"Pete the Cat: I love My White Shoes" is just one of the great Pete the Cat books. I was introduced to these stories about 5 or 6 years ago and have loved them ever since. All of the Pete the Cat books can be found on YouTube with several readings and songs to go along with them. I love these books because Pete always looks at the bright side of things and shows children how to be positive even in hard situations. I Love My White Shoes is about Pete stepping in large piles of numerous things that turn his white shoes different colors. But does Pete get upset? "Goodness no!" This is a catchy phrase in the story that can be used in the classroom for a number of things. With younger grades, it can be used when doing transitions. For example, if the teacher says, "Do we run?", the students could respond, "Goodness no!" and so on. Another fun activity that can be done, and I actually did this in a class, is have the students continue on with the book except they come up with their own pile of something for Pete to step in and decide what color it would turn his shoes. This is great for younger grades to practice creativity and colors! This could be done independently or with a partner/small group. They could write it down and illustrate it as well. If they are struggling with writing and spelling, they could just draw it out.

Lexile: AD460L

Suggested Grade Level: K-2

"Duck for President", by Doreen Cronin would be a great book to read when talking about elections. A lot of students, especially younger students, do not know what election means. This is a great way to introduce voting to them and what it means to be able to vote. Around the time of presidential election or another big election, you could read this book, discuss how to vote, how they are counted, and how a winner is selected. After discussing elections, you could hold an election with your students. Set up a ballot box and give them a piece of paper that looks similar to the way a ballot would look when voting. They could hold their own election for Duck or Farmer Brown or something else you may decide on. There are endless possibilities for voting options. Once everyone has voted, the teacher can count the ballots and record the data on a t-chart for the students to see who won. Students will enjoy getting to voice their opinion and see what the outcome is. 

Lexile Level: AD680L

ATOS Reading Level: 3.9

This book has always been a favorite of mine, especially for the little ones. This book is a fun story about a house where everyone is asleep. It goes through a sequence of people and animals on one cozy bed until one flea bites a mouse. Then everyone is woken up one by one and all crash down and break the cozy bed! This would be a great story to use when talking about sequencing events and retelling a story. A fun activity for younger students would be to make a "napping house" or a "cozy bed" about the size of a small poster. Label different spots on the poster 1-6 to represent the events that happened in the story and attach a Velcro dot to the poster beside each number. Then, find cut outs of the characters from the story and also attach a Velcro dot to the back of the character. The students will then label the "napping house" or "cozy bed", whichever you choose to make, with the character in the order that they appeared in the story. So, beside the number 1, the student would place the granny. By number 2, the student would place the boy, and so on. After they finish labeling 1-6, you could give them a sequencing map for them to record their work they did on the poster. 

ATOS Reading Level: 2.8

Suggested Grade Level: K

"You're Finally Here", by Melanie Watt is one of the newest books to my collection. This books main message is centered around waiting, but can be used for other topics as well. The bunny in the story has been waiting forever for his reader to finally arrive, and he lets you know just how upset he is with you for making him wait so long! At the end he draws up a contract for the reader to sign telling him you will stay forever! This story is funny and children will love it. "You're Finally Here" can be used as a first day back story to read to your students to let them know how happy you are that they are in your classroom and that you have waited all summer for them to get to your class! Before the first day you could type up a "contract" for the students to sign. It could be about classroom rules or things that you expect from your students or anything you chose to make it about. This story can also be used for a writing prompt about what they did all summer while you were waiting on them. This book has many options for activities. I will say it is hard to find a new copy of this book for a cheap price. It also doesn't have a lot of information for it. It is usually out of stock online at Barnes and Noble, but I can't say for in-store shopping. Books a million does not carry it unless they have changed recently. 

Lexile: AD390L

Guided Reading Grade Level: 2

Guided Reading: K

"Turkey Trouble", by Wendi Silvano is about a tricky turkey who doesn't want to be on the dinner table for Thanksgiving. Turkey comes up with numerous funny outfits to try to blend in on the farm, but the other animals call him out each time. Turkey comes up with a costume to look like a horse, a cow, a pig, a sheep, and a rooster, but he isn't fooling anybody! They all know it's Turkey. In this story there are repetitive lines so the students can join in while reading! This makes it fun and engaging for them and they are more likely to recall the story. Finally, Turkey has a brilliant idea which saves him from being served on a silver platter. WHEW! Turkey was safe for one more year. Some activities to do with this story would be sequencing of events charts to check for comprehension. Also, the students could do a reader's theater and assign everyone a part to act out. Another fun activity I did with a second grade class was having the students create their own menu and write it out. They were to choose an appetizer, main course, salad, soup, sides, and dessert. They enjoyed this activity and loved sharing their menu with their classmates. Any type of Thanksgiving activity would go along with this cute and fun story. 

Lexile: AD460L

Guided Reading Level: K

ATOS Reading Level: 2.3