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!

Week of October 19

We had kind of a crazy week, between me being gone, the internet not working, kids being gone on field trips...it's amazing that I even have anything to post here!

Mrs. Gronemeyer's preschoolers listened to 3 super fun Mo Willems books. These books really encourage student participation, which is the best! I didn't get to see Mrs. Meade's students, but they'll listen to these next week.

Kindergarteners got to use iPads for the first time during library. I absolutely love hearing their voices explain their trees that they drew last week. Precious! Again, only two classes really got to do this, but we'll do it again with other subjects! Here are most of Mrs. Leas' & Mrs. Younger's classes--some students didn't get finished.

The first graders got to read a poem about popcorn, then we wrote our own poem using the five senses. Each student got a little bowl of popcorn to see, smell, touch, taste, and hear!

Second grade practiced retelling a story using beginning, middle, and end. We read the book Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems. Each student was assigned to draw either the beginning, middle, or end and explain their drawing. We used an app called Doodle Buddy to draw the pictures, then they emailed the pictures to me! I won't post all of the pictures, but they were awesome!

Third graders also got to join in the Mo Willems fun--they are studying author's craft. Mo Willems is an easy way to introduce that, because he uses such obvious, visible features. We made a list of some of his typical features, then kids looked through his books to find examples. They took a picture of the page, then used an app called Skitch to write an explanation on top of the photo. Next week, we'll get a little bit harder and use poetry where the author's craft is hidden in the language instead of just the pictures.

Fourth graders are still working on their research--I'll share more next week when they turn in their notes! 

Week of October 12

Here's our week in review for last week! I was gone on Monday & Tuesday at the ITEC conference, which was amazing! I'll post more thoughts from that in a separate post.

Our AK student enjoyed hearing their first "Pigeon" book. We talked about how Mo Willems is the author of the Pigeon books, plus the Elephant and Piggie series. We read The Pigeon Wants a Puppy and the kids loved it, of course!

Our Kindergarteners listened to A Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma. After listening, they drew their very best tree--many of them included berries, wildlife, sunshine, and other great details. I showed them how next week we will use the Chatterpix app and make their trees talk! This goes along with what they're learning in science: parts of trees, what trees need to grow, why we need trees. I can't wait to see the final products next week!

First graders did some more poetry raps using poems about Fall. Here's a video of Ms. Thompson's class. Next week we'll be doing my favorite poetry activity--popcorn poems!

Second graders finished comparing and contrasting fiction and non-fiction. Last week, they looked at both types of books and wrote down their ideas. This week, the kids pulled terms out of the "magic purple box", and we sorted out whether they belonged in fiction or non-fiction.

Third graders continued using text evidence to support their answers about poems. They have really mastered this skill! 

And fourth graders started doing research about their state. They will be creating a top 5 list of reasons to come to their state. They are learning all sorts of fun facts using Culture Grams Online, which they can also access from home using our AEA username/password.  

Kids as Authors!

When I was in elementary school, one of the things I looked forward to every year was publishing a book at our publication center. Now, our publication center was simply a little office, where we colored some pictures and put them with a story we'd written. The story was typed up by either the librarian or the library associate.

I don't remember all the details, but I remember that it was a big deal to me. The books were laminated and bound and put it our library, and then we got to take them home at the end of the year. I was able to dig up my 3rd grade book--it is hilarious to look back at!

My book on the left, Makenzlie & Lilly's book on the right.

For awhile now, I'd been dreaming of how to bring this to life at Prairie Hill. One day, two third grade girls randomly came in and shared with me a story they'd written and illustrated. What a perfect opportunity--I just had to pitch them my idea, and obviously they said yes!

Here's a little video we put together to explain how we're going to bring this project to any willing students at Prairie Hill!


I'm so excited about this, and I can't wait to see all of the great books our students come up with. I have some other ideas about tools to use, such as iBooks Author, or Google Photo Slideshow (a new YouTube option), or an iPad app such as Little Bird Tales. The options are endless, really.

I'm so thankful for our students and staff members that are always willing to try new things!

Week of October 5

Last week was such a fun week! I've been at the ITEC Conference since Sunday, so I'm finally getting around to our weekly update:

Our Preschool & AK students enjoyed the story Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman. I love, love this book, and love Ame! Ame was kind enough to Skype in and read Woflie to our kindergarten students last year. She is amazing.

Kindergarteners read the book Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid. These kids are studying trees during science time in their classrooms. After reading, we drew some different trees on the Promethean board.

The kids drew trees for different seasons. They are quickly learning how to use the different tools on the board. This technology truly changes the way students learn, and I love it!

Here are some students in action!

First graders have begun a poetry unit! Poetry is one of my all time favorite things, so we had some fun this week! We looked at two different poems, and practiced increasing our fluency and rate. First I read the poem, then we read it together, then we added music! Rapping poems is one of my favorite things and the kids really enjoy it too. This year, I brought in a couple of microphones, and that made it even more fun!

Mrs. Huinker's students rapping!

Second graders are learning about characteristics of fiction vs. non-fiction. This week, they worked with a partner to make a t-chart. Each group had a fiction and a non-ficion book, and they wrote down their ideas and shared out. Next week, we'll look at even more differences!

Third graders are practicing using evidence to support their answers about a text. This week we looked at some poems to find text evidence. After reading, we looked at the questions and used the text to go back and support the answer, using the highlighting tool. Again, having the Promethean board completely changes how we learned this concept. We are so lucky!

Fourth graders started brainstorming ideas for states research. We are going to be creating a slideshow and commercial with the top 5 reasons to come to their state of choice. We started taking notes in an app called Mindmup--but I didn't get any pictures! Stay tuned next week!