Read to Me and a Freebie!

Read to Me International is a Hawaii organization that helps foster the love of reading in children by reading aloud to them.  I had the pleasure of hosting the President of the Foundation, Lynne Waihee, in my classroom today!  Not only did she bring with her beautiful Hawaiian picture books for my classroom ----> Look!

But she also read a book to my class, played the ukulele, sang songs, and did a cute craft project!

The book she read was Kolohe ‘Iole (or naughty rat in Hawaiian).  It is a darling book about a rat who did things to scare the people, and he never listened to his mom when she scolded him.  But when the keiki (kids) set up a trap to catch him, his makuahine (mother) saved him.  He learned to finally be kind.  Such a cute book with adorable illustrations and full of native Hawaiian words to teach your class.

After the book, we all made a cute little mouse craft.  The kids loved it, especially the pipe cleaner tails that they could position how they wanted!

We started with a heart and two circles on card stock, 5 inches of black pipe cleaner, scissors, glue, and some tape. 

The pipe cleaner gets taped onto the top of the heart, so it doesn't fall out.

Next, fold the heart in half and glue together.  Then glue the circles on both sides to make the mouse shape. Draw on an eye, nose, and whiskers!

Lynne had brought a template with her, but I quickly made up a digital one so I could share it with all of you!  Go ahead and grab it from Google Drive!

If you are interested in teaching about another culture, but also about the importance of kindness, this story and easy little craft might be just the thing for you!

I'm also teaming up with my fav Hawaiian bloggers for an October Giveaway!  

We are each giving away a fall-themed unit, so make sure to rush over to Corinna's blog Surfin' Through Second to enter the Rafflecopter!  The giveaway ends on Friday!