First Graders HEART Mo Willems

We have been busy working on an author study on Mo Willems {he's famous for the pigeon books}.  My little firsties fell in love with his books after we read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!

This one book led my little readers asking for more Mo Willems books and how could I deny them?  So...we read every Mo Willems book from the school's library and read them again and again and again.  We compared characters and author's purpose among the books.  After reading Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.  I came across this helpful drawing tool from an old issue of Time for Kids magazine {glad I saved it!} it helped the kiddos perfect their pigeon illustrations {so easy, by the way!}  OK, now I can't find the picture of the drawing tool from Time for Kids {as soon as I find it, I will make a link for you...sorry about that.}  Here are a few pigeons drawn by my little firsties...

 {love}

 {love}

{love}

So, then my kiddos got busy writing a new version of Don't the Pigeon... {they did such an awesome job!}  We actually turned their writing into talking pictures using the site, blabberize {this is a great tool for digital storytelling and it's free!}  If you want to see or hear our talking pigeons, visit our classroom blog HERE

Mo Willems has an offical website with some super duper games and activities, visit the Mo Willems site. 

I scored big when I came across this little number at This and That Library blog...

{click on the image to make pigeons out of cardboard tubes/rolls}

{Here is an example along with two DVDs that went along perfectly with our study.}

Although, Mo Willems is famous for his pigeon books, he also writes many others.  The next two characters Piggie and Gerald {the elephant} were also loved by my firsties.  

{You have to check out the Piggie and Elephant Dance Game...your kids will love it!}

Oh, one more pigeon art goodie...pigeon hats...love them!!

And lastly, I found two great files to use at the SMART Exchange to use on the SMARTBoard...I love free stuff!