Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Hello all, wondered if you could help me. Unfortunately my school has a really inadequate supply of big books generally and I struggle to find texts in school to use for shared reading with the children. I have bought my own copy of Peace at Last, whatever next, hungry caterpillar and bear hunt but wondered if you could advise a few more for me. I am thinking along the lines of texts with language patterns/easy for the children to join in with after a couple of reads. Thank you! Emma
AnonyMouse_2776 Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Brown Bear, Brown Bear Polar Bear, Polar Bear ... well, all the books of Eric Carle Dear Zoo The Little Red Hen Don't Forget the Bacon The Gingerbread Man That is all I can think about now.
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Walking through the jungle is a nice one. Pass the Jam Jim Oxford Reading Tree do good big book rhyming stories
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Thanks you two. Have ordered Dear Zoo and brown bear brown bear. Just wish school would realise they should provide some instead of me purchasing my own!
AnonyMouse_2760 Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Emma Jane, You really shouldnt have to buy them all yourself. I have often bought the odd one myself but they are so expensive Do you have access to a whiteboard or computer as there are several 'big books' available online which you can view (for example, the infant explorer from Sebastian Swan website, or there is the little red ship and sammy the seagul which you should be able to locate if you do a google search. The other thing you might be able to access is the schools library service is your authority has one. Failing that - I often have colleagues from other schools asking for the loan of big books is there a colleague at a neighbouring school who would give you a specific book on loan for a week? Good luck M x
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 The Train ride is a good one for repetative language. Is yourschool not part of a school library service? I place an order every half term and they collect it all togehter and i go and collect - brilliant! I did buy a lot of resources (and still do) but have since found the confidence to go and ask for books etc - if you need them then the school should be able to find a few pennies for a couple of big books - "shy bairns get nowt!" is a favourite saying in our school and it seems to working so far!!! although my luck may run out one day!!!!! Sarah xoxoxo
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Hi Emma don't know if it helps but if you have a Matalan's near you they often sell big books for £3 or 4 . i've picked up some great ones
AnonyMouse_1999 Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 You beat me to it Steph, that's just what I was going to say. I have also found big books in some of the cheapy shops, some for as little as £1.99. If you are in East Anglia then 'Roys' are another good source for inexpensive big books.
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 You also need access to non-fiction/poetry/rhymes as well as the fiction stories with patterned language. Really you should be choosing a big book to suit the text type you are focussing on, rather than the other way round. So if you are ina aposition to get them from somewhere else look at your longer term plans and then choose books that will model the features of texts effectively. I do think that you shouldn't be buying essential resources - for starters if you leave then they go with you which just exacerbates the problem, but essentially you don't earn your salary just to give it back again. This issue needs to be brought to the attention of the FSCo/LitCO/HT - whoever needs to recognise there is a problem. What do the other teachers do?? You can't all be buying your own books surely! Papering over the cracks is never in anyones interests, particularly the childrens, who should have access to a print rich environment which includes the texts you need to teach the skills they are entitled to be taught. It's not in your interests either - just work out how much this is costing!! Cx
AnonyMouse_3401 Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Hi, Our local library has big books for loan for pre schools, schools etc. They have a good selection and they give me a list so I can just pre order them as and when I need them, might be worth a look. Sharon
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Thanks everyone for your responses and ideas. To be honest I do not mind making the odd purchase myself especially if it is something I can use in the future. However, the issue regarding the lack of quality fiction texts at school is an issue for the infants in general. The literacy co-ordinator did an audit of texts in July and despite cooments from all FS/KS1 staff only purchased a couple of new texts and said we should make more use of the (very old) ORT big books I agree they can have their place, but I'm sorry, they are often pretty uninspiring! In terms of what the other KS1/FS staff do - make do (We do have a fairly good selection of non-fiction books)and borrow from each other. The head says there is NO money for ANYTHING at the moment! I am aware that I need to include a wide range of texts within my teaching and use lots of poetry (often just enlarging those I find to A3) , rhymes and non-fiction. I will soon be concentrating on language patterns which is why I asked for suggestions on those types of books. Thanks for the idea of the library service - at school we order our topic books from there and I never thought of asking for big books but it's a great idea. Thanks Geraldine and Steph - I had no idea Matalan sold big books! Emma x
Guest Posted October 30, 2005 Posted October 30, 2005 Sometimes The Works sells big books really cheaply. I think it is just luck though!
AnonyMouse_3401 Posted October 31, 2005 Posted October 31, 2005 I get books from my local library rather than the schools library service, I have a library card in the schools name that allows me to get up to 60 books for 12 weeks at a time. We also subscribe to the Schools Library Service but are currently trying to build up our own topic books so we don't have to use it as it is so exspensive, also it is not always practical to order books a term in advance. In suffolk the variety of all types of books is very good.
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