I stumbled upon this today and was so excited to share it with the students. We have read many of Kate DiCamillo's books- The Mercy Watson Series, Because of Winn Dixie, The Journey of Edward Toulane, The Tale of Despereaux, and Leroy Ninker Saddles Up. Many students enjoyed her books. Visit the site and have fun!
http://www.scholastic.com/winndixie/index.htm Kennedy is our super hero this week! I was so glad today when she brought in one of her favorite books to read to the class. I loved it! Thanks, Kennedy! After our morning in the pool, we got back to school, had a snack, voted for the yearbook cover, went to recess and lunch and then to music. Phew! We only had 45 minutes until library and then it was time to go home. So, I took that opportunity to read one of my favorite books, Thomas' Snowsuit. In the book, Thomas, the main character, is a kid who refuses to put his snowsuit on. His teacher struggles so hard with him to get it on, that she winds up wearing the snowsuit and Thomas wears her dress. The book continues on with the principal. Ask your child what happens! After reading it and sharing some laughs, students made a flap book. They turned out so funny! This morning, students talked about PFDs, or personal floatations devices. students learned how to pick a correct life jacket. They also learned how to latch elbows for safety and warmth. Then they practiced in the pool. Today during reading we had some laughs as I read aloud a non-fiction article titled "Vomiting Isn't Just Gross." Not only did we learn a lot about why we vomit, but we also used this high interest article to further discuss main idea and details. We talked about how the main idea is just that; an idea- a complete idea. The main idea of the article can't just be "vomiting." That is not a complete idea. After talking with kids at their tables, students decided that "Vomiting is healthy" or "Vomiting protects us" would be better main ideas. Then, students were broken up into small groups and they read a different article that was at their reading level. Some articles were about Michael Jackson, MP3 players, meat eating plants, tornadoes, and break dancing. Students had to complete a box (main idea) and bullet (supporting details) for the articles. Students also practiced identifying and labeling the text features they could find in their article. Ben D. is our fabulous super hero this week. He shared his poster with us Monday, a book with us Wednesday and on Thursday we filled his bucket by writing positive things about him. Every Monday, students take two copies of their word sort. They highlight their tops for each category and cut one sort apart. The other one is for home. Sometimes I go over each group's sort, but sometimes, like this week, students have to work together and communicate to figure out how their sort is done. As they talk about it, I meet with each group to listen to their conversations, their ideas, and their struggles. I offer hints, tips, and then make sure they understand it. As they year progresses, we spend less time in class on speed sorting and writing out the sorts, so it is imparitive that students do their homework every night. We are also using word study time to practice our cursive with our words. Right now, spelling tests are in both printing and cursive. It is so important for kids to get out, get some fresh air, run around, and build friendships. Our playground is the perfect place to do just that.
After we finished the book, I wanted students to reflect on how they think they did filling out their Read Aloud Thinking Organizer Sheet. So, for each box they had to decide if they reached the learning target. If students felt they did, they had to give me evidence. It is my hope that students will know now what they need to work on for our next read aloud book, Traders in Time. Here is an example of someone's self reflection. These will be coming home soon!
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Mrs. Ellis's Class
Learning & laughing our way through third grade. Archives
June 2020
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