Scarecrow Writing

As a part of our writing program, Write From the Beginning, the students created Circle Maps followed by Tree Maps to help them describe a scarecrow. They used both Thinking Maps to help them write at least three logical describing sentences. They then made their own scarecrow to go along with their writing.

Book Character Parade

As a part of our Red Ribbon Week festivities and in perfect timing for Halloween, our school held a Book Character Parade. It is an annual event that the students, parents, and staff look forward to each year. The students showed their "character" by saying "no to drugs" by dressing up as their favorite storybook character and parading through the school.

Franklin's Halloween

As a part of our study of making connections, we read Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois. The students made text-to-text and text-to-self connections to the story.

Bats on Parade

To identify the features of a fantasy text, we read Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt. The students brainstormed various reasons why the book was a fantasy:

• Bats do not wear hats.
• Bats do not drive cars.
• Bats do not play instruments.
• Bats cannot talk.
• Bats do not have parades.

The students wrote at least one reason they knew the story was a fantasy and illustrated that part of the story.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever

Last week we were working extensively on making connections. After reading The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll, the students wrote and illustrated at least one text-to-self connection they made.

Place Value

In math we have been learning about two digit numbers and their values. We have been using Base Ten Blocks to count by tens and then ones. To help practice this at home, visit Shark Numbers game where the students count the tens and ones to identify the number. Once they count they number, they click on the bubble and check their answer. One trick we use in class to help with counting is that after we count the tens we clap to break the skip counting pattern and then we start counting by ones. For example we say: "ten, twenty, thirty, -clap-, thirty-one, thirty-two." Clapping helps them recognize the when to switch number patterns. Below are a few pictures of the students practicing Place Value in class:

Character Parade

To celebrate Red Ribbon Week (which just happens to fall around Halloween time, ha!) the students got to dress up as their favorite book character and walk in a parade throughout the school. The theme was to "Show your character and say 'no' to drugs." So that all students could participate, we decided to have a grade level theme based on the Laura Numeroff books. Our class dressed up as the black cat from If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, Ms. Goolsbay's class dressed up as If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Ms. Pollard's class dressed up as If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and Mrs. Linnabary's class dressed up as If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Below is a slideshow of our class showing their character during the parade.

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Pumpkin Writing

Each week we write using a program called Write From the Beginning. The program uses Thinking Maps to teach the students how to organize their thoughts and sentences. This week we wrote about real pumpkins. The students created a Circle Map followed by a Tree Map to write three sentences describe a pumpkin. After writing their sentences the students received one-on-one feedback on how to edit and improve their writing. They wrote their final drafts on pumpkin paper to add to our hallway pumpkin patch.

Pumpkin Patch Counting

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