Written by Katrina Goldsaito
Illustrated by Julia Kuo

Looking to incorporate sound sensory details, onomatopoeia and fun into your students’ writing? Look no further than The Sound of Silence written by Katrina Goldsaito and illustrated by Julia Kuo.  After reading the book, be sure to check out their We Doki Doki page at http://thesoundofsilence.org/wedokidoki/1 
Then, to celebrate the end of the year, create a The Sounds of the Classroom book. Take a photo of each child doing one of the activities below, and he or she can create onomatopoeia to accompany his or her action. Enjoy!

The Sounds of the Classroom
-Boots squelching
-Children conferencing
-Child drinking
-Child eating
-Children laughing
-Child hushing
-Coat zipping
-Eraser erasing
-Hole punching
-Marker marking
-Nose blowing
-Page turning
-Paper passing
-Pencil writing
-Scissors cutting
-Sharpener sharpening
-Shoes shuffling
-Soap squirting
-Teacher talking
-Towel dispensing
-Water pouring
-Water running
-Whiteboard humming

​Which One Doesn’t Belong by Christopher Danielson belongs in every elementary school classroom. Each student should be able to pick up a copy of this book any time she chooses, look at the four shapes on each page and ask herself why each shape doesn’t belong. It’s a puzzle with multiple answers. But more importantly, it’s a tool that will lead to rich, deep mathematical discussions in the classroom. And most importantly, it will help your learners respect one another as they listen to each other’s ideas. Sound overwhelming? No, worries! There’s an outstanding, detailed, easy-to-follow, seventy-five page teacher’s guide to go with it. Check it out at https://www.stenhouse.com/content/which-one-doesnt-belong .