Today during our reading time everyone was given a book baggie with several books they could read.   For most children these are emergent texts that have just a few words.  They follow a predictable pattern with pictures that provide clues about the text.  For example I can run, I can jump etc.  The books are a mix of homemade books that the children have written some of the words in, and real books, which tend to generate a lot of excitement.   Some children will read these books by focusing on the words, while others may rely solely on the pictures.  At this point either is fine and both provide great practice for future reading.  After several weeks of practice the homemade books will come home to make room for new ones.

Today we also worked on illustrations for our mouse story.  We began by sketching the pictures to make sure they were just right and included lots of detail.  Later we painted them.  Once they are dry we will put the words on and put the pages together to make our book.