Let's Talk about Books!

I'm linking up with you lovely Deanna Jump 

to share a book I found this past 13-14 school year. 

I purchased this book earlier this year because the cover art 

caught my eye in the bookstore. 

As a first grade teacher teaching "How to" {procedural} writing is a must. 

Finding good mentor texts for read-alouds is necessary. 

When I read the story I fell in L-O-V-E! 

Rocket is lured into learning to read and this sweet little bird becomes his teacher. Rocket learns to read after a few steps. My first graders loved all the connections we made to this story. They recalled when they were learning letters and sounds. They remembered that they had to practice to get better at it. They noticed the seasons passed in this story and connected it to our school year. They realized as the seasons pass they become smarter in all that they practice at school. They fell in love with Rocket and were so happy that he learned how to read. 

I loved this text because it has substance. It's not just a cute book. I used it to teach both reading and writing. My students responses were amazing! They could write a story map, sequence, inference, summarize, and the list goes on! When we set out to write our own "how to's" they could go back to the story and recall details to help them put their ideas in a sequential order. I really loved this book and hope you will check it out.