Friday, December 16, 2011

Book Tree


Every year at school (except last year because I was too drained by my class) I put up my book tree. I wait until after Christmas to get book related ornaments on sale, decreasing the agony of a stolen or broken ornament (there's only ever been 1 ornament stolen, and 1 broken by a custodian). I leave the corresponding book under the tree. It's a festive way to encourage students to read while bringing some christ-less holiday spirit into the classroom. Since a lot of our students are homeless I think it's nice to have our own tree.

The "Where the Wild Things Are" ornaments are probably my favorites!



Most students have seen The Polar Express but haven't heard the book. It's a Caldecott Award winner by Chris Van Allsburg.


I teach a week long unit on different versions of The Gingerbread Man, which are definitely classroom favorites. I usually conduct a scavenger hunt for The Gingerbread Man (a dog toy) at the end of the week.


Curious George, put down the wreath!


Seriously, how cute is The Very Hungry Caterpillar ornament?

Dr. Seuss ornaments are the easiest to come by. Fox in Socks is above.

Horton Hears a Who ("A person's a person, no matter how small.")


Probably my favorite Dr. Seuss story is Yertle the Turtle. Dr. Seuss based Yertle off of Adolf Hitler, and the word "burp" was used in a children's book for the first time ever in this story. Scandalous! On the ornament the heads bobble.


The Grinch, appropriately, sits on top of our tree.

The silver ornaments are all Dr. Seuss characters but don't photograph well. They are from Aunt Judy.

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