Book Confessions

I have a confession. I really, really don't like Jan Brett.

I don't know why. Maybe as a kid the pictures actually scared me a little. Maybe I find them wordy and slightly boring to read to my kids. Maybe I am just a bad person. I think they may take away my teaching license if they discover that I'm teaching young students and I don't adore her.

But I just can't get into her books.

I'm currently trying to read The Mitten with my class. In past years I would use different versions of The Mitten to compare and contrast and talk about one story but I'm not sure my kids are ready for that this year. We're currently reading one book for two weeks.

I adapted The Mitten- made it a touch and feel book for my kids. I put little mittens on each page- slowly growing bigger so that we could pull in comparing sizes- smallest to biggest. I put the numbers of the animals on each page so we could use it to count. We even can use it to discuss the concept of zero since after the final sneeze there are zero animals in the mitten. I put boardmaker icons on each page to help with my children's vocabulary. I have small toys of all animals that hide in the mitten so that the kids can act out the story.

I'm still bored to death.

We've only done Brett's version of The Mitten for three days and I'm already dying. I think my January blues may be stemming from this rather monotonous misadventure. It would be easy and make my weekend much simpler if I stick to my lesson plans and we continue to do The Mitten for the next week. I just don't think I can take it. It's time for some serious changes so that we'll get our groove back.