Cherry Blossoms

The students researched facts about Cherry Blossoms during a mini-writing lesson. They then wrote the information they found on a Circle Map. As a class, they decided what order to put the facts in for their shared research paper. They then told me what they wanted their paper to say and I typed it for them. I printed it on poster paper to hang with their Cherry Blossom art. The students used a mixture of brown and black paint to paint a branch of a Cherry Blossom. They then used the bottom of a recycled coke bottle to paint the blossoms in pink. I found this fun art idea from Pinterest. You can follow my educational Pinterest boards here.

Online Read Alouds

Below are some sites that offer free read aloud stories. Read alouds are a great way for children to hear fluent reading. If you have the books that go along with the stories, they can also practice reading along.

Just Books Read Aloud
Online Storytime by Barnes and Noble
PBS Kids
Read to Me Las Vegas
Reading is Fundamental
Speakaboos
Storyline Online
Storynory
Storytime for Me

Media, Their Techniques, and Autor's Purpose

In reading we learned about various types of media and the techniques used in each to convey the author's purpose. The students learned about internet sites, commercials, pint ads, and product labels. In one lesson, they designed their own print ad using techniques we learned about. In other lesson, they created a "pie" diagram to define the three reasons author's write: persuade, inform, and entertain. In another lesson, they chose two types of media and compared their techniques on a Venn Diagram.

Author's Purpose Posters and Foldables

In reading we spent a large amount of time analyzing author's purpose. The students explored various forms of media including websites, newspapers, magazines, and product labels to determine their purpose. The students then worked in small groups to create posters to document each purpose. Then independently they created a foldable to draw at least one example of the purpose of each media.

Purposes of Media

As a part of our lessons on author's purpose, we have been discussing different types of media and their purposes. One of the lessons we had was over the purpose of advertisements. After looking at various examples from newspapers, we discussed how author's use bright colors, catchy shapes, pictures, the price, etc. to draw in the reader. The students then created their own advertisement to sell something from their "camping store."

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week we learned about the sounds /sh/ and /ch/. To help the students remember /ch/, all of the first grade teachers taught a collaborative lesson in how to make chocolate chip cookies. Along with our phonics connection, we reviewed the purpose of entertainment texts and informative texts. We first read the recipe for chocolate chip cookies and discussed that it was meant for information because it teaches you how to make the cookies. We then followed the directions step-by-step. While the cookies were baking, we read Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar by Vivana Garofoli and  The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. The students discussed why these stories were for entertainment. And, as perfect timing, right at the end of the reading of The Doorbell Rang, the oven timer rang and the cookies were ready. The students then enjoyed their sweet treat!

Make a free picture collage

How Do Apples Grow?

Over the last two weeks we have been talking about different types of media and their purposes. Two of the main purposes we talked about last week were reading for entertainment and information. One of the books we read to learn more about the purpose of reading for information was How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maesto. After reading and discussing the book, the students wrote about what the topic of the book was and then identified whether the text was for entertainment or information. And, of course, they created an apple to go along with their writing!