Week Before Break...

Sometimes the week before winter break can be hard, but this week was so much fun! The kids were still working hard and doing their best--we couldn't have asked for a better week!

Our preschool kids only came in for checkout this week, as they were on the hunt for the gingerbread man! They've been reading gingerbread themed books all week. Last week we read the book Santa Cat, though, which is one of my favorites! Very simple, yet hilarious!

Our AK students read It's Christmas, David by David Shannon. Again, simple but so funny!

Our kindergarten & first grade students continued on in our Mock Caldecott readings. This week we read Special Delivery by Phillip Stead and Beyond the Pond by Joseph Kuefler. After break students will look at the rest of the books on our list & then vote for their favorite. The winners are announced on January 11.

Second graders continued on in their story mapping of a fairy tale or fable. I couldn't be prouder of these kids! Sometimes I plan things that I think are probably too complex & involved and they bomb, but the kids have really stepped it up on this project & are doing an amazing job! This week they started drawing out their map on a large piece of paper. After break we'll get to program the robots to drive through the story! I can't wait to see these final products!

Third graders also continued in our Mock Caldecott challenge. This week we read Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett. Students posted in our Google Classroom which is shared with our friends at Titan Hill Intermediate in Council Bluffs. On Tuesday of this week we will be able to Skype with them and read a book together! I can't wait! 

Our 4th graders had a big week, as they presented their states projects. They did this in a museum format, where they dressed up as something related to their state, then had visitors come around and "push their button" to hear them talk about their state. Lots of kids even had theirs memorized! I was very impressed! They also had their states posters that they made in art class, and their Google Slideshows on display! It was a great time, though several of them noted that they were very tired after their presentations! 

The 4th graders are starting a new project after winter break where they will be making a video book trailer about a book of their choice. This week during class we watched some book trailers for books we have in our library and every student picked out a book to read over the the next 3 weeks. Watching the book trailers was a perfect activity this week since many of the students were tired after giving their states presentation! 

Here's to a happy winter vacation filled with family, friends, celebrations, and reading!

Week of November 30

It's nice to get back to sharing all of our fun learning after taking a break because of book fair and Thanksgiving vacation. We were back to working hard & having fun this last week!


Preschool & AK listened to a story called Bunnies on Ice by Johanna Wright. It is a cute story about a bunny who loves to ice skate. The favorite part by all the classes was when she twirls and wraps herself up in her scarf!

Our kindergarten, first, and third grade students read two more books in our Mock Caldecott book study: Toys Meet Snow by Emily Jenkins & Paul O. Zelinsky & Waiting by Kevin Henkes. It was fun to compare these books that are both about toys. Kindergarten & first graders used the Seesaw app on the iPads to tell what might happen if their toys came to life while they were gone, or if they went in the snow.  

Here are a few examples of what they came up with:

The 3rd graders posted about what they thought their toys would do if they were home alone.

Our 4th graders spent one final class period working on their states projects--they are excited to show them off in 2 weeks!

And our 2nd graders started a new, super fun project. We are doing a fairy tale meets robots sort of project. Students are working with a partner and creating a story map based on a fairy tale that they read this week. After reading, they are working on filling out a story elements chart to help organize their thoughts. Then, they'll draw out on big butcher paper the events of the story, creating a sort of map. And finally, they'll program one of our new robots to drive through the events of the story in order. It really is much cooler than it sounds. Next week, I'll have some good pictures of student work. This week, just a few pictures of them reading & working together on their story elements chart!

Week of November 9

We had another fun week in the library!

Preschool students listened to Wait by Antoinette Portis. They love it, because it only has two words--hurry (the mom always says this, shocker) and wait, which the boy always says. It is predictable, and fun!

AK kids enjoyed a Mo Willems book, Watch Me Throw the Ball. As always, a big hit! Plus, searching for the pigeon hiding in the book is always fun!

Second graders are studying fables in their classrooms, so we read one of my favorites, The Lion & the Mouse. We looked at the wordless version by Jerry Pinkney. This book is one of my favorites--how could it not be? We talked about the four things fables always have: short stories, animal characters, animals who have human characteristics, and a moral/lesson. I love talking about the lesson in this one, because there are so many. Aesop wrote that, "little friends may prove great friends." However, we usually word it that little creatures/people can do big things. And then we tie in how important it is to be kind because you never know when someone you are kind to might be kind back. So many good things!

4th graders had the hardest lesson of the year, regarding citations. It is so hard to teach, and kind of hard for students to pick up on. The most important thing in 4th grade is that they understand that it is wrong to take someone else's work with giving credit. Students do have some background knowledge, as it's a skill we work on in third grade, too. First we watched a video. I really like how this explains it, and we talk about it more in depth. For citing a website, we ask for the title of the site, the URL, and the date accessed. It's not perfect, and might need revisiting, but it helps scaffold for our 4th graders as they get older. 

Kindergarten, first, and third grades all continued in our Mock Caldecott unit. This week, we read two books: Wait by Antoinette Portis, and The Night World by Mordecai Gerstein. 

The kinders and firsties used Seesaw to explain which of the three we've read so far that they liked the best. Here's some of their work:

                                      

                                      


                                       


                                       

The third graders commented on which book they liked better and why in their Google Classroom. The students from Council Bluffs have started writing in there with us as well! I can't wait for this week to take the project even further!

I can't wait to get all the books read and see who kids vote for! Also, January 11th is when the award is announced--I'm itching to know! I have about 3 favorites so far that I'm rooting for!

Mock Caldecott

November is National Picture Book, and to celebrate we are starting a Mock Caldecott unit in Kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades. I am ridiculously excited for this! We are using John Schu & Colby Sharp's list of best picture books of 2015. I have gotten all of these books, and we'll hopefully be reading all of them before winter break.

Since our project will be covering about 2 months, I wanted to find a way for students to collect their thoughts on the books to help them remember. I am almost always against packets, but I couldn't figure out a better way to do it for our K-1 students...until...I was looking back through my notes from ITEC and remember the app called Seesaw. I am in love with Seesaw. It is a place where students can draw pictures, write notes, or record audio notes, among other things. It is so easy to use, and everyone can share their thoughts with each other in a safe, monitored setting.

This week we started with a book from one of my favorite authors--Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Zachariah O'Hora. Students used Seesaw to draw or tell about their favorite part of the story. Here are a few examples of their awesome work--I love their little creations!

















Our 3rd graders are keeping track of their thoughts using Google Classroom. We will have visitors from Titan Hill Intermediate School in Council Bluffs joining us in our Classroom to compare thoughts and notes on the books. This week, students logged in and looked at a list of past Caldecott winners. They posted about which books they had read. Their comments show their enthusiasm!

I can't wait to see how this project unfolds! I'm excited, as always, to mesh a love of books with technology & collaboration! All the best things into one unit. 

Week of October 26

We had a fun-filled busy Halloween week at Prairie Hill!

Preschool students had a super short class this week, which was a great time to read Can You Make a Scary Face by Jan Thomas. This book is hilarious and the kids had so much fun! It is basically a set of directions along with a very simple storyline. The kids have to stand up, sit down, do the chicken dance, wiggle their noses, laugh, and finally make a scary face. It made all of us teachers laugh too!

AK students didn't have time for a book this week, since they had their costume parties on Friday. They just came and did a quick check out.

Kindergarten and first grade students got a well deserved break from all of the hard work we've done in the last two months. Kindergarteners listened to Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming, while first graders listened to Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin. After reading, they colored their choice of either pumpkins or a ghost. I downloaded the the ghost from Chromville and the pumpkins from Quiver. Both of these pages have augmented reality built in, so when kids are done coloring, they can scan the page with an iPad and watch their image come to life! It was a great way to have some fun this week!

Second graders practiced evaluating a book. I read aloud the book I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black and then students filled out a book review sheet. The goal was that they would be able to state why they did or didn't like the book. I like kids to do book reviews using the Goodreads model, which is how I do my personal book reviews, as well. Obviously, 2nd graders are too young for the site, but I like the stars rating and explanation. After they finished, students who wanted to shared out with the class. It was a good lesson that not everyone likes a book the same!

Third graders again practiced identifying author's craft, this time in poetry. Mo Willems was a great way to intro this last week, but we stepped it up another level this week using poetry. We looked for imagery, alliterations, onomatopoeias, personification, repetition, and hyperbole. Students picked one or two of those to focus on, then used the iPad app Skitch to take a picture of the poem and write on it what craft they found.

4th graders are still researching their states. This week, we used Google search to find the best places to go in their state. As they left, they put a place on the map hanging on our wall. It was fun to read the places at the end of the week, though I forgot to take a picture! Here's one from the beginning of the week.

4th graders also got to go over to the high school to hear author Tim Green speak. His talk was very inspiring! I snuck a couple of boys up to the stage at the end, because one needed his book signed and the other loves, loves Tim Green and had been begging me to meet him. So I took a chance and snuck up, and both boys were overjoyed! It was so cool, and a little funny, listening to them talk to him. They were definitely star-struck--the picture says it all.

And of course, it was Halloween, so we had a little fun! I painted some pumpkins to look like Elephant & Piggie and the Pigeon, all Mo Willem's characters. The pumpkins were a clue as to our costumes on Friday! Always fun to dress up!