From Realistic Fiction to Personal Narrative

This week in Writing Workshop students selected the personal narrative (true story) that they want to rewrite as a Realistic Fiction story! They did a wonderful job looking through all of their writing to select a story that was important to them and would make a strong realistic fiction story.

Today in Writing Workshop we reread our personal narratives and thought about how we could change our original stories to make them Realistic Fiction stories. Students can change up to three elements or components of their personal narratives to create their Realistic Fiction stories. To help map out the changes in their stories students used a story map. Below are some examples of exceptional story maps!

How To Get a Conversation Started (Guidance with Mr. K)

Today in guidance Mr. K talked to us about what makes for a good conversation.  In partners we used the app Lino to brainstorm our thinking about what makes for a good conversation.  

Some of our ideas for what makes a good conversation are:

 

- greeting the person

- waiting our turn to speak

- paying attention

- sticking to one topic (staying on topic)

- asking a question

- giving a comment

- saying good-bye

To see all of our thinking check out our Lino below.

 

Show the Rule

We have started a new tradition in our classroom. Each Thursday students are introduced to a new writing convention or “rule.” As a class we discuss the meaning of the rule and discover how it is applied in literature. We then write our own piece as a group using the rule. On Friday, students get to apply their knowledge of the rule through creative writing. Each child selects a magazine clipping and writes a creative piece which is inspired by the picture. In their writing, students must use the rule five times. Before students hand in their writing they go over the piece and highlight or underline all the places where they have showed the rule. Students have really enjoyed this new classroom tradition so far! Here are some examples of student’s work to date. 

Alaska Week of 1.20 - 1.24

Last week we studied Alaskan culture and traditions and compared them to our culture and traditions here in Vermont. For example, in Alaska winter starts in September while here in Vermont we are still wearing shorts in September! This week we are looking at the environment and geography of Alaska. So far we know that Vermont and Alaska both have mountains but that Alaska’s mountains are much larger than Vermont’s! Check in with your student this week to see what else they are learning!

Our Week in Review 1.20 - 1.24

Wonder of the Week: What is the Iditarod? Where does the Iditarod Take Place?

http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-dog-sled/

What is the Iditarod? 

I think the Iditarod has to do with sled dogs. (Spencer) 

I think the Iditarod is a long race were people get pulled by sled dogs. (Dana) 

I think the Iditarod is something that happened in Alaska because some sled dogs are in Alaska. (Madison) 

I think the Iditarod is for two things, one thing is to race with slide dogs the other thing is for sled dogs to help you travel. (Roma)

What other job do sled dogs have?

I think sled dogs can pull people that are blind. (Nathan)

I think that's like dogs can also help people get around and really snowy places. (Dana)

I think that sled dogs can help people I think it's really snowing out and you can't use your car to travel. (Peyton) 

I think that's like dogs can be used to help move materials for example at the train got stuck in the cold weather a sled dog could come to the rescue. (Talan)

I think that's like dogs could be used to carry supplies, like airplanes are used to carry supplies. (Ilona) 

I think that's like dogs could also be used to travel north because there is no roads there. (Spencer) 

I learned...

I learned that they race over a 1,000 miles across Alaskan wildnerness. (Nick)

I learned the Iditarod is a dog sledding race that goes on for 9 days. (Jayden) 

I learned sometimes you can crash your sled. (Peyton) 

I learned it can be 55 below zero and they still race. (Caitlin) 

I learned that up to 16 huskies can be on a team. (Madison) 

I learned that you can drop a dog because a dog could get sick or tired. (Tucker and Roma)

I learned the person who drives the dog sled is called a musher. (Summer) 

I learned the Iditarod is the most popular sporting event in Alaska. (Luke)

I learned it can drop below 100 degrees ferenhiet during the race. (Spencer) 

I learned the race is 1,161 miles of trail. (Hunter) 

I learned it can take 9 to 15 days to finish the Iditarod. (Dana) 

Book Clubs!

We have begun a new unit of study in Reading Workshop: Book Clubs. Over the next three weeks students will have the opportunity to lead their very own book club and discuss topics that are meaningful to them. So far this week students have learned and practiced what a book club should look like (sitting in a circle, looking at the speaker, only having a book in hand), in addition, students will be discussing what a book club should sound like (one voice at a time, everyone has a chance to speak, adding on to each other’s thinking, addressing classmates using their name). Tomorrow students will be making a plan for their book club. As a group students will be discussing how much they will read each day and when they will meet to discuss their book. On Friday, students will learn how they can deepen their thinking of the text by using bookmarks (with sentence starters) to help generate post-it notes which will help get the book club conversation started. Students have really been enjoying their time with their book club members this week.

Wonder of the Week: Alaska

How big do you think Alaska is? Why do you think this?

I think Alaska is the size of Texas. (Luke) 

I think Alaska is the size of Trpexas and California combined because I have heard people say this. (Spencer)

I think Alaska is bigger than Vermont because it has a lot more mountains.   (Nadja) 

I think Vermont is the size of New Hampshire. (Peyton)

 What is the environment like in Alaska?

I think they have a lot mountains in Alaska.  (Roma) 

The environment and Alaska is cold and snowy. (Dana) 

I think the environment in Alaska is freezing ice and rain. (Madison) 

I think the environment in Alaska haling and snowing. (Caitlin) 

I learned 

I learned Alaska is twice the size of the state of Texas. (Luke)

I learned that if  Alaska was a country it would be the 19th biggest country in the world.  (Spencer) 

I learned that Alaska is larger than Texas, California in Montana combined. (Dana)

I learned that Alaska is the biggest state in the United States. (Caitlin) 

I learned that Alaska is also larger than the 22 small estates combined. (Hunter) 

Celebrations!

On Friday we had a wonderful time celebrating our positive behavior! As a school we filled our “Be Respectful” warm fuzzy bin all the way to the top! To celebrate, students enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate! As a class, we celebrated with Ms. Warren’s class. Together we had a “Just Dance” Dance Party! Below are photographs from the Dance Party!

Our Week in Review 1.13 - 1.17

Google Earth!

One component of our Alaska Unit is for students to explore maps of Alaska and the world.  To help students develop a deeper understanding of the location of Alaska compared to Vermont along with the differences in terrain and geography, we used the app Google Earth. Google Earth lets you fly to most place on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. Students had a great time using Google Earth to explore the following: 


Vermont: 
- Colchester
- Burlington
- Student’s home address
- Lake Champlain



Alaska:
- Juneau
- Anchorage
- Fairbanks 
- Gulf of Alaska 
- Mount McKinley 
- Mount Logan 

Wonder of the Week 1.13 - 1.16

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

What is segregation?

What was the Civil Rights Movement? 

- Wonderopolis - Who was dr. martin luther king?

I learned...

I learned Martin Luther king was assassinated by James Earl Jones. (Hunter) 

I learned on the third Monday of January we celebrate Martin Luther King Day. (Caitlin)

I learned that Martin Luther King Jr. was at a hotel in Tennessee when he was assassinated. (Spencer) 

I learned that back in the 1930s people of color did not get to sit in the same section of the bus as white people. (Madison) 

I learned that white and colored people or students were not allowed to go to the same school. (Gavin) 

I learned that Martin Luther King Junior won the Nobel Peace Prize. (Connor)

I learned that people try to scare Martin Luther King away while he was protesting. (Peyton) 

I learned that Rosa Parks refused to allow a white person take her spot on the bus, as a result she was arrested. (Dana) 

I learned that after Rosa Parks was arrested many people refuse to ride the bus, this is also known as the Montgomery bus boycott. (Roma)

I also learned that Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested many times. (Caitlin)

I learned that Martin Luther King is get too great a school and he went to college. (Hunter) 

I learned that when Martin Luther King was a child he had a white neighbor. At this time the parents of the white neighbor did not allow their child to play with Martin Luther King. (Iris) 

Our Week In Review 1.6-1.10

Our Week In Review 1.6-1.10

Mystery Skypes

This week we had two excellent Mystery Skypes.  On Wednesday we Skyped with Mrs. McCandless’ 3rd grade class from Colorado.  As a result of our Skype we learned that Colorado is the mile high state, Peyton Manning is from Colorado and is the quarterback for the Denver Bronco’s and that Colorado has 14,000 mountains.  We are looking forward to further connecting with Mrs. McCandless’ class via student blogs!

On Friday we Skyped with Mrs. Lundt’s class from Connecticut.  As a result of our Skype we learned that Connecticut is known as the “Constitution State”.  Connecticut is famous for the University of Connecticut’s Women’s Basketball team.

So far this year we have Skyped with the following states:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Montana
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Wisconsin

Opinion Writing

This week in Writing Workshop we have been focusing on how writers make and uncover opinions about their books.  As writers we discussed how writers can study the following components of their books to make their writing stronger:

- characters

- favorite parts

- pictures

- covers

- titles

We also discussed how writers are WIDE AWAKE readers!  Writers need to use details to grow new ideas and to make their stories longer and use more details. One way that writers can add more details to their writing is by rereading their stories. Many students realized that once they went back and reread a part of their book they found new details that they missed the first time!  Students then added those new details to their writing pieces.  Below are some examples of students work!

Today in Writing Workshop students focused on making their writing better by adding more details and evidence from their books. As readers and writers it is important to develop opinions about a book, however, writings have to search for many pieces of evidences to support each of their opinions about the book. As a class we have many opinions about The Iron Giant.  Our opinions about the Iron Giant are:  The Iron Giant is a great book,  the villagers did have a right to lure the Iron Giant into the pit, and the Iron Giant is strong.

Now that we have opinions about the Iron Giant we have to back up our opinion (using evidence from the text).  Below is our class writing pieces about our opinions from the Iron Giant.

We are reading The Iron Giant.  Our class is really enjoying The Iron Giant because you never know what is going to happen next. For example, we did not know that space-bat-angel-dragon was going to come to life!  We are also really enjoying the Iron Giant because it allows the reader to dream!  If we were characters in the Iron Giant many of us would run to the Iron Giant like the villagers did and some of us would hide in our houses like the other villagers did.

On page 29 in The Iron Giant you can see the villagers have dug a pit to trap the Iron Giant.  At first we thought the Iron Giant should have built a pit to trap the Iron Giant because he was eating all of the tractors and metal.  Another reason we thought this at first was because the Iron Giant kept eating all the metal, if he ate all the metal in the town the workers would not have any machines to use to keep the village clean.  However, now we are realizing that maybe the villagers should not have dug a pit and trapped the Iron Giant because they need the Iron Giant to fight the space-bat-angel-dragon.

Another opinion we have of the Iron Giant is that he is very strong.  He is strong because after he fell off a cliff he put his body back together.  Another reason we think he is strong is because he can lift and move cars.

Tomorrow we are going to continue to support our opinions using evidence from the text!

New Text Features

This week in Reading Workshop students learned about two new text features.  On Monday students learned about the Glossary.  The glossary helps the reader understand key words in the text. On Tuesday, students learned about the Index.  Students learned that the Index is an alphabetical list of almost everything covered in the text, with page numbers. Today students learned about Titles. Titles help the reader identify the topic of the text.

Below are photographs of students’ work from their Informational Text Feature Books!

D.A.R.E.

D.A.R.E

On Tuesday Officer Fontaine came in for our first D.A.R.E. session.  Officer Fontaine is from the Colchester Police Department and is teaching these lessons. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.  Tuesday’s lesson was about the importance of rules and why we have rules and laws all around us. Students had a lot of great and relevant points to add to the conversation.  For more information, please visit the D.A.R.E. website:www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp.

Wonder of the Week: When is it Okay to Stay Up All Night?

Wonder 820

When is it okay to stay up all night? 

It is okay to stay up all night when you have a sleepover because sleeping is not the best part of a sleepover. (Caitlin)

I think it is okay to stay up all night when it is not a school night because you don't gap gave to get up early! (Peyton)

I think it is okay to stay up all night when it is Christmas Eve because you might get to see Santa. (Talan)

How do you celebrate the New Year? What traditions does your family have?

On New Year's Eve I watch the ball drop with my family. (Xander)

On New Year's Eve I try to stay up until midnight. (Roma)

On New Year's Eve I visit my family. (Hunter)

What is your New Years Resolution?

My New Years resolution is to clean up my room when it is not clean. (Spencer)

My New Years resolution is to make my bed when my mom asks. (Dana)

My New Years resolution is to save a lot of money. (Gavin)

Now I know..

I learned that in Spain they eat 12 grapes at midnight to bring them 12 months of happiness! (Nadja)

I learned in Mexico people wear yellow and red underwear to celebrate the New Year! (Luke)

I learned that if you count down to midnight it is a long standing tradition. (Peyton)

I learned that in Netherlands they put out their Christmas trees in the street and have a big bonfire. (Spencer) 

I learned in Japan the New year is the most important day of huge year because they clean their houses and spend time with family to get the new year off to a great start! (Caitlin)

I learned that many countries celebrates the New Year! (Madison) 

I learned that in New York City the ball drops at midnight! (Hunter) 

New Informational Text Features

Last week in Reading Workshop students learned about two new text features.  On Thursday students learned about Close-Ups.  Close-Ups help the reader see details in something small.  On Friday, students learned about the Table of Contents.  Students learned that the Table of Contents helps identify key topics in a book in the order the topics are presented.

Stayed tuned for photographs of students’ work from their Informational Text Feature Books!

Incorporating Technology into Project Block

Last week students had a special activity during the “Project Block” section of our day!  Students were broken up into the same groups that were used for our ‘My Healthy Plate’ videos. The groups will switch classrooms to finish the activity this week.

Ms. Warren’s special activity incorporated the 2013 Year in Pictures article from Time for Kids.  With a partner, students read the Time for Kids article and highlighted what they believed to be the most important or interesting events of 2013.  Partnerships then used the PicCollage app to make a collage of these events.  In addition, students explained what each event was on their collage.  Students then learned how to save their collage to the camera roll on the iPad, and how to upload their picture (collage) from the camera roll onto their blog.  Be sure to check your child’s blog for their PicCollage post.

Ms. LaRose’s special activity incorporated the Coolest Inventions of 2013 article from Time for Kids.  With their partner students read the Time for Kids article and highlighted what they believed were the coolest inventions of 2013.  Once students selected 3 inventions, they used a storyboard to map out why they chose the inventions and important information about the invention.  Partnerships then recorded their ideas using the Audioboo app.  Once students completed their Audioboo they saved their work to the classroom Audioboo account and logged into a computer.  Next, students went to a computer and found their Audioboo and copied the  embed code.  Finally, students copied the code and pasted the embed code into their new blog post.  Be sure to check out your child’s blog for their Audioboo recording!

Coolest Inventions of 2013 Video

Click here to watch the video!