New to Me - Big Plans by Bob Shea and Lane Smith

My second grade-reading journey is very exciting because I am continuously discovering new books to me.  

The other morning my friend @JoEllenMcCarthy tweeted some suggestions of picture books for the beginning of a new year.  Many of the titles I didn't know.  I ran to school and our school library didn't have them so I favorited her tweet and thought I will have to explore these later and next year I would think through goal setting, revisiting our thinking about learning, and/or resolutions with more thought.  Then later that evening @missmac100 shared a sheet she used with her students about one goal and three learning interests.  I loved her sheet because it combined goals and interests.  She also had the students think about an action they could take to pursue their interest.  I've borrowed her idea and reviewed @JoEllenMcCarthy's selection of books but didn't see one that was just right for this.  Then I used google and discovered Big Plans by Bob Shea and Lane Smith.  

I'm not surprised that Big Plans is filled with humorous illustrations and lots of opportunities to read the story with inflection.  A little boy begins brainstorming plans, goals for life and is very excited to share his ideas.  He shouts them at the top of his lungs.  He has large ambitions.  He has a bird for a side kick who is a good follower and provides helpful feedback.  What I like about this book is the willingness of this little boy to dream big and make plans for huge ideas.  I found myself needing to read this book twice to follow the story line with all the dialogue and would recommend reading it twice before talking about generating goals with your students.

I had taken a winter break from Twitter and thought it was a bit nice but the power of our PLN for ideas and fostering our thinking can't be ignored.