Autumn Wish List
By Patricia Broderick and Allen Raymond

Spin for Success...
With the new spinners from Creative Teaching Press. These are so clever. There are spinners for reading comprehension and spinners for morning routines and other areas as well. You're going to love them all.

The Reading Comprehension spinners ask all the necessary questions to insure that the child really comprehends what he or she has read. There are six segments on each of the two wheels; The Reading Elements wheel asks: Where does the story take place? Who are the main characters? What is the main idea of the story? What are the problems or conflicts? What was the solution? How did the story end?

The Tell Me About It wheel asks the child (or team): What part of the story would you change? Explain why. Retell the story. Tell about three events from the story. Why do you think the author ended the story that way? Tell about a similar incident that happened to you. Give the book a new title. Tell why you chose it.

The Morning Routine spinner package has one wheel for Calendar Time (What day of the week will it be tomorrow? What will the date be one week from today?) and one wheel for Good Morning (How can you be a helper today? How many days have we been in school? etc.)

You're going to find these spinners invaluable. We received the two packages (a total of four spinners) we've mentioned, but there are others: Before Guided Reading, Word Wall, Circle Time and Interactive Writing. Each title has two spin boards in the package. We can't think of anything K-3 kids will enjoy more than learning with spinners.

Each package is $5.99 at your local school supply store. Or, check Creative Teaching Press' website for these and lots more good things.
www.creativeteaching.com

Lynne Cherry...
Has given us a beautiful new book, How Groundhog's Garden Grew. In typical Cherry fashion, the research on this picture book is impeccable. The list of references for this effort has to be seen to be believed. Yet, all this research doesn't detract from the whimsical tone and a good story.

We meet Little Groundhog and Squirrel who take us from gathering, drying and planting seeds, to tending the garden and harvesting and eating fresh vegetables. This will be a real motivator for early childhood kids to eat their veggies.

The art is just lovely; Lynne is a super-talented illustrator. We can't emphasize enough the research she did (all sources are listed). Blue Sky Press (a Scholastic imprint) is the publisher. $15.95 at your local bookstore. A perfect book for Thanksgiving curriculum.
www.scholastic.com

Not your old school notebook...
Mead has built a better mousetrap. The marbleized composition books we've all used throughout the years have a new look – thanks to Mead listening to teachers. The new format has the ruled lines starting about 4 1/2" down the page. The top is left unlined for illustration. We all know the value of sketching in our journals and this makes it so easy for kids. It's one of those things that makes us say, "Why didn't we think of that a long time ago?"

The permanence of the traditional composition book has contributed to its popularity over the years. Building on this, Mead has introduced three-and five-subject composition books with heavyweight dividers separating the sections. These are available in the traditional black and white marbleized covers as well as in strong colors of purple, green, red and blue.

Ask your local stationer for the new improved model.
www.mead.com

October, 2003, Vol.34, No.2