Monday, October 28, 2013

"L" is for Library and more

Last week was "L" week in K4 and they journeyed up the hall to the library to visit  the librarian!  It was a quick field trip that required no transportation.  We had fun reading I Took My Frog to the Library.

K5 had fun falling into books.  We read Leaf Man, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves and two new books--Going on a Leaf Hunt and Tap the Magic Tree.  We practiced sequencing using an activity from TPT.  


   
First grade also got to read Tap the Magic Tree and then we read the Library Mouse A Friend's Tale and  labeled parts of books.


Second Grade reviewed parts of books with the power point The Library Doors.  I love this power point because there is a place where I stop it, let the students check out books, then we go back to the power point and find the various parts of the books listed on the remaining to screens using their newly checked out books.  I also love using my iPad, Slide Shark, and Reflections to project the power point.

Third Grade did a crossword puzzle to review parts of the book.  Next week they will take an easy test to see if they learned all their parts.  We also discussed that there are more books in the library than Magic Treehouse and Geronimo Stilton.  I encouraged them to try a Cam Jansen, Horrible Harry, Ruthie's Gift, Encyclopedia Brown, AstroKid , or Boxcar Children to name a few. 


Fourth grade got a quick lesson on the school website and how to find the eBooks necessary for the project on colonial jobs.  I reminded them to use the search engine on the website.  Then showed them how to log in to read the eBooks. books with.  While we were looking at the books of course we looked at the parts of nonfiction books.  Click here for eBooks.


Fifth grade reviewed the differences of Historical Fiction and Non Fiction.  We then searched for the book needed to complete their wax museum project.  Wax Museum will be November 20th.  Each student will dress up as a character important to world history. They also need to bring a prop to illustrate what makes them important in shaping our history.  





Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Why Are Short Weeks Sooooo Long

Why are short weeks so long--- I'm really not sure but this week was only 3 days long but they were looooong days!!!

Monday and Tuesdays I was still in NYC. A little GMA and I'm ready to read library lion next week!!!

                     

Second grade finished their 3 Pigs unit with the i Pads.  We completed a Venn Diagram I learned about from Matt Gomez's Blog.    I used this free download from TPT for an idea also.  After we finished our Venn Diagram the students played a concentration game on this 3 Little Pig App.  They have never checked out books so quickly.  

First Grade worked with Fiction and Non Fiction books.  I gathered a bunch of books and we looked at what made them fiction or non fiction.  I have made a resource list in destiny that makes pulling books for this project easy!!

                                           

Fourth Grade began a unit on Non Fiction Books.  I used the big book--A Pet for Every Person.  I got it several years ago and it is a great book to introduce all the parts of a non fiction book.

Speaking of Destiny Resource Lists--I pull books each week for our K4 classes to go with the letter of the week.  I have made resource lists for each letter.  It makes pulling books for these classes very easy and I don't have to rethink what book goes with which letter or spend time looking for a book that is checked out.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Fire Safety and More

Kindergarten--Fire Safety Week.  We discussed fiction and non fiction books.  We read the non fiction book,  A Trip to the Fire Station.  Next week K5 is going to visit the fire station-- I asked them to let me know if their fire station had a fire pole like the fire station in the book. We then turned our attention to fiction books.  We  read Stop, Drop, and Roll.  We enjoyed practicing this all around the library.  We ended with Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill.  I love this book because it talks about alternate routes during a fire drill.

First Grade played a line up game practicing ABC order.  I  made flashcards with call numbers on them. They quickly went through the pile telling me which mailbox (shelf) the book would go on.  Then I passed out the cards and the students lined up in alphabetical order.  One student commented that Mrs. Green must sing the ABC song a lot.

Second Grade watched the movie of The Three Pigs.  They reviewed all of the different three pigs books and the exit ticket was to answer a fact or opinion (free from Teachers Pay Teachers) about The True Story of the Three Pigs. 

Third Grade is still working on the parts of books.  They completed a worksheet correctly labeling the parts of a  a title page.  After checking out books they had to fill in blank title page using one of the books they just checked out---then exited the room in copy write date order!!

Fourth grade/Fifth grade reviewed library terms playing What's the Word?  I think it came from Upstart--a long, long time ago.


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Fall in the Library

I finished my dictionary pumpkin.  My students have searched for words they know on the pumpkin-- they were shocked to see the word pumpkin right by the bow.  Thanks to Mrs. Thomas, our art teacher for creating my beautiful bow! 


                       

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Goodnight Rose City part 2

I finally got my pictures!!! Thanks to the Tyler Paper!!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Goodnight Rose City

Wish I had a picture to post of Laura Bush---but they wouldn't let me take her picture.
Hearing her speak and then read---Goodnight Rose City was very exciting. Thank you Shannon Glenney for including me.  I did take a picture of some of my Grace Community School  friends --including the artist, a GCS graduate, Lindsay Boone.
 
Jay Ferguson (my headmaster), Lindsay Boone, Denise Rasco, AnnTerese Brandt,
 Me, and Jennifer Dozier (my Principal)

If you live in or near Tyler this is a precious book to read to your children.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Currently

I thought I would link up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her October Currently. This is my first time to participate and I am very excited! Here is what is going on in my world "Currently".

Here is your trick--my new favorite recipe--Biscoff Bars

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

An Interview with Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan

Last week my third graders began a unit on Skylark in their classrooms for Foundation and Frameworks.  (They do Sarah Plain and Tall in the second grade.)

I have seen an interview with Patricia MacLachlan earlier this year on the Blog---Watch. Connect. Read
I saved the interview in my You Tube account and we watched it yesterday.  The third graders loved it.  (So did I!)  They loved learning why she wrote, seeing where she wrote and hearing the stories behind her books.  Thank you for sharing it with me.


PS--I got observed by a member of the Accreditation team visiting my school while we were watching the interview.  My observer loved  it too--and was impressed that I knew what was going on in third grade and could supplement their reading curriculum during  library.  

PSS--every book written by Patricia MacLachlan was checked out by the end of the day.