Once Upon a Time Fairy Tale Trailers
Each child was given a fairy tale to investigate and decide if it met the criteria to be a fairy tale. If it did they made a trailer that demonstrated tcriteria.
They had fun with this project and
Lived Happily Ever After….
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If I Were IN Charge of the WORLD!
Modeled after Judith Vorst's poem with the same title, the children wrote their own in the Book Creator App. They then read their poem aloud like a poet. I'd love to visit some of their worlds! Here are some - more will be added as they are completed. Their completed books are on their iPads in iBooks.
Based on the book, The Best Part of Me by Miss Lord's 3,4,5th grade class I read aloud to the children , we responded to the same prompt and wrote a simple poem.
If I could use only 6 words to describe me they would be…… A 6 word poem about me!
Each child made a small mini me box and placed their 6 word poems inside.
Each child made a small mini me box and placed their 6 word poems inside.
April is National Poetry month.
Our unit on poetry & figurative language begins with the children learning about idioms. Each child was given two idioms and were asked to teach the class the literal as well as non literal meaning using iMovie. They drew pictures and in teams acted out the literal meanings. These were then combined into an iMovie. They worked hard and it shows!
In addition, they have been analyzing and responding to poems in their writer's notebook preparing them for the poems they will start writing. I will be integrating the arts and music into this unit.
Enjoy their movies! They did a WONDERFUL job. The student's acting out of the literal meanings were excellent and fun to film.
Our unit on poetry & figurative language begins with the children learning about idioms. Each child was given two idioms and were asked to teach the class the literal as well as non literal meaning using iMovie. They drew pictures and in teams acted out the literal meanings. These were then combined into an iMovie. They worked hard and it shows!
In addition, they have been analyzing and responding to poems in their writer's notebook preparing them for the poems they will start writing. I will be integrating the arts and music into this unit.
Enjoy their movies! They did a WONDERFUL job. The student's acting out of the literal meanings were excellent and fun to film.
Heart Felt words of Love, Kindness For Valentines Day Of Course!
The children used a brainstorming sheet to list 10-12 words they would find on valentine cards or on candy conversation hearts. They were then asked to pick their favorites and make a heart cloud for their families. Very sweet. Enjoy.
Complimenting Horton
After reading aloud Horton Hears a Who!, we discussed his courage of protecting Whoville. Then after talking about this traits of kindness, trustworthiness, and perseverance we practiced giving him compliments using the Book Creator App. Please note that each 'speck' is a photo of a student in class yelling their compliment to Horton.
Cause and Effect Rockets
We are beginning our unit on Cause and Effect. This is the understanding that our actions or those of others have effects on us or other people, events , objects etc. I am reading books and our month's songs will focus on this concept. We started out reading Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch, a book about how one simple kind act changed a person.
Blogging and Conversations
Blogging has been challenging as we move into commenting on each other's blogs. Up to this point we have been responding to a prompt in complete sentences with the appropriate punctuation in Edmodo & Kidblog. Once they began commenting on each others writings several lessons were required to help them understand how to comment appropriately. Blogging is like a conversation so this week we have been working on commenting and replying using the following guidelines are my words "Kind, Specific or Helpful?" Blogging is a powerful means of communication but it also comes with the responsibility and knowledge that we write with the same manners and rules we speak to one another. Each child signed a blogging contract and are practicing their new responsibilities & digital citizenship before being able to blog at home.
We are also practicing conversational skills during pirate club.
We are also practicing conversational skills during pirate club.
Publishing
A proud moment for each child as they published their reindeer reports and could now read them in iBooks. Each child has had the opportunity to share their book with the class . Enjoy the pictures of those I was able to photograph. I was out several days so did miss a few.
EGGuality and Martin Luther King
Two eggs helped us explain Martin Luther King's message & struggle to achieve equal rights for all. Miss Jennie and I 'debated' which egg was better, should they be sold in the same stores etc. We then asked the kids for their opinions. The eggs were then cracked opened to illustrate that the color on the outside of the egg made no difference with regards to the inside of each egg - which were alike. This was then followed by a discussion and a short video about Martin Luther King.
2 New Apps for the New Year.
The start of the New Year began with the children learning a new App called Kidblog. They picked it up quickly. They began using Kidblog for their daily responses to read alouds or their own reading. They loved it . We are all hoping that everyone will be able to start blogging at home once they have mastered this process at school independently.
They also began working on their Reindeer Research reports using the Book Creator App. Which was also new to them. They were already proficient with using Edmodo so were able to use the links I provided there to continue the research they started at home for homework. They were so engrossed in making their ebooks that they didn't want to go to recess! It was a fabulous 1st week back.
The start of the New Year began with the children learning a new App called Kidblog. They picked it up quickly. They began using Kidblog for their daily responses to read alouds or their own reading. They loved it . We are all hoping that everyone will be able to start blogging at home once they have mastered this process at school independently.
They also began working on their Reindeer Research reports using the Book Creator App. Which was also new to them. They were already proficient with using Edmodo so were able to use the links I provided there to continue the research they started at home for homework. They were so engrossed in making their ebooks that they didn't want to go to recess! It was a fabulous 1st week back.
After all that Math and Vocabulary work .. Let's Sing.
A bit rough- learning as we go !
Grinch vs Scrooge
This December provided many opportunities to compare and contrast events, characters and weather in writing & discussions for the students.
We read A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas then developed a Venn Diagram which focussed on the similarities and differences these two characters shared.
We read A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas then developed a Venn Diagram which focussed on the similarities and differences these two characters shared.
Christmas Around the World
Reading descriptions, making a Popplet and then sharing their work.
Elves Needed!
Elfy arrived December 2nd. He brought a notice for hire from the North Pole. Apparently, there is a shortage of help this time of year and applications are being accepted. The guidelines are tough! Each applicant must design a non violent toy other children will like, be able to follow directions independently and write a persuasive paper on why they should be hired. Elfy will report back to the North Pole on December 19th-20th.
Applicants who followed the directions will be selected!
Applicants who followed the directions will be selected!
Show Not Tell Paragraph Publishing . Sharing all their hard work!
Sharing the student's Mystery Feeling paragraph
on the BIG screen!
Each child could pass or agree to share their mystery feeling paragraph ( Show Not Tells are below) Some children while they LOVE seeing their work on the BIG screen get shy when they hear their voices.. But their smiles and words of appreciation from peers makes it all worth it!
Such a sweet moment.
on the BIG screen!
Each child could pass or agree to share their mystery feeling paragraph ( Show Not Tells are below) Some children while they LOVE seeing their work on the BIG screen get shy when they hear their voices.. But their smiles and words of appreciation from peers makes it all worth it!
Such a sweet moment.
Turkey Perspective
We read the book Turkey for Thanksgiving which was integrated into Math (see Turkey Math Glyphs and Placemats), Language Arts with developing and making a Turkey Survival Guide Brochure, & finally making clever disguises to conceal the true turkey underneath. Here are their clever disguises. Enjoy.
Turkey Disguise |
Turkey Survival Brochures |
Book Report for October
We have been doing talking book reports with the Mad Lips App but this week we finished Benjamin Franklinstein and I felt it was time to introduce iMovie Trailers! Seemed the perfect book for it! Each child made an iMove trailer book report using the iMovie trailer feature. I made a simple iMovie book report form that included information to be used in the trailer. ( title, author, setting, main characters and traits etc.) Not all trailers work for book reports. Only a few iMovie trailer themes allowing for characters ( cast members). These are - Expedition which allows for 2-6 characters, Romance allows for 2 (of course), Super Hero & Teen allow for 2-6 characters as well. The children did great job for their first trailers. Enjoy!
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Show Not Tell Writing with a Tech Twist
The Show Not Tell writing assignment had the children pick a secret feeling word and draw a labeled picture of a person with that feeling without using the word. Once the drawings were complete they took the labels and wrote an interesting paragraph again without using their secret word. They then went into Doodle Cast Pro APP and read their paragraph with feeling. These will be shown whole class using the Apple TV to see if the children ( including me ) can guess the student's secret word based on thier drawings and paragraphs. See if you can guess the secret feeling word as they narrate their own paragraphs below.
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We started this project brainstorming in teams what we looked, felt or sounded like when we experienced specific feelings.
This week we integrated our weekly class song, the 13 Days of Halloween into math, art and made an iMovie. For math, the children learned a new Web 2.0 graphing tool to graph the total gifts from the monster in the song. They were very excited to see the mathematical pattern. We then practiced the song with our final efforts below. Please enjoy their imovie and the shots taken during recording . It was a lot of fun!
It took 4 takes due to school bells, announcements, lots of laughter and fun!
This is the 1st book to start our year long theme on Inventors and Scientists. Below is our class first Padlet to share collaboratively what we found interesting about Ben Franklin. An interesting fact is that didn't get on our Padlet was that he also invented Day Light Savings Time! ( I didn't know that!)
A bit of October fun with a historical figure we are studying. We watched the author's discuss & answer questions sent in to them by children about how they researched & wrote the book, number of rejections, how to write a book etc. The children then responded to a question by me in Edmodo on this video. You can find more about the authors and their books HERE.
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Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxberry answer children's question.
Two very funny authors! The children were captivated and I'd love that hat! |
Inventions for good!
After reading about Ben Franklin, the class designed inventions to help solve a common problem. They had to come up with a problem they or others encounter that needed to be solved. It was important to Benjamin Franklin to be a good citizen and use his ideas and inventions to solve problems for others and this was now asked of the students. I brought a bin of 'mystery parts' from my husband's shop for them to use. Once they had completed their diagramed invention they filled out a GO chart and began writing about their their ideas in their writer's notebook.
I start every morning with a Read Aloud. I read a variety of genres to expose the children to a diverse amount of literature and non fiction text. I model reading comprehension strategies and we have a book talk daily. They follow each reading with 10 minutes of writing in their personal response journals. The language in books, news papers, magazines , poetry etc. is very rich, more complicated than everyday speech and is full of words children don't typically hear or use in everyday speaking. It helps develop language skills, the enjoyment of reading with the added benefit of teaching content, vocabulary, fluency while helping with attention spans and listening skills. Reading aloud is fun ( I am a dramatic reader ;-) so it also increases the likelihood that my students will read more books themselves. Each child takes an AR quiz and complete their talking book report. This book, Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?, was an excellent biography with many maps. The children expressed a desire to look more at the maps in the book and wanted to draw some. I took this opportunity to also have them narrate Magellan's journey in Doodle Cast. Enjoy!
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Sparkle Fish is a great App for practicing parts of speech in a fun way. It is an audio version of Mad Libs. This was our final project as we end our parts of speech unit. It is somewhat hard to hear the children's voices below sometimes but their faces and giggles are priceless. Since so may kids were sniffing and a cold was visiting our class this story seemed appropriate ;-) Enjoy.
The last little clip below, I call a "Little Help From a Friend." such kindness happens daily.
The last little clip below, I call a "Little Help From a Friend." such kindness happens daily.
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Who said Grammar and parts of Speech had to be dull? Angry Birds changed all that! The children played Angry Birds with a recording sheet to record verbs, nouns and prepositions. These lists were recorded on a large chart. The children then created a poster with Angry Verbs, Tower Nouns and Preposition Pigs Fun!!
Talking Book Reports
The children were each given a rubric and a book report form to fill out prior to recording their first Talking Book Report.
They did an excellent job!
This project had multiple steps and required that they use their camera, upload the picture into the Mad Lips App, record and resize their own lips so they could add them to the book cover photo and then email it all to me
( With a title and their initials only in the subject line)
WATCH EACH BOOK REPORT FULL SCREEN TO SEE THEIR LIPS.
JL BH CO
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We are learning how to write interesting and detailed sentences in our paragraphs. Part of that fun, is learning the Super Sentence Song tune using parts of speech See a their singing here !!!
( adj, adj noun,
adj, adj noun
adj, adj, noun , verb, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase)
The brave pirate sang fiercely on the sloop. Arrrgh!
( adj, adj noun,
adj, adj noun
adj, adj, noun , verb, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase)
The brave pirate sang fiercely on the sloop. Arrrgh!
Oh, The Places You Will Go!
After a read aloud and discussion of the book,
the children made their own road signs for their hopes and dreams. Finally they made a recording using Doodle Cast Pro. These are adorable. They are ordered based on your child's classroom number.
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