New Books!

Yesterday at our staff meeting, the EL Department presented teachers with the gift of new multicultural books for classroom libraries!  I LOVE books so I was super happy to share these gifts with Kindergarten this morning.  We spent a good amount of time looking through and enjoying our new books and then I shared my personal favorite.  We all look for something when looking for a great new read and one really resonated with me: Two Problems for Sophia by Jim Averbeck.  It's funny, empowering, provides some new facts and uses sophisticated language.  It doesn't hurt that the main characters are a girl and her pet giraffe!  Anyways, Sophia has two problems with her pet Giraffe, Noodle and what they are will surprise you: Noodle gives sloppy kisses (we learned a Giraffe's tongue is about 20 inches long!) and she snores very loudly (Giraffes do make a humming noise when they sleep which sounds like snoring).  Sophia's family wants to send Noodle back but she does her research and build a sleep mask for Noodle that turns his loud snores into a lullaby.  Inspired by this book, we created some beautiful Giraffe paintings.  It was a wonderful day in Kindergarten!