Kindergarten read, What Does Bunny See?, by Linda Sue Park. We then made daisies for a bulletin board that will go up for the author visit. We also used one of the students and imitated the ALA READ posters. The student is holding the author's book.
The daisies were made using paper cups and cutting lines down the side of the cup. Next students used a marker to color the center. They will be stapled all over the bulletin board next. We wrote as a class using the pattern that the author uses in the book making up our own stanza using the color white and rhyming the first sentence with the color.
Grade 1 read, The Firekeeper's Son, and wrote about how people communicate today.
Grade 2 read, The Third Gift, by Linda Sue Park.
Grade 3 read, The Third Gift.
Grade 4 put together their sijo poems
Grade 5 is creating a Jeopardy game based on a biography of Linda Sue Park.
We are gearing up for Linda Sue Park's visit to the school in March.
Kindergarten - We read, The Squeaky Door, by Margaret Read McDonald. This is a great book for patterns, repetition, and audience participation. I usually have instruments for the kids to do the click, squeaky door, animal sounds but tried something different this time. I used the iPads and downloaded the app, Sound Touch Lite, that had animal sounds. As the grandma adds animals to the bed the students push the button of the animal to play the sound.
This was an interesting experience. I accidentally did it with a first grade class and the lesson didn't work. The students weren't using the iPads and didn't have any self-control. Other teachers have set parameters and students know to only use apps. I had to have the 1st graders stop and flip the iPads over because they wouldn't listen to the story and play the sounds on cue - they just wanted to play with the iPads. I then read the same book to several classes of kindergarteners and the lesson went great. I didn't have to have them flip the iPads over because they were under control. They were engaged with the story more than the app so they would look up when I resumed reading it. Below is a clip of me teaching and them using the iPads:
Grade 1: I read Martina the beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy. I love this book and can read it a bazillion times without tiring of it.
Grade 2: I read one chapter each of Linda Sue Park's biography. It was too hard for them and I was either defining words or standing on my head trying to get them enthused.
Grade 3: Lesson 3 of book trailers. I made a video so the sub could show it when I was gone coaching in Manila. It seemed to go better than last year with the additional graphic organizer.
Grade 4: Read Tap Dancing on the Roof by Linda Sue Park. These are sijo poems a form of Korean haiku. The are 3 lines with 14-16 syllables. We wrote one together as a class. Here's an example:
Pizza. Salad. Dessert. Chicken legs. Dumplings. Spaghetti. (14)
Splat! Food dumped on my tray. Tastes good, tastes bad. Looks like a picture. (15)
Revenge! Toss food in the garbage. Yuck, I got some on my shoe. (15)
Grade 5: Students wrote a book review and got an Edmodo badge for completing. About 1/2 of the students finished in each class. Here's a video of the lesson:
It is always kind of nuts after break because tennis season is winding up and we travel to another country for a competition. Fun, but I'm usually behind on everything.
Kindergarten - we started our Linda Sue Park study. She's the visiting author in March. We read Bee Bim Bop and What does Bunny See? Nice patterns in text to reinforce language learning.
Grade 1 - We read, Monkey : a trickster tale from India by Gerald McDermott. The students loved this book! On a sad note the talented author died January 10, 2013.
Grade 2 - We read, The Third Gift, by Linda Sue Park. The like the surprise ending and how the story unfolds. The students weren't quite sure what tree it was and what the two were going to do with the sap.
Grade 3 - Lesson 2 of the book trailer project. I tried a new graphic organizer where students had to write the lead, summary, problem, and opinion. We will see if the next writing organizer is better than last years.
Grade 4 - We read about the Korean bonfire signal system in Linda Sue Park's novel, The Firekeeper's Son. A boy's father breaks his ankle going up the mountain to light the fire and his young son goes in his place. He struggles internally about whether to light the fire or not because he knows if he doesn't the soldiers will come. And oh! How he wants to see the soldiers. Good mentor text with a clear story arc and internal conflict in a character.
Grade 5 - Students signed up or registered for Goodreads. They had to add me as their friend and from there added other friends. I told students if they wrote a review I would give them an Edmodo Goodreads badge (that I created).
Kindergarten to Grade 4 - I read the new books I got to them. It was really fun and worked well with all the cancellations from Christmas parties and assemblies.
Grade 5 - Finished the iMovie and discovered some improvements needed for next year. Don't let students choose books with no pictures - doesn't work. Some students hadn't read the book even though the instructions were everyone in group needs to read book. Maybe I should do what I did with grade 4 students and choose excellent picture books having the group familiarize themselves with the program. Then in the spring have them do one on their own with a more difficult book. This might scaffold better considering I lost a few kiddos on the way. Some students don't come to library because of ESL so they didn't do the lesson. I can't control that. The lesson took 3 rotations. One longer than I had planned which is another reason I like my idea of picture books.
Here's an example with a picture book:
Here's a nonfiction book example. What is funny about it is the boy picked the romantic theme and chose a book on a car he adores:
Kindergarten - Students performed Pete the Cat. The book has been scanned and I put the audio to it using a video editing program. I did this lesson differently from my past and had students cut out the shoes versus me cutting them. After checking out books, the students placed their books off the floor on the benches to the right side then I hand out scissors, 4 colored pieces of construction paper (white, brown, red, and blue), and a shoe template. Students pick a color 4 to 5 depending on class size. I give them one pair of scissors, 2 pieces of construction paper, and one template. Once 4-5 students have chosen one color I hide it behind me and let them chose from what is left. Placing the shoe template over the paper, the student cuts through two pieces of paper around the outline. Most could do this. When they are done they sit on the benches by color on the left side. I play an example on the projector of a class performing it so they get the idea. I play the book and students run to the stage when Pete steps in their colored shoes.
When setting up make sure to tell the students to not scream or run. They still run but say it anyway. When all of the students go up at the end it is somewhat chaotic and crazy. Skip that part if you have a wild class.
I have the students sing along throughout the book and they are usually chirping the chorus well after we have finished. This ties in with the Readers study patterns unit.
Here's a highlight video:
Grade 1 - Students began their nonfiction unit. I read Mako Shark by Deborah Nuzzolo and pointed out parts of a nonfiction book (call #, glossary, index, table of contents, resourses). The essential questions are How do I read a nonfiction book? What's the main idea? Readers use nonfiction text features to get information (index, other resources, table of contents). Nonfiction text help readers help us answer questions.
Grade 2 - After break students will begin their character unit. I had them find their favorite character in a book, say the title, author and why they like that character using the camera app on the iPad with the iRig microphone. The iRig posed some problems because they pushed down the switch turning off the sound. It would be easier to not use the iRig but the library is so noisy with multiple classes I like to use it because the white noise is blocked out. Here are students working:
Grade 3 - We started our book trailer lesson. Students wrote down their top 3 books on a piece of paper and I grouped them according to books read. I usually have to call up 2-3 kids to see if they have read the same books.
Grade 4 - I downloaded about 50 professionally made book trailers from our library and scholastic and showed them to students - about 20 minutes. The book fair is next week and I wanted to get them excited about reading. After the trailers, they have time to look for the books in the library with my help.
Grade 5 - Lesson 2 using the iMovie app. Some students finished trailers. One student used a book with no pictures. I need to make sure they don't do that. Also, several students chose books where one read it and the other didn't. Maybe next year I'll use a checklist. 1. Partners have read book 2. Book has pictures 3. Trailer focuses on problem. I will change the worksheet. (Take off that they can act out the book on worksheet - doesn't come out as well as other trailers. Okay to mix pictures and themselves, but not just themselves.)
Kindergarten - I read through my stack of new books. Students really liked The Bear Who Shared by Catherine Rayner. The illustrations are fascinating. She outlines the bear and fills it in with different shapes. It might be a good book for teaching patterns and shapes. On a funny note I read a book about Gertrude Stein by Jonah Winter and it was imitating her play on words. It was supposed to be funny and a boy kept saying, "This isn't funny" which of course made me laugh all the more. I know that Jonah Winter's books don't target the wee ones but it was the last book in my pile of newbies and I really wanted to read it.
Grade 1 - They are doing character studies so I picked books with distinct characters such as Henry and Mudge, Cam Jansen, Mercer Mayer, Ling & Ting, and Fox. The language arts curriculum describes the goals of the character unit as students studying what characters say, do, and how they change; plus, "they will retell to help them hold onto meaning and will make predictions based on the characteristics of the characters in their books." I could enhance this lesson by having students retell the story using the video on the iPad. The only problem is the books above are too long except for some of the Mercer Mayer. I would have to find shorter books like Biscuit, Pup & Hound, etc.
Grade 2 - I read the book, Okay by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, where the narrator says all the things they are okay at doing. Students love that the character is actually made out of the "O" and "K." They asked me to tip the book this way and that so they could spy the character in the illustrations. I wanted students to write things they were okay at but rather than be burdened with pencil and paper I wanted them to use the Dragon Dictation app. It didn't work. The app doesn't type the correct words and they got so distracted by it that they forgot about the task at hand. Some thought it so funny that they started saying all sorts of goofy things. I don't think the lesson was a complete failure. I think next time I'll just use a recorder. They can record on Sound Cloud their thoughts and I can then post it to the library blog... I need to incorporate my blog into more of my lessons as a way for students to post their work done on the iPad and then check out on their own.
Grade 3 - Teachers asked me to show the students Fountas & Pinnell. Do you know I've done this lesson 22 times?! Nuff said. I did email Follett Company and asked for them to add the advanced feature on their mobile app. Students can't search for leveled books on the app at the moment.
Grade 4 - I read Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter. We had some awesome discussions about it in every class. The first class wanted to know how long panda's live. We looked it up online. The next class wanted to find out how Mr. Harkness died. We looked that up on Wikipedia and the information was incorrect! That sparked a whole discussion on information that is accurate and not accurate and how we can learn the difference. It was a teachable moment and the students were so engaged! I was also happy with myself because I made a conscious effort to ask open-ended questions and praise students for their thinking on the text. I am also trying to think more about letting students turn and talk with a partner about the text. I don't do this enough and it is quite powerful.
Grade 5 - We started our book trailers. I showed students a book trailer I did and one done on a picture book by some 4th graders. Next, I showed the app and gave a short demo on how it works. I gave students a graphic organizer to write a book trailer and told them to get in pairs. There are some threesomes and I'm not sure how this will work. They had to choose a book and write a trailer that focuses on the problem in the story. They can't give away the ending. Those who finished quickly I gave an iPad to and let them begin. This allowed for differentiation and seemed to work well. The students were so excited to use iMovie on the iPad. What an amazing motivator. I had one boy come at recess to ask if he could work on it because he didn't want to wait for the next rotation.
Kindergarten read, What Does Bunny See?, by Linda Sue Park. We then made daisies for a bulletin board that will go up for the author visit. We also used one of the students and imitated the ALA READ posters. The student is holding the author's book.
The daisies were made using paper cups and cutting lines down the side of the cup. Next students used a marker to color the center. They will be stapled all over the bulletin board next. We wrote as a class using the pattern that the author uses in the book making up our own stanza using the color white and rhyming the first sentence with the color.
Grade 1 read, The Firekeeper's Son, and wrote about how people communicate today.
