Children Just Like Me

Time has certainly got away from me! I can't believe that we are starting our fourth week of school. In that time we've started a brand new spelling format in both fifth and sixth grade courtesy of Jen Bengel from Out of This World Literacy, and it is going so well that I just have to smile! We've set up our interactive notebooks in all subjects and grades. We've taken STARS Reading and Math tests that have allowed me to better meet the needs of my students. We've already done one STEM activity and have met with our college professor mentor for an awesome chemistry lesson about lemons. In other words.... We are off to a terrific year of fun and learning!

My little blog, however, has been a bit neglected by me of late. It's been almost two weeks since last I uploaded a post, but my blog itself hasn't been neglected. It's recently received a much needed facelift. I love the new design created by Blogs Fit for a Queen. The Teacher's Desk 6 now looks like a real teacher's desk, complete with all of the tools that I use and photographs of my two fuzz girls, Lulu and Daisy. Courtney and Shannon were terrific to work with! If you are looking to redesign your blog, I HIGHLY recommend Blogs Fit for a Queen!

Something else that got a bit neglected since school started is my reading time. I've spent most of my reading time working on school related reading. This weekend I decided to reclaim a little ME TIME in the reading area. I had received a gorgeous book about three weeks ago and just hadn't had time to do more than look at it and yearn! Today I did MORE...

Published by DK Books, Children Just Like Me: A New Celebration of Children around the World is a gorgeous publication of colorful photographs, maps, graphics, and engaging text that just begs to be read.

A favorite in classrooms, libraries, and homes, Children Just Like Me is a comprehensive view of international cultures, exploring diverse backgrounds from Argentina to New Zealand to China to Israel. With this brand new edition, children will learn about their peers around the world through engaging photographs and understandable text laid out in DK's distinctive style. 

Highlighting 36 different countries, Children Just Like Me profiles 44 children and their daily lives. From rural farms to busy cities to riverboats, this celebration of children around the world shows the many ways children are different and the many ways they are the same, no matter where they live. 

Meet Bolat, an eight-year-old from Kazakhstan who likes to cycle, play with his pet dogs, and play the dromba; Joaquin from New Jersey who enjoys reading and spending time with his family, and whose favorite food is bacon; or Yaroslav from Moscow who likes to make robots. Daily routines, stories of friends and family, and dreams for the future are spoken directly from the children themselves, making the content appropriate and interesting to draw in young readers. 

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this special project, all-new photography, maps, and facts give unique insight to children's lives in our world today showing their homes, food, outfits, schools, families, and hobbies. 

A passport to a celebratory journey around the world, Children Just Like Me is perfect for children who are curious about the children of the world and their stories...Amazon.com.

The possibilities for using this book in a classroom are endless. Reading one biography a day aloud to students in elementary grades can lead to discussions about how children around the world are so alike yet so different.

Mini-research activities to learn more about the information presented in the text are bound to be a natural occurrence.

If classrooms are fortunate to have the original text published twenty years ago, a compare/contrast lesson could be in order.

DK Publishers has created a beautiful, useful, and engaging publication that teachers will want to use. They have also provided a free activity kit on their website to aid teachers. There are several sheets to use with students...

...as well as a downloadable .pdf file.

Children Just Like Me is available for purchase at a very reasonable price via a link at DK Books, the publisher, or directly on Amazon.com where it is already the #1 New Release in Children's Customs and Traditions Books.

I'm linking up with This Literacy Life for Book Talk Thursday (even though it's Sunday... I had good intentions). Be sure to stop by her blog for loads of posts about terrific books to use in your classroom!