"I cannot live without books." -Thomas Jefferson

  I told you I love surprises! I am sure you do too! Here is my first Ramona Recommends SURPRISE POST. I know you are excited! Before I started my Ramona Recommends Blog, I had posted a few books on my personal insta that I thought I would share with you. Before I share, I must put out a public service announcement: Taking pictures is not my strong suite, please bear with me. Even though the picture quality is icky, the books I have chosen are amazing!

How Big Can your Pumpkin Grow?

I love this book because it has wonderful illustrations and talks about different US monuments. Could be used in school for measurement, creative writing, and social studies.  How would you use this book in your classroom?

 Bully

Bullying is a required topic to cover in most schools across the country. Kids are bullied everyday(sad, but true). Patricia Polacco's Bully gives a clear picture of both sides of bullying. I think it is important to explain to students even though this is a fictional story,these events do happen in real life. Use this book to introduce a class discussion on bullying. #bullyingissonotcool

 Memoirs of a Goldfish

Ahhhh, I LOVE THIS BOOK! Go buy it... like now. Come on I know you want to! As I sit here and type, I am laughing out loud thinking about the plot of this story. Wonder what it's like to be a fish that lives in a glass bowl for his short (or long) life? We have all had that fish that we wish would kick it to the toilet bowl, but doesn't! California 4th grade teachers-great way to introduce narrative writing for the state writing test. Fyi-I just saw on amazon that the author just came out with Memoirs of a Hamster (going on my Christmas list)!

 Boris Ate a Thesaurus

Are your children in a word rut? Do they talk in simple words? Let Boris broaden their lexicon filing cabinet. Boris is a little boy who happens to have eaten a thesaurus. He will teach,show,explain how to make dead words come ALIVE.
*Fun Fact- Last year, I went to the OC Children's Book Festival in Costa Mesa, California where I met the author and illustrator of Boris. They were super friendly. I even got this book (look up), signed for my collection. Happy dance!

The Important Book

 The world is full of competition. We all want to feel important and give something to the world (at least I do).  This beautiful poetic book, illustrates why simple objects are important to the world. As classroom teachers and parents, it is our job to make children feel important. I believe this book is wonderful because it speaks that simple "things" can be important.The important thing about me is the way I love to make people smile. This would be a great helper for the beginning of school. Read the book and then have students come up with their own, "The important thing about me is...". Last year, I had each student create an important page and then I created a classroom book. It was a classroom favorite during free time.

Picture Day Perfection

Remember picture day? I will never forget my junior year photo. Lets just say I would have not won for best smile. Get your kids ready for picture day with this hilarious book about how to make your picture look awful. Let the kids practice what not to do on picture day.

 

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!

 Look there is a picture book for everything! Math Guru, Marilyn Burns, writes a cute mathematical tale about how to fit 32 people at the dinner table for Spaghetti. This is a great #commoncore book! Makes the kids really think!

Spoon

Need a quick book to teach about story elements. Well, here it is! I used this book to teach 5th graders about story elements. Spoon wishes he could be a knife, a fork, or chopsticks because they can all do cool things. For example, chopsticks always has a friend with him no matter what! As the story progresses, Spoon realizes he is pretty great too- he gets to dive into a bowl of ice cream alllll the time.

Hope you enjoyed the surprise!