October 31, 2016
What's Your Favorite Halloween Candy?
We wrote our opinions on our favorite Halloween candy. After brainstorming a list they were sent off to write.
Hey, That's My Monster!
Today I shared this story with my class and we created our very own monsters.
YES, we painted on Halloween and loved every second of it. Here they are at work and here are some of the finished monsters. Students had to write 5 adjectives about them.
Reader's Infer
This week we're focusing on inferring. This is when you take what you know and clues from a story to draw your own conclusions.
This is the book I began with to teach this strategy. One, it's about a dog and two it's a simple read that will have kids laughing.
This is a story about a dog who's mom continues to ask him to bark. Each time he does he makes a different animal sound and it's not just the simple, "Arf." He meows, quacks, oinks, and moos.
Mom takes him to the vet and the vet begins to pull each animal out of the dog. By the end of the story you believe he's cured because he finally barks. Mom is ready to show him off to everyone on the street and when she asks him to bark he says, "Hello."
I thought most kids would figure out the ending but this was a tricky one. Here are some of their responses.
Tomorrow I'll be reading The Black Rabbit.
This is the book I began with to teach this strategy. One, it's about a dog and two it's a simple read that will have kids laughing.
This is a story about a dog who's mom continues to ask him to bark. Each time he does he makes a different animal sound and it's not just the simple, "Arf." He meows, quacks, oinks, and moos.
Mom takes him to the vet and the vet begins to pull each animal out of the dog. By the end of the story you believe he's cured because he finally barks. Mom is ready to show him off to everyone on the street and when she asks him to bark he says, "Hello."
I thought most kids would figure out the ending but this was a tricky one. Here are some of their responses.
Tomorrow I'll be reading The Black Rabbit.
October 30, 2016
October 28, 2016
Halloween a Wee Bit Early
Brysin's mom brought in some yummy treats for us to eat so we began our Halloween celebration a bit early.
Yes, they had a bit of a sugar rush but it was the end of the day and I was lucky enough to be sending them home!
Thank you for bringing in the de-licious treats.
Yes, they had a bit of a sugar rush but it was the end of the day and I was lucky enough to be sending them home!
Thank you for bringing in the de-licious treats.
I Need My Monster
I Need My Monster is such an adorable book. I personally LOVE the illustrations. That's one of the reasons I bought the book when I first saw it.
After reading this story, students worked in groups to describe Ethan and each monster. Here's their work.
After reading this story, students worked in groups to describe Ethan and each monster. Here's their work.
And look what I just got in the mail! Once I saw there was a new book I just had to order it. Nothing like Amazon Prime to get it here quick. I'll be reading this on Monday!!
Author and Illustrator Russ Cox
Russ Cox, author and illustrator, came to our school to visit today. He showed us some of the books he has worked on, sketches, and had the kids use pencil and paper to create some original artwork.
Here are a few of his sketches.
And one of my personal favorites!
He then showed us how to turn any shape into something and we worked and we worked a bit more.
Once our sketches were completed we had time to share.
A HUGE thank you to Russ. The kids loved spending the morning with you!
If you want to learn more about him you can check out his website (http://www.smilingotis.com/index.html).
Here are a few of his sketches.
And one of my personal favorites!
He then showed us how to turn any shape into something and we worked and we worked a bit more.
Once our sketches were completed we had time to share.
If you want to learn more about him you can check out his website (http://www.smilingotis.com/index.html).
Creepy, Crawly Spiders
We finished our spider unit this week. We wrote our opinions, made informational books (on Black Widows and Tarantulas), and today created these creepy, crawly guys!
I only managed to get pictures of two finished projects due to me multi-tasking and helping everyone else! Phew, it was a lot of work but they look great hanging from the ceiling.
To make these I buy black plates, cut out the middle, and hole punch around. I have the styrofoam balls already painted so students just need to add the legs. I hot glue the eyes on and they decided if they want the spider hanging or in the web.
They couldn't stop talking about these and were excited to have their very own!
I only managed to get pictures of two finished projects due to me multi-tasking and helping everyone else! Phew, it was a lot of work but they look great hanging from the ceiling.
To make these I buy black plates, cut out the middle, and hole punch around. I have the styrofoam balls already painted so students just need to add the legs. I hot glue the eyes on and they decided if they want the spider hanging or in the web.
They couldn't stop talking about these and were excited to have their very own!
Reader's Visualize
This week we learned readers visualize. We create movies in our heads as we read. I always teach this by starting with poems. We underlined key words that helped paint a picture in our heads and then we illustrated.
Some of the poems I used are Bod, My Fat Cat, Pumpkin Picking, and A Careless Zookeeper Named Blake
Some of the poems I used are Bod, My Fat Cat, Pumpkin Picking, and A Careless Zookeeper Named Blake
Next week we'll read, My Neighbor's Dog is Purple and Owls.
October 23, 2016
October 21, 2016
More on Writer's Workshop
Students have now been introduced to all 3 forms of writing-opinion, narrative, and informational.
We worked on narrative and informational writing this week.
After listening to a read aloud about dad we brainstormed activities we liked to do with our dads.
I modeled my work and then they wrote. I also introduced our Writer's Checklist (which is a FREEBIE at my TpT Store Writer's Editing Checklist). They are now accountable for checking over their work before conferencing with me.
When we begin our spider unit I always start with the opinion piece, "Are you afraid of spiders?" Of course I wrote I'm not because they're tiny but if I came across a BIG one I just might change my opinion.
They had great opinions. For those not afraid of spiders they said spiders are tiny and small. Kids who were afraid of them said they were big, they can bite, you might run into their webs, and the webs are gross.
We've worked so hard in writing and I'm so PROUD of their growth!