A Week in Review

We did take time to read about Veterans and talked about why we had Tuesday off.  Students drew and described a veteran.  A HUGE thank you for all you do!!

We spent the week looking at and reading legends.  We discussed how they are stories passed on from person to person.  Each legend we read had an important lesson.

Here are some of the legends we read.

After listening to Raven, students created their very own.

For writing, students wrote their opinion on which legend was their favorite.  On Friday, working in teams (based on which legend they picked), they created a mural showing their favorite illustration.  The murals look amazing hanging up in our community!!

Coyote Steals the Blanket

Monkey

Raven

Thanks to the Animals

How Chipmunk Got His Stripes

Turkeys...turkeys...turkeys!!  That has been our focus in Science. Students brainstormed and wrote, "How to Cook a Turkey."  This is ALWAYS a fun activity but I'm not sure if I would eat any of their turkeys!!  I had one student feel 25 seconds was long enough.  YIKES.  

After their writing, they colored in a coffee filter and dipped it in water to create a turkey.

I also introduced Investigations.  These are 2 page spreads that share information on a topic.  I like to show students a variety of ways to share information and this is a GREAT way to introduce nonfiction text features.  We focused on creating a border, a diagram, a caption, a brace map, and a bulleted list.  

Here are a few examples!!

For Daily 5 next week students will be able to write turkey facts on feathers.  I'm hoping this little guy fills up soon!!

What's Your Favorite Legend?

We read Raven and talked about the lesson.  Even though Raven stole the sun he put it in the sky for everyone to have.  The kids have thoroughly enjoyed these stories.

Here are a couple of legends I'll also be sharing with the class.

They created their own raven.

I even had a super hero come to school this week!!

We discussed movie and book reviews.  They wrote their opinion on which legend was their favorite and why.  Working in groups they created their favorite scene from the story.  

Native American Legends

Our class has been reading a variety of legends.  They absolutely LOVE these stories and the lessons they teach.

Last week we read the books below and our mini lesson was, "Good readers retell the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

We retold the stories and lessons learned in each book.

For the story, How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, students made flip books to retell the story.

We'll continue with legends this week.  Students will listen to Raven and will create one!