Some New Reads for Room 127

Each year our PTA gives us $50 to spend on our classrooms. These funds need to be spent on items that students will use, consume. This year I spent my dollars on new books from Scholastic. I basically got about $100 dollars of books! Yea! Today I read a book that I will definitely add to my Interactive Read Aloud list. It is the book, "The Three Questions" by Jon J. Muth.
This story is based on a story by Leo Tolstoy. Here are the three questions that the boy asks, :
1. When is the best time to do things?
2. Who is the most important one?
3. What is the right thing to do?

The boy asks his friends the answers, but he learns the answers through a life lesson of helping others. He becomes proud of himself for the work he has done but disappointed that he still doesn't know the answer to his questions. Finally, in the end the old turtle reveals the answers that were there all the time. I won't give away the ending, but the last line reads, "This is why we are here." Beautiful isn't it!




Also, another books we received today was: "Bear's New Friend" by Karma Wilson. I am a great lover of the Bear books. My youngest daughter reads them quite frequently. She loves the animal friends, the lovely rhyme, and the strong, rich vocabulary. Karma Wilson introduces a new friend, the owl. She also introduces the words shy and bashful. Really, a book that little ones will enjoy because they are so cute and sing-songy. However, I have often thought this series would be great for picking words that are out of the ordinary for describing ordinary things. The author is really great at using rich, strong, fancy words. A must read for all ages.