining her holiday glee? And here is the worst part of all! When everyone picks names for Secr...

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We enjoyed this traditional Native American Fable that reminds us about the importance of patience, the seasons and listening to your friends. The authors are James and Joseph Bruchac. We admired the watercolor illustrations by Jeff Newman.

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We compared Santa Knows to Santa's Toy Shop...so many great books to read this holiday season!

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Making story webs, thinking about setting and characters in fiction holiday stories

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We read about Halloween by National Geographic Readers! We noticed non-fiction features such as the table of contents, headings, subtitles, and a word bank!

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So much fun, we can't be scared

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We noticed the sound words, and speech bubbles that Mr. Martin and Mr. Kellogg used in this scary story. We will try to use these in our Writing Workshop stories.

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Don't be afraid of a Whatzit!  Be brave during this SCARY time of year!  Boo!
This story also helped us notice the punctuation that authors use (commas, periods, question marks, quotation marks, apostrophe).

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Science - bones and...Halloween

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Getting ready for Halloween!

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We are wild about wordless books! We read our first wordless book which helped us think about illustrations and how writers show time change in their illustrations. We noticed a morning, afternoon, and evening sky that the illustrator painted using watercolors!  We talked about the ways illustrations help make our stories even better!

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In Writer's Workshop, we practiced "Writer's make their pictures and words match". We noticed when this happened in our mentor book today - The Art Lesson

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Today we learned how to look for shapes to make our people drawings more realistic! We used "Art Man" to see how human bodies bend and they way they look when they are in motion. We read a story about a boy who loves to draw alone and with friends...

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Halloween fun with math books!

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Are Pirates Polite? A book with a question mark in the title!

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We also read a non-fiction story about a fire dog called Hooper who works at a fire station in Brooklyn, New York.

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To get ready for the Southold Fire Department and their fire safety lessons at our school, we read about Curious George and his firehouse day.

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After a terrific time at Gabrielson's Farm, we learned about pumpkins and seeds...

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Happy October! We read a FUN story that helps us to think about the words we use with each other.

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In Social Studies, we are learning about maps, directions, creating maps, using a compass, and direction words! Ms. McBride helps us work on map skills during our Library/Tech time, too!

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We had fun with Mrs. Wineberger when she told us about story characters that came to life!

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We read a story about wiggly teeth (some of us lost teeth this week!). We noticed that the author autographed this story in the year 2005 for the students of Southold Elementary School.

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Today we read Pete the and his Four Groovy Buttons! We noticed the clock times, too!

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9/21/16  Today we talked about the importance of setting goals for our reading.  Our first class goal is to read 40 books.  We have made good progress so far...we have read about 18 books including

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9/21/16  Today we talked about the importance of setting goals for our reading.  Our first class goal is to read 40 books.  We have made good progress so far...we have read about 18 books including

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fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid books!  We also have started two author studies!

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9/20/16 In Social Studies, we are learning about MAPS!

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9/20/16 In Social Studies, we are learning about MAPS!

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We discussed the directions North, South, East and West and used the I-pad compass to help us find the exact locations in our classroom.

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Happy Pirate Day! We made pirate hats, learned our pirate days, asked questions about pirates, had pirate snack and listened to a pirate story.

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Author Study time! We LOVE Pete the Cat, and will be reading ALL of the books in this series. In the Spring, we are planning to see a play about Pete the Cat in Westhampton!

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Classic rhyme that helps us practice subtraction and number words!

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9/12/16 - Our first Monday, and we are LAUNCHING our Writing Workshop!  

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9/12/16 - Our first Monday, and we are LAUNCHING our Writing Workshop!  

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We read about Mr. Putter and where he gets ideas for writing. We have so many great ideas for our stories, and we think Mr. Putter should write about food instead of mysteries!

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Learning to be good to each other and "fill each other's buckets".

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Learning to be good to each other and "fill each other's buckets".

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We read about how to support each other

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Getting ready for our "School Book" - What Do You Do With a Problem?.  Every class in our school has this book, and we will meet in an assembly next week to talk about persisting when you face problems. 

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Getting ready for our "School Book" - What Do You Do With a Problem?.  Every class in our school has this book, and we will meet in an assembly next week to talk about persisting when you face problems. 

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We are brave and OK with "failures".  We are learning to take chances over and over again.  We are proud to learn from our mistakes.  Rosie Revere Engineer made beautiful things when she did not give up her inventing ideas!

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We are brave and OK with "failures".  We are learning to take chances over and over again.  We are proud to learn from our mistakes.  Rosie Revere Engineer made beautiful things when she did not give up her inventing ideas!

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The second day of school we are reading about...

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The second day of school we are reading about...

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Mr. Wiggles and how to take care of our school books.

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to your friends, and family!

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We read about friendship!  The book Peanut Butter and Cupcake was very funny!  We love how the author used food and wires to make silly characters.

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We read about friendship!  The book Peanut Butter and Cupcake was very funny!  We love how the author used food and wires to make silly characters.

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Learning to take care of our library and love our books!

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Learning to take care of our library and love our books!