Hello Book Bums families!
Volunteers Needed!
If you live in the greater Cincinnati area and you’d like to help some struggling readers, Dr. Christy, with The Faith Alliance, will be leading an after-school program at Lakota’s Creekside Early Childhood School on Thursdays from 4-5:30 p.m. beginning in November. You do not need to be a teacher. Dr. Christy will be leading the instruction. You’d just be sitting alongside some great kids, making them feel like the treasures they are, and guiding and encouraging them as they use all the engaging materials. This is also a great opportunity for teachers who’d like to learn more about the science of reading! Email Dr. Christy at [email protected] for more information. It’s such a fun way to make a significant difference in the lives of some kids who need us most!
We’re wishing you lots of sweet treats and giggles on Halloween!
Bookbums.com is an Amazon Associate; We earn from qualifying purchases. This means that if you click on a link to Amazon.com and make a purchase, We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We do recommend the products. Feel free to find them by other means.
Word of the Week
apparition (ap-uh-rish-un) noun/person, place, or thing - a ghostly image or the appearance of something remarkable and unexpected
In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane believes he is being chased by the apparition of the Headless Horseman.
Literary Calendar
• November is National Family Literacy Month, a celebration that sounds like it was tailor-made for Book Bums families!
• You can celebrate family literacy this month by reading together, letting your kids catch you reading on your own, making a special trip to the library or bookstore, sharing the Word of the Week from our newsletter, writing Halloween or autumn poems, writing notes of gratitude to helpers in your lives, having a book club get together with friends.
• We're sure you can think of more ways to celebrate. Email and let us know what you're doing. We'd love to see pictures too!
From our Bookshelves
Ben and Becky in the Haunted House, by Sindy McKay, is a fun book to read with elementary-aged kids—especially at this time of year. The book is a “We Both Read” book that’s designed for shared reading, but I often read the whole thing myself. Either way works.
In the story, you’ll meet Ben and Becky who are two kids visiting their grandparents. Grandma is the sensible one, while Grandpa acts like a big kid sometimes. Though this book is not written for Halloween, it’s perfect for getting a little bit spooky with your kids. It strikes a balance between creee-py and comical, and it’s great for enriching kids’ vocabularies, too.
Tips for Families
If you’re looking for some crafty fun, you may want to create some easy-peasy haunted houses. You need three pieces of construction paper; one white, one black, and one yellow. You’ll also need some scissors, glue, and a black crayon. You can create the general shape of the haunted house for younger kids, and you’ll likely need to teach your kids how to cut the windows. To make the flaps/shutters, gently fold the paper vertically (without creasing), and cut two straight, side-by-side, horizontal snips. This will create a band that you’ll cut again, from top to bottom. Fold each shutter back and glue a piece of yellow paper behind the opening.
Here’s another quick and easy craft you can do if you have some extra black construction paper. Simply rinse an empty milk jug, add some eyes and a mouth, and add some battery-operated lights.
Tips for Readers and Writers
Using Commas Correctly, Week 6 of 8
Use commas to separate tags (who said something) from quotations (what they said).
A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. If the speaker’s exact words are used, there is often a tag such as Brady said or whispered Momma that identifies the speaker. We use commas to separate tags from the quotations. However, if a quotation before a tag ends in a question mark or exclamation point, there’s no need for a comma.
Example:
My brother whispered, “Do you believe in ghosts?”
“I have never seen a ghost,” I declared, “but I’m not sure what that is right behind you!”
“Quit being so mean to him,” my sister reprimanded.
Use some elbow macaroni noodles to teach your kids when to use commas in their writing. Scoop some more of those curved noodles, print the attached PDF, and grab some glue. That’s all you’ll need for more fun-focused practice using commas. Share with your kids this week’s featured rules for using commas. Then, have them insert the macaroni commas where they belong on the provided PDF. For beginning readers, you read the text for them. More advanced readers can do this work independently. After you’ve checked for accuracy, have your kids attach their macaroni commas to the paper with some glue. When the glue dries, display your sixth set of Use Your Noodle activity sheets to review the lessons they’ve learned so far.
Poem for Halloween
Halloween Party
By Kenn Nesbitt
We’re having a Halloween party at school.
I’m dressed up like Dracula. Man, I look cool!
I dyed my hair black, and I cut off my bangs.
I’m wearing a cape and some fake plastic fangs.
I put on some makeup to paint my face white,
like creatures that only come out in the night.
My fingernails, too, are all pointed and red.
I look like I’m recently back from the dead.
My mom drops me off, and I run into school
and suddenly feel like the world’s biggest fool.
The other kids stare like I’m some kind of freak—
the Halloween party is not till next week.
Practical Grammar
Oh, you poor, pour, pore, pore thing . . .
Do you get these mixed up? Maybe not, but you may just learn something new about the word pore!
We teach kids that . . .
The word poor means lacking money. A way to remember the spelling is that poor has only two pennies (the two o’s).
The word pour (which is an odd spelling) has a u, with an open top, that you could pour some lemonade into.
The word pore has two meanings. A pore is a tiny (/tine-ee/) opening, and to pore means to read or look at very closely.
The scientist pored through the research so she could learn about how sweat passes through the tiny pores in our skin.
Read Free Kindle books with the Kindle app!
If you know someone who would benefit from our newsletter or tutoring at Book Bums, please share this email with them! Thank you.
Copyright © 2024 Book Bums, All rights reserved
Our mailing address is:
7967 Cincinnati-Dayton Road Suite L
West Chester, OH 45069