Read for the Record-Oct. 3

This year the Read for the Record book is Otis by Loren Long.  In the story Otis is a special tractor. He loves his farmer and he loves to work. And he loves the little calf in the next stall, whom he purrs to sleep with his soft motor. In fact, the two become great friends: they play in the fields, leap hay bales, and play ring-around-the-rosy by Mud Pond. But when Otis is replaced with the big yellow tractor, he is cast away behind the barn, unused, unnoticed . . . until the little calf gets stuck in Mud Pond. Then there is only one tractor—and it’s not big or yellow—who can come to the rescue. It is little old Otis who saves his friend. It is Otis who saves the day. (synopsis taken from the back of the book)

My team and I have been busy planning for this special day.  At my school we turn Read for the Record into a whole day event.  Here are some of the activities we have planned so far.

Tractor Cut and Paste.  You can get the free cut outs here.

Barn Yard Labeling.  There are so many different things to label in this picture we decided to make stickers of the words so  that students could just stick the word next to the picture. Then they can color.  Grab a copy of the barn yard labeling activity here and the stickers here. Print the stickers on return address labels.  Note that when printing the barn yard you need to print it on 11x17 paper.

We are also having our wonderful room moms make us tractor sugar cookies that the kids can decorate.  We are going to use Oreo's for the tires and red icing for the tractor.  You can get the cookie cutters from The Cookie Cutter Company. They have tons of different designs for a very low prices.

For more information about Read for the Record visit there site.