Book Love: Bernice Gets Carried Away

I shared this book during our birthday theme, and the kids keep asking to read it during center choice time, so it's making it to the Book Love list. :)

I feel like kids and grown-ups alike can relate to this story, because at times we all feel like things aren't going our way and it's easy to get caught up in those emotions. I especially love the illustrations in this book, and how they become brighter along with the main character's mood.

Read-Aloud Tip: Some ideas in this story may not be as obvious to young children right away during the read-aloud. I like to take the time to point out what the characters are feeling and why they might be feeling that way, encouraging them to connect to the text. Sometimes there are clues in the illustrations that help us to understand, and other times we need to think of our own ideas.

Connecting Activities: There are a lot of fun balloon activities you could do alongside this book. We kept things pretty simple this year, but I was thinking it would be cool to explore helium balloons, and why more or less balloons would lift something off the ground for a STEM connection. Maybe if the interest in the book keeps up, we will try it! Anway, we painted with dot markers, played with balloons, and did some loose parts exploring this time around.

 This activity was one of our first for exploring loose parts this year. As I watched the students interact with the materials, I noticed a lot of one-to-one correspondence practice happening as they created the balloons. It's always fun to see what learning experiences the students create for themselves!