To answer, "What are some good books for my child to read?"

This Essential Books for Kids and Teens of books for children of all ages, compiled by Common Sense media, is so good I just had to share it with all of our wonderful MWE parents! Keep those kiddos reading and enjoyng the use of their imagination through encouraging them to read any of these titles!

Toddler Story Time: Mo Willems

I am so excited to share with you one of my most favorite children's authors... MO WILLEMS (otherwise known as the guy who writes the Pigeon books)!!

Today's story time we had lots of fun reading Mo Willem's books. Mrs. Simmons, a fabulous lady I share an office with, started us off with her son's favorite Mo Willems book, Cat the Cat, Who is That?, which she read with fabulously fun voices. The great thing about the Cat the Cat books are that pre-school age children can "read" them by themselves because of the simplicity and predictability of the story. (Watch Mrs. Simmons' son Thomas read one here.) Then we sang along with Miss Nina to "If you're happy and you know it", which helped us get up and moving! Next we watched an interview with Cat the Cat and Mo Willems. We could not leave out the Pigeon, so then we read The Pigeon wants a Puppy!, which was one of my son's favorite books when he was younger. (If you don't know Pigeon, be sure to check out Don't let the Pigeon drive the bus!) Next we watched an animated version of There's a bird on your head which introduced us to Mo's Elephant and Pig characters.We finished story time with Edwina: the dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct. I shared a fun website with lots of Mo Willems characters, stories, and activities called "Pigeon Presents" which is celebrating Pigeon's 10th birthday this year! And if that wasn't enough Mo Willems fun for you, be sure to join us at MWE on Tuesday, April 23rd at 5:00PM when Blue Willow Book Shop brings Mo Willems to our cafeteria to share his newest book That is Not a Good Idea!

Toddler Story Time: Brothers and Sisters

Happy National Sibling Day!! Today we celebrated the wonderful relationship we have with our brothers and sisters. We started by reading Big Brother, Little Brother by Marci Curtis. Brothers have so many fun adventures together! Have you had a pillow fight or played in mud puddles lately? Next we watched Miss Nina's newest video "Shoo fly" because sometimes we want our brothers and sisters to just go away! Then we read Another Brother by Matthew Cordell where one sheep has brothers who copy everything he does, and then one day they stop! He didn't realize he liked the attention from his brothers until he didn't have it anymore. "Between the Lions" brought us "How to be" different animals which taught us how to be a good person (and brother or sister) in the end. Our last book was Sisters by David McPhail which told about how two sisters were alike and different. One thing all brothers and sister have in common is how much they LOVE EACH OTHER! So, take time to hug a brother or a sister today and enjoy this "Family Songs" playlist together.

Toddler Story Time - dots and circles

Today's story time was simple:  dots and circles, and lots of interactive fun! We started by reading the book Circles by Marybeth Lorbiecki. The boys and girls helped me find and count so many circles! We decided that the yummiest circles were doughnuts, cookies, and cakes! Mmmmm... Next we sang "There's a little wheel a-turning in my heart" with Miss Nina. I love all the hand motions and sweet singing we did together! Then we were ready to read Ten black dots by Donald Crews that asked us to count the black dots making all sorts of pictures! After all of that, I asked the kids to help me read and interact with the book Press here by Herve Tullet.  It was so much fun to see the dots move and change depending on whether we pressed them, blew on them, or clapped for them! And finally, we watched the group OK Go sing "Three Primary Colors" in a Sesame Street segment. Before we sang our "Goodbye Song" we made pictures out of dot stickers.  Everyone made a colorful picture of green, blue, yellow, purple, and red circles. We won't have story time next week due to testing, so I look forward to seeing everyone again in 2 weeks!

Digital Citizenship

All MWE students have been discussing Digital Citizenship this month.  An important part of digital citizenship is staying safe while on the internet.  Parents have an important role to play in staying informed about what children are doing and seeing while online.  Here are a few tips from Common Sense Media and our friends Phineas and Ferb (and friends) about how to stay safe while online.

Toddler Story Time- Springtime

Since today was the first day of Spring, we read about this wonderful season of new beginnings. The first book we read was "My first day" by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins. In this book we learned about many different animals on the first day of their lives. Did you know that emperor penguins and a Darwin frogs are watched over by their dad before they are born? Next we sang "Five green and speckled frogs" with Miss Nina.  Then we listened to Eric Carle read his well-loved book "The very hungry caterpillar." Next we read "In the small, small pond" by Denise Fleming about all the animals who live near the water. All our stories were about the animals who come out in the Spring, so our next story-song was called "Over in the meadow" by Barefoot Books. Finally we read about a very silly bear who can't get enough after waking up from his winter hibernation in "Bear wants more" by Karma Wilson. I was glad to see a few friends come out, despite our spring thunderstorm. I hope we see even more little bookworms next time!

"Reading Discovery Featuring First Lady Barbara Bush"

This Connect 2 Texas video includes a reading by Barbara Bush and a performance by the Texas A&M band. It will be showing in the MWE library for 3rd-5th graders to see during their library times this week.