Tarra and Bella - Friendship Read Aloud

So I was really planning on posting about Curriculum Night since it is tomorrow for my district.  But of course, I forgot my camera and wasn't able to take pictures of the activity my students did to prepare for it.  So I will push that aside and post about it in the next few days.

But I think I owe you all a post, anyhow.  Today I read Tarra & Bella to my students.

 It was kind of just a spur of the moment read aloud, although we are talking about friends and friendships in class with it being the beginning of the year.  A friend I used to teach with gave me the book as a gift a few years ago and I can't believe I had never heard of it before.  It's such a CUTE book and it's a true story!  It's the story of an elephant and a dog that are best friends!  How adorable, right?!  When I showed my students the cover, they asked if it was a true story and when I said yes, they were amazed and couldn't wait to hear it.  When I read it to them, there were even some "awe's."  After we read it, I showed them the video of the story that was aired on CBS News.  It's basically the same as the book, but the students loved actually seeing the elephant and dog in the video.

Check out the video here!

Such a cute story!  The dog has actually died since the book and video came out.  It's included in the link above.  I just kept that from my kiddos, I didn't want them getting sad!  If you haven't read it... you need to!