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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Write Your Own Beginner Readers!

Caden LOVES reading! I couldn't be happier! However, I have been having trouble finding books for him. I love the BOB books but Caden will get bored with the story before he has truly mastered the book and is ready to move on. Any other "beginner readers" that I find at the library are more advanced then Caden is ready for. My solution? Write my own:) It was easier then I thought and Caden loves them! Caden is on book five in the first set of Bob books and the first thing I did was read through them and make a list of all of the words that they had used in the first five books. I used that list to help write my books. I used some words that the books didn't because they were in the same word family(ie cat bat sat hat)

I'm going to share quite a bit in case you'd like to just copy them word for word:) This first one is about Caden taking a nap and it is a true story;) I used regular printer paper and construction paper for the cover. I sewed it together because I have yet to find my stapler since the move:)
Here's the words;
Drake and Caden can run.
Drake and Caden can hop.
Drake can nap.
Did Caden nap?(the picture above is of him in his Ikea bed:)
Caden did not nap.
Caden did hop. (him jumping on his bed)
Mom is mad!
Caden is sad.
Mom did hug Caden.
Caden did hug Mom.
Caden did Nap.
The End

The next one was actually the first one I wrote for him. I ended up putting it in a photo album:)


This book was fun because it was the first time I realized how easy it could be. On the page above I couldn't think of how to say that Caden gives the cat a treat without making it to hard to read. That's when I realized that the Bob books let the picture do some of the story telling so that they can keep the words simple:) Here are the words for this book;
Caden has a dog.
The dog has a Tag.
A cat!(instead of writing why the cat is scared, Caden can draw his own conclusion from the illustration)
Sad cat.
Caden has a bag.
O.K. cat, O.K. dog. (in this picture Caden is giving the dog a bone:)
This next one is my favorite so I included pics of all of the pictures:)









Every time Caden Masters a new book in the bob books I will add to his list of words and write more stories. He has been loving it and I am having so much fun! I think one of the main draws for him is that the stories are about him;)

13 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, I want to hug you! =) I LOVE these because they are about him and that is just what will get B interested! Please please please share more as you write them! I'm going to make one right now!!!!!

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  2. sorry I didn't read your last sentence and then repeated it in my comment. Also, your illustrations are really good! I'm hoping my stick figures can get the message across!=)

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  3. Your books are super cool! What a fantastic and inventive mom you are and what a lucky boy to have his own personalized books. I may have to copy as well. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. This is fantastic!! Great idea and so cute.

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  5. Super cute - you actually draw it! Wow! I use the computer only. If you need some books, i have quite a few in soft copy and can share. [http://karmeleon.blogspot.com/2009/09/making-book.html]

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  6. Those are great! I tried that once, but I am not that creative, lol. The first set of Bob books is kind of dull, but as the sets progress, the stories are better. Also there is a set called Now I'm Reading by Nora Gaydos, which are, IMO, better than Bob Books in terms of being decodable, and have better illustrations/story lines. :)

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  7. What a great idea!! I love it and my new reader will love this too!!

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  8. You have some terrific ideas! Please feel free to drop in to our store and blog (www.montessoirprintshop.com) and take advantage of our monthly free items and sales! Keep up the great work!

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  9. Just wanted to let you know I'm including this and The Bug in a post with links to your blog scheduled for the 8th! =)

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  10. I just came over from The Activity Mom. I love this idea. Thank you for sharing! I'm going to work on this today.

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