Favorite Things Linky {February}

The Favorite Things Linky is a great way to share your 3 favorite anythings! Grab the template and button and link up below! If this is your first time linking up, check out our Linky Parties page for more details!

Do you teach theme? My students struggle with it every year. This year, I approached it a bit different. Instead of just talking about different themes, I read specific books with specific themes. We then charted out the themes as we went. That way, my students had a book to reflect on while thinking about the theme of their books and future books that we will read. So here goes... 

Let me break down the picture books and the themes that I use them for in my classroom...

This book is a fabulous book for teaching the theme of Courage. Molly Lou Melon is extremely short. She constantly gets teased by Ronald Durkin. She has some very special talents that help her overcome this bullying and stand out. Throughout the whole story, Molly Lou Melon has the courage to show her friends and classmates her talents. Ronald Durkin realizes his mistakes and the two of them actually become friends! We find out at the end where all of Molly Lou's courage comes from. This book is one of my favorites and one of my students' too! 

I chose to focus on Compassion for this book. You could easily choose the theme of friendship or empathy. In this story, Champ dislikes Walter an awful lot. For a fundraiser, the person who raises the most money will win a truckload of potato chips. After Champ breaks his leg in a game, he is unable to play baseball for the rest of the season and he misses the "big game". Walter scores the winning run and everything seems to be going his way. He wins the truckload of chips too! Throughout the story, we find out that Walter's mom is a single parent. They don't have much money and he has to ride his rusty bike everywhere. In the end, Walter shows Champ that it isn't all about having the best of everything. Sometimes it is so much more than that! {Spoiler Alert: They become friends!!!}

This book is a super cute. It is the story of, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" only it has Bigfoot in it. Oh, and it is told from the point of view of Bigfoot. I think it gives the story an interesting perspective. Throughout the story, Ben keeps telling everyone in the town that he just saw Bigfoot. At one point, he even uses a prop to make gigantic footprints. Eventually, everyone decides that he isn't being honest and that he is lying. Then, Bigfoot actually appears! He says that he is intrigued by this tenacious little fellow. When Ben tries to tell everyone that Bigfoot is there and he is "stealing" his bike and his dog, no one believes him so no one comes to see. It wraps up by showing readers, that always telling the truth is so important! 

Can't wait to see what your Three Favorite... Anythings are! Make sure you grab the graphic/button above and link up below.

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