Be My Guest Sunday with Diamond Mom and Amelia Bedelia!

Hi everyone! I am really so excited to be presenting my next guest to you.  This little lady and I go back to the beginning of our blogging days (not too long ago, but we were there together from the start!)  Let me tell you a little bit about my friend Charlene from the Diamond Mom's Treasury.

I find Charlene to be fascinating! Not only is she a veteran teacher with great ideas for her classroom, her energy is boundless!  When not teaching, you can find Charlene co-directing the Pacifca Ukes ukulele group. {If I lived closer, she'd be my teacher!!}  If she's not doing that, you can also find her  geocaching!  Yeah, I didn't know how much fun that could be either, until Charlene's blog sent me to the link!

Today, Charlene is presenting how to use one of my favorite series in the classroom.  I am a long-time lover of Amelia Bedelia! She gets the kids to laugh their little selves silly and draws them right in to her tales! If you are teaching idioms in your classroom, or would like to in the future, this post is for you!

Charlene even has a little freebie for you straight from her Treasury of Resources! Let's not wait a second longer...Here's Charlene!

Amelia Bedelia and Idioms

Hi everyone. I am Charlene aka Diamond Mom from Diamond Mom's Treasury and I 

am very excited to be able to be a guest blogger for Tracey today. She was one of the 

first teacher bloggers I connected with when I began this journey just over a year ago. 

I love to read about what she is doing in her classroom. I am happy to be able to share 

something that has been happening in my classroom.
Thanks for inviting me, Tracey!

Have you ever found an activity or unit that you try that just takes off on it's own path? 

I have many times. It always amazes me when an idea that starts out as a teachable 

moment or a small idea takes on a mind of its own and blossoms into a larger study.
Our current bloom is idioms. What started as an introduction to Amelia Bedelia for a 

couple of literal learners, has turned into a fantastic learning experience. It has become 

rich with language and writing opportunities. It has so engaged my students, that they 

are driving their families nuts by catching every idiom or figurative speech that is spoken. Sometimes I have to call for a time out so that we can actually focus on the topics being 

studied. Not that I mind, though. It is always rewarding to see the kids have fun with 

something that they are studying.

We did many different activities  with idioms, and then we decided  to make an idiom booklet of our  own for Hundreds Day. You can  read more about it here. This book  is now on display in the classroom  and it is a popular read for free  reading time.

I teach a grade 2/3 class and I wanted to find some books that would capture their 

interest and be appropriate for reading groups. I scored with Amelia Bedelia. There 

are some I Can Read versions that are great for my struggling readers, some of the 

regular editions that are suitable for my stronger grade 2s and my weaker grade 3s, 

and now the new chapter books that work with my stronger readers.
Right now, everyone is reading about Amelia Bedelia. This is a first!

What I enjoy most about having the same characters, is that we can really look closely 

at them as we meet them in different stories. Everyone is familiar with Amelia Bedelia 

and Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.
Now they are meeting Amelia Bedelia's parents in the chapter books because they are 

stories about her when she was a little girl. They love making connections as they read 

about her adventures.
Herman Parish (nephew of Peggy Parish) has done a wonderful job with these books. 

He also has some new I Can Read books about Amelia Bedelia as a young child. They 

are sure to be a hit as well.

I had so much teaching about idioms,  that I decided to create my own activities  so that we could continue to use them  throughout the year. Here is my newest  creation. I hope you like it. Click on the image to get a free sample. If you like it, the full version is available in my TpT store.

Well, this has been fun. I hope you enjoy sharing idioms and the adventures of 

Amelia Bedelia with your students as much I did. I would love to hear your stories 

as well.