Another Terrific Reading Teacher’s Resource From Barefoot Books!

Here is my latest “Reading Teacher” resource from Barefoot Books.

Barefoot Books Guided Reading pdf >  readinglevelsus2  

      

     

On Friday April 11, 2008 we were given notice that our complete line of books were given “Guided Reading” ratings* from Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading levels. ‘Reading Teachers’ are able to use the approximate equivalents to assist them in placing reading recovery children into guided reading groups for their classrooms. The ratings are separated into sections to help transition children from beginner readers to advanced  levels:

• Levels A-B     (Emergent readers)
• Levels B-G     ( Early readers)
• Levels H-M    (Transitional readers)
• Levels N-R     (Self-extending readers)
• Levels S-Z      ( Advanced readers)

*The ratings are correlated to Grade level and Reading Recovery level in the Barefoot Books pdf list included above.

Criteria for rating each book consists of an analysis of it’s components; including book length, size of font, layout, punctuation, illustrations, ideas, plot, character development, use of vocabulary & language, content theme, and text structure. 

My hat is off to the all the “Reading Teachers” out there and hope you can use this resource to bring many of our wonderfully written & gorgeously illustrated Barefoot Books into your classrooms. Along with the over 400 great books you can find at my online Barefoot Books store; we have many classroom props to extend the learning into gross-motor & hands-on experiences with our beautiful line of Folkmanis puppets, Putumayo Kids music CDs, audio books, and learning games which correspond to our books.

Check out my Barefoot Books store under ‘Children’s Books’  in the list at right to view & purchase all the titles (along with  classroom props) listed in the “Reading Teacher” resource pdf .

And watch here for news of our upcoming article in USA Today about Barefoot Books used in fundraising for educational bookfairs.

Web 2.0 for Kids! Want safe and protected sites online for kids? Try kidthing*

The internet is a terrific learning tool for kids; but many families and teachers heve trouble finding places for kids to explore the tools while staying safe from predators online.

I recommend a new social platform for kids online that is still in Beta development; but was created with kids and families safe learning experiences foremost in their plans. I saw it on one of my favorite kids literacy blogs: Literacy Is Priceless, a blog for Reading Teachers: see blogroll!

It is called kidthing* <click here to go to site.

What does kidthing* do?             Here is some points taken from their site.

         – it is not a web browser, it lives on your hard drive/so kids don’t surf the net.

         – it is a safe and secure place for kids to learn, read, play games, create/use  educational material

         – it gives parents choices, and is contolled by the grown-ups account

         – the kidthing* store offers a wide variety of learning  materials

         – kidthings* lets you make your own learning play mix

         – it allows for personalization (as in a book with a child’s name as one of the charactors)

         – it fosters sharing (as in Grandma can record herself reading to the child, then the child can download & listen/ or creating a song or story – then sending it to friends or family members)  

Try it out and give them feedback while its still in Beta development and have your say about its best (or not so good) parts, all for free!

For U.S.Teachers: Barefoot Books”Accelerated Reader” List Jan/2007

 

See Barefoot Books On AR List Below!

 

 

 

 

 

I have finally gotten around to the list – sorry, it was quarterly tax time last weekend; so was a little busier than anticipated.  Since there were a ton of hits on Monday — I felt sufficently  guilty enough to jump on this today (Tuesday). So with no further ado; here it is! 

Barefoot Books Titles and the AR (Accelerated Reader) level = books on the list are worth 0.5 points per quiz.

Thanks go to another Barefoot Stallholder (Jennifer A. of Tacoma, Washington) for this list. Jennifer also supplied a telephone number to Renaissance Learning customer service in Wisconsin (parent company of the AR).  Books on the list can be seen & purchased here on my Barefoot Books website; and your school librarian can order them through normal channels for use in your class, along with the quizzes.  Corresponding Activity Sheets for some of the books can be found on the Barefoot sight to expand the visual and kinesthetic learning modes. You can email me or leave a comment for any questions on these  activity sheets. I will go check to see the actual page and then place it here with an edit:    Barefoot ACTIVITY SHEETS .  <click here for the activity sheets PDFs.

Here are 2 examples:  A) Creepy Crawly Calypso       B) Fun With Thesaurus Rex

Renaissance Learning customer service number (1-800-338-4204) to answer any questions on the AR program. 

Level/Title

0.6 Cleo The Cat

0.7 Cleo and Caspar

0.7 Cleo on the Move

0.7 Where’s The Cat?

0.8 Cleo In The Snow

1.1 Catch That Goat

1.3 Bear’s Busy Family

1.4 I Dreamt I Was A Dinosaur

1.5 Bear In Sunshine

1.8 Bear At Home

1.8 Thesaurus Rex

1.9 We All Went On Safari

2.0 Secret Seahorse

2.0 Daddy Island

2.1 A Dragon On The Doorstep

2.1 I Took The Moon For A Walk

2.3 Bear About Town

2.3 Creepy Crawley Calypso

2.4 An Island In the Sun

2.5 My Granny Went To Market

2.7 What’s This? A Seed’s Story

2.8 Bear On A Bike

2.8 Shrinking Sam

2.8 The Animal Boogie

2.8 The Little Red Hen and The Ear of Wheat

2.8 We’re Sailing To Galapagos

2.9 Off We Go To Mexico

When I find more, I will try to add to the list; however your librarian may be the first one to have information on new books being added to the list. Our Barefoot Books Spring & Summer 2008 catalog (usually available in late March/early April ) will have many new titles to add to the list. Hope you have lots of fun & success using Barefoot Books in your classrooms!            Ta-Ta! From Talula!

Teachers! Barefoot Is On Accelerated Reader List

Hello today to all teachers out there in young children’s classrooms around the U.S. !

Are you struggling to find good literary art that also fits the “NO Child Left Behind Act“?

Looking for curriculum ideas to tie-in with books on the Accelerated Reader List?

Why not try our Barefoot Books on topics like cultural diversity, global environment, folktales from other culures/countries, or discuss the alikes/differences of princess stories from around the world?

I will post a list this week-end on all the Barefoot Book titles on the Accelerated Readers List.

Here is the link for those who want to see for yourselves: http://www.renlearn.com/store/  and the toll-free number to the Accelerated Reader (Renaissance Learning) Company is 1-800-338-4204 to see if your school is a customer already.

Content quizzes are already available to use on your existing Accelerated Reader software or can be purchased through your schools librarian software individually.

You can also add activity sheets to expand the classroom exposure to visual & kinetic learning styles by using Barefoot Book’s FREE Downloadable Activity Sheets available on my Barefoot website.  

Talula’s Resources 1/13/08

Have another couple of resources for Teachers and Families that were left off the page on 1/12/08.

1) Learning Resources  Content: Learning materials & games for families, plus Prek & Kinder classroom materials with “Correlations to state, provincial and Head Start standards…for hundreds of your favorite Learning Resources products!”

site: www*LearningResources*com   (Find Link At Bottom Of Page In Categories)

2) Putumayo Kids      Content: Absolutely wonderful world music for kids at home and in classrooms. You can find some in my Barefoot Books Houston store “Talula’s Wagon”, just click the Barefoot Books link found at the bottom of the page.  Or for large orders such as schools; contact Putumayo directly.