BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION, AND HOMESCHOOLING
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EARLY CHILDHOOD THEME STUDIES

The Best of Totline Flannelboards  by Kathleen Cubley. Illustrated by Gary Mohrman. Totline Publications, 2002. For ages 3-6. This book contains the best collection of flannelboard teaching ideas from more than 20 years of Totline Publications. You will find 130 simple rhymes and stories for teaching basic concepts and the seasons, including ready-to-copy patterns and easy directions for creating your own flannelboard cutouts. There are also directions for making the flannelboards themselves. Activities are arranged by season. 279 pages. A $22.99 value. BTH-4017. $7.93-B

Early Childhood Themes Through the Year by Debbie Thompson and Darlene Hardwick. Teacher Created Resources, 2005. At the beginning of this book you will find detailed instructions for making teaching materials that you will be able to use throughout the year, including directions for file folder activities, art recipes, glove puppets, fishing poles, and feelie boxes. Each section of the book is arrange around a theme appropriate for the preschool classroom, and each theme lasts a week. Themes are seasonal when appropriate, following the school year. Some of the included themes are Pets, Apples and Worms, Community Places and People, Senses, Halloween, Colors, Children of the World, Thanksgiving, Mother Goose, Shapes, Winter Holidays, Christmas Around the World, Snowmen, Bears, Birthdays, Monsters, Shadows and Groundhogs, Valentine's Day, Time, Dinosaurs, Pigs, Nutrition, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Spring, Farm, Frogs, Butterflies, Mice, Families, and Circus. 400 pages. BTH-1467. $23.39-D

Early Childhood Themes: Using Art Masterpieces by Sandra E. Fisher. Teacher Created Materials. This year-long curriculum introduces young children to fine art while incorporating it into math, science, language arts, and even snack time. The book consists of eight 3-week themes: Colors, Shapes, Lines, Numbers, Animals, People, Places, and Stories. Each theme is based on specific artists and samples of their works. At the end of each section there is a brief biography of the artists studied. 304 pages. TCM-3084. $22.49-D

Farm Thematic Unit by Cynthia Holzschuher. Teacher Created Resources, 1997. For grades PreK-1. This unit study features activities related to the books Family Farm by Thomas Locker and My Farm by Alison Lester. Other activities go across the curriculum into language arts, math, science, social studies, and art. The culminating activities are A Country Breakfast (recipes included) and / or an Animal Lotto game (instructions for making game provided.) Also included are bulletin board suggestions, songs and poems, an answer key, and a resource list. 80 pages. BTH-2561. $8.99-D.

Food and Nutrition by Mary Ellen Sterling. Teacher Created Resources, 2000. For grades PreK-1. This unit study features activities related to the books Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert; Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris; and Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat. Other activities go across the curriculum into language arts, math, science, social studies, life skills,  and art. Culminating activities include Food Fair, Healthy Eaters  Game, (instructions and patterns included). AT the end is a section on unit management and a bibliography. 80 pages. BTH-2562. $8.99-D

Let's Read! Storytime Crafts Books by Kathryn Totten. Edupress, 2006. Part of the Storytime Crafts series, the programs in Let’s Read! support the role of storytime in emergent literacy. Each storytime program includes information on preparing the children, theme-related annotated book lists, rest activities and a craft. Within each program, several of the multiple intelligences are touched upon so that all of the intelligences are included over a period of several sessions. Throughout the programs, you’ll find literacy tips for parents as well as nursery rhymes and folktales for cultural awareness. The book includes 20 storytime themes, such as Bedtime, Dance, New Baby and Shapes, along with library skills rhymes and songs and handouts for parents. For Pre K -1, 120 pages. BTH-3585. $11.66-D

Preschool Literacy Calendar by Judy Nyberg. Rigby-Steck-Vaughn. 320 pages. This research based resource for preschool teachers covers phonemic awareness, lessons for a full year, and great literature suggestions. it includes 48 weekly themes, over 200 daily themes, and over 1,300 activities. Student activities are reproducible. Here are the weekly themes:    

    September: Hello, Hello; My Family; Apples and Orchards; It's Fall
    October: Being Safe; Do You Know a Dinosaur?; At the Fire Station; It's Halloween
    November: In My Neighborhood; Going to the Grocery Store; Winter is Coming; Thanksgiving
    December: How Things Work; Pajama Party!; In My Home; Holiday Time
    January: Happy New Year!; Getting Along; Let It Snow!; Going to the Zoo
    February: Pick a Pet; Lots of Love; Staying Healthy; Oh, Those Five Senses
    March: By Body; Creepy, Crawly Creatures; Food from the Farm; Jobs People Do
    April: What's Green?; It's Spring; Hey, Birdie!; Watch the Garden Grow
    May: Now I Know; All About Baby Animals; Good, Better, Best; Off in Space
    June: Beautiful Butterflies; A Week of Celebrations; Bug Hunt; It's Summertime!
    July: Red, White, and Blue; The Best Stories; Story Bears; Rhyme Time
    August: When I Grow Up; Into the Woods; Water Fun; Circus, Circus

This all-in-one resource makes planning the curriculum easy. BTH-1537. $21.59-D

Sensational Seasons: Spring edited by Diane Jasinski. Harcourt Achieve (Steck-Vaughn), 2008. Pre-K. 96 pages. This book is great for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers who need age-appropriate spring themes that meet NAEYC educational guidelines. Spring themes include Seed; Bees; Frogs; Rain; Rabbits; Chicks and Hens; Dr. Seuss; Caterpillars; and Earth Day. Each theme includes bulletin board ideas, book lists, circle time activities, interactive snack activities, writing activities, cross-curricular center activities, and reproducible patterns and activity pages. Also included are an ABC / Phonemic Awareness Assessment; an  Emergent Reading Checklist; and an Emergent Writing Checklist. A Standards Correlation Chart is also included. BTH-3417. $12.59-D

Sensational Seasons: Summer edited by Diane Jasinski. Harcourt Achieve (Steck-Vaughn), 2008. Pre-K. 96 pages. This book is great for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers who need age-appropriate summer themes that meet NAEYC educational guidelines. Summer themes include Ants, Sea Horses, Camping, Cows, Fourth of July, Space, Crocodiles and Alligators, Counting, and Circus.  Each theme includes bulletin board ideas, book lists, circle time activities, interactive snack activities, writing activities, cross-curricular center activities, and reproducible patterns and activity pages. Also included are an ABC / Phonemic Awareness Assessment; an  Emergent Reading Checklist; and an Emergent Writing Checklist. A Standards Correlation Chart is also included. BTH-3601. $12.59-D

Sensational Seasons: Fall edited by Diane Jasinski. Harcourt Achieve (Steck-Vaughn), 2008. Pre-K. 96 pages. This book is great for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers who need age-appropriate summer themes that meet NAEYC educational guidelines. Fall themes include A is for Alphabet;  An Apple A Day; Spectacular Spiders; Bears, Bears Everywhere; Picking Pumpkins; Thanksgiving: Then and Now; At the Fire Station; looking at Leaves;  and Monster Mania;  Each theme includes bulletin board ideas, book lists, circle time activities, interactive snack activities, writing activities, cross-curricular center activities, and reproducible patterns and activity pages. Also included are an ABC / Phonemic Awareness Assessment; an  Emergent Reading Checklist; and an Emergent Writing Checklist. A Standards Correlation Chart is also included. BTH-3827. $12.59-D

Sensational Seasons: Winter edited by Diane Jasinski. Harcourt Achieve (Steck-Vaughn), 2008. Pre-K. 96 pages. This book is great for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers who need age-appropriate Winter themes that meet NAEYC educational guidelines. Winter themes in this book include Holiday Celebrations; Winter Fun; Castles in the Kingdom; Digging Up Dinosaurs; B is for Birthdays; Perky Penguins; At the Post Office; Valentine's Day; and Brush Up on Dental Health.  Also included are Rhyming Picture Cards, an ABC / Phonemic Awareness Assessment; an  Emergent Reading Checklist; and an Emergent Writing Checklist. A Standards Correlation Chart is also included. BTH-3967. $12.59-D

Thematic Activities and Patterns for the Early Childhood Classroom by Beverly Ann Beckman. Teacher Created Materials, ©1999. This resource for preschool teachers has five daily plans, one for each day of the week, for fifteen different themes. (Some themes have ten daily plans to cover two weeks.) Each day's plan includes individual activities; group activities; games; songs, action poems or finger plays; and transitions. The fifteen themes are Introduction to School; Bears; Clothing; Color; Communication; Cookies; Dogs; Elephants; Families; Food; Monkeys; Plants; Shapes; Time/Measurement; and Weather. In case it matters to anyone, the unit on families is fairly traditional, though activities take into account that Mom, as well as Dad, might be going to work. The patterns for families for the bulletin board include families of various ethnic backgrounds. Two have a mother, father, and two or three children. Another adds a grandmother to the mix. One shows a mother with two children, and another a father with a daughter.

Patterns are provided for activities and bulletin boards. Recipes are provided for cooking and baking activities. Some activities make use of resources such as books and music you will need to have on hand from other sources. Some of these we can supply you with. Others may be found at the library. There is a materials list for each unit, as well as a literature list. There is also a bibliography at the back of the book. 304 pages. BTH-1468. $22.49-D

Theme Days for Younger Years: Complete Plans for Fun-Filled Days by Joyce Hamman, Edupress, 1993. This book provides plans, material lists, and activities for 20 days of thematic learning. You will find  a teacher's guide to the book, an activity guide with objectives for the theme days, a resource list, and the theme plans themselves. The themes covered are Pillow Day, Hat Day, Spple Day, Balloon Day, Circus Day, Popcorn Day; Pajama Day, Bubble Day, Scarf Day, Shape Day, Animal Day, Color Day, Foot Day, Hand Day, Shadow Day, Snow Day, Penguin Day, Heart Day, Water Day, and Moving Day. 127 pages. EP-154. $11.99. Now out of print, so supply is limited. .

Three Cheers for ..... Series: These monthly activity books for grades PreK and K link activities to state and national standards. There is one book for each month, August through May and a June/July combo summer title. Center activities are identified with the state and national standards they meet.  Each book contains five theme topics; a list of poetry, songs and books; unique bulletin board ideas; patterns; and blackline masters. This is a new series in 2005. As I get titles in stock I will print details of contents. I will try to have titles in stock within two months of their appearance on the calendar. Books may be ordered at any time. It takes about ten days for me to get books that are out of stock.

    Three Cheers for January by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-93122. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for February by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-93130. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for March by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. Units include Teacher Resources; All Kinds of Weather; Pigs; Saint Patrick's Day and the Leprechauns; The Wild West; Eating Healthy Foods; and Author Study: Dr. Seuss. SV-9840X. $11.66-D

     Three Cheers for April by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. Units include Teacher Resources; Spring; Gardens; Eggs-actly Eggs; Our Earth; The Moo-velous Farm; and Author Study -- John Burningham. SV-98418. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for May by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-98256. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for June-July by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-98264. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for August by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-98272. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for September by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-98280. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for October by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-98299. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for November by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-93106. $11.66-D

    Three Cheers for December by Margaret Fetty and Diane Jasinski. SV-93114.  $11.66-D

Year-Round Units for Early Childhood by Joan Burda. Teacher created Materials, © 2001. For Pre K - 1.  This contains two themes for each month from September - June.

• September: Johnny Appleseed and Pets

• October: Five Senses and Halloween

• November; Native Americans and Thanksgiving

• December: Frosty the Snowman and Christmas

• January: Sea Life and New Year's Day

• February: Valentine's Day and Presidents' Birthdays

• March: Dinosaurs and St. Patrick's Day

• April: Eggs and Easter

• May: Space and Occupations

• June: Teddy Bears and Real Bears

Reproducible for classroom use. 304 pages. BTH-1469. $22.49

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