Too Many Toys

As a part of our David Shannon author study, we read Too Many Toys. The students retold the beginning, middle, and end. They also completed story maps to explain the characters, setting, problem, and solution. As an extra lesson, the students created a character traits template about the book's main character, Spencer. They described what he looked like, important information about him, and what they would do if they were him.

My Favorite Thing About the Ocean

Each student wrote to explain what their favorite thing about the ocean is and why. They then illustrated their writing.

Living and Non-Living

The students visited the garden to determine various living and non-living objects. They then drew pictures to show their understanding.

Sources of Water

In science we have been learning about various water sources. The students created foldables to illustrate rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, oceans, and glaciers. They label whether each source of water was fresh or saltwater, whether it was an open or closed water source, as well as its relation to land (i.e. land on both sides, land all around, etc.). They also brainstormed ways we use water. They illustrated at least four ways we use water.

Landforms and Bodies of Water

The students reviewed bodies of water and landforms by creating a foldable diagram to illustrate the different features of mountains, hills, plains, oceans, rivers, and lakes.

Cinderella Tales

Over the last several weeks we have been reading and comparing several versions of Cinderella. We read the classic version and two more modern versions, Prince Cinders and Bubba the Cowboy Prince. Prince Cinders is about a skinny, young man who wants to be big and hairy like his step-brothers so he can go to the Palace Disco. With the help of a "dirty fairy" he definitely becomes big and hairy - a big and hairy monkey, that is! Bubba the Cowboy Prince is a Cinderella story with a Texas twist. Bubba is tired of being bossed around by his step-father and step-brothers on the ranch so, with the help of a "fairy god-cow" he hatches a plan to get Miz Lurleen, a local ranch owner, to fall in love with him. To retell the story of Bubba's adventures, the students created Story Maps to indicate the characters, setting, problem, and solution. After reading the classic Cinderella and Prince Cinders, the students worked together to create a Double Bubble Map comparing and constrasting the two stories. They then used the Thinking Map to help them write comparitive sentences about the stories. Along with their sentences, the students illustrated the main characters of the stories. During our end of day read aloud time, we are currently working our way through a collection of Cinderella stories from around the world. Below are a few samples of the students quality work:

The Napping House

This week we read The Napping House by Audrey Wood to learn more about cause and effect. We learned that cause is why something happened and that effect is what happened. After reading the book through, the class made a Multi-Flow Map to retell the key events and discussed how each event caused another event to happen. The students then chose their favorite cause and effect from the story to write and illustrate about. Below are a few examples of their quality work:

U.S. and Texas Symbols

In Social Studies we are learning more about symbols and mottoes of both The United States and Texas. A great site for you child to visit is Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids. The site is full of information that the students will love including American symbols and songs. Although the site is intended and designed for students in Kindergarten through Second Grade, you may need to help your child read portions of the website. To learn more about Texas, we read L is for Lonestar: A Texas Alphabet by Carol Crane. The students then made diagrams of several of the symbols. For more information on Texas symbols, visit the State Symbols page to see actual pictures of the symbols.