"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we started a non-fiction text features project with Mrs. Marinelli's class!  All students will research and present their assigned text feature using the Notability app on the iPad.  The directions are below if you wish to download and check out the app! 

Directions: Using the Notability Application

Prior to using the Notability App, you should have photographed examples of your non-fiction text feature using the iPad camera. 

These photos should be stored in your camera roll.

1.     Open Application and select the pencil at the top of the page to create new note

2.   Rename your note by deleting “Note May 31, 2013” and insert the name of the text feature you will present

3.    Choose your paper (click on wrench in top right corner, then click on Paper)

4.   Click on + to add your photos into your page (top right corner); click or drag photo into your note to insert; resize, crop,  and add caption; click “edit” to add writing

5.   Explain your non-fiction text feature and how it helps you to understand the text

Text Options:

a.      Click on “t” to type in text; change color/font/size/style on keyboard

b.     Click on pencil or highlighter to write or highlight important information; change color and size by double-clicking on the icon

c.      The eraser allows you to erase mistakes with marker or highlighter

             Voice Over:

a.      Add voice over by clicking on the speaker icon (recording starts immediately)

b.     Read your text loud and clearly

c.      Press the speaker icon to stop; press “triangle” to replay; press speaker again to add

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

I hope everyone was safe on their commute this morning and enjoyed 90 extra minutes...perhaps, to read?!?!?  Today during Reader's Workshop, we started our mini author study of Gail Gibbons with a focus on understanding text features.  We are learning how and why authors include text features.  More importantly, we are learning how text features help us to better understand the text.  At Writer's Workshop, we will be integrating text features into our non-fiction information books, too!  Therefore, it is very important that we have a deep understanding of text features!   Today, in Owl, we noticed and discussed text features that included: diagrams, labels, captions, cut-aways, comparisons, definitions, and illustrations.

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we read an awesome book called Elephants Can Paint, Too!  This text is a perfect example of the compare and contrast structure that we will study this week and apply to our non-fiction writing at Writer's Workshop.  The students were amazed at how elephants learn to paint like kids do! 

Check it out on this live YouTube video:

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish all students and families a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for the wonderful group of third graders who I get to work with each day.  Enjoy your time together with family and friends over the long holiday weekend!

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we read the book, In November, by Cynthia Rylant.  This book paints a beautiful picture of the month for readers to enjoy.  She writes with lovely figurative language, including personification, metaphors, similes, and imagery.  She has made us all feel hungry for the Thanksgiving food coming Thursday! 

My favorite page, the last page, prepares us for December and this cold weather we've been having!

In November, at winter's gate, the stars are brittle.  The sun is a sometime friend.  And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, till spring. (Cynthia Rylant)

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we started the non-fiction selection, Animal Homes, from our Treasures book.  This piece is very nicely organized into different main idea and detail sections.  We started today learning why animals need homes.  Ask your child why animals need homes!  (Hint: lots of the same reasons humans need homes!)  Throughout the week, we will read the different sections of the text, determine the main idea and figure out the supporting details, and finally explain WHY or HOW the supporting details connect to the main idea.  The last step extends students' thinking, comprehension, and forces them to "think about their own thinking" as well as the author's structure and purpose for writing the selection.  Happy reading!  

On another note, in honor of one of our favorite authors, I encourage students to read and visit the Junie B. Jones website!  Mrs. Barbara Park passed away on Friday.  While it is with great sadness that I share this news, I know her legacy of being a wonderful author of children's books will live on forever through her Junie B. series.  Her series inspires our children to read everyday!  

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

First of all, wishing a very happy Veteran's Day to all soldiers, family members, and friends of loved ones who serve or have served in our military.  It is truly a heroic duty and deserves to be honored today and EVERYDAY.  I hope you got to hug a Veteran today!  In honor of Veteran's Day, I read the book Sweet Land of Liberty to my girls.  It's a lovely literary non-fiction story that teaches history!  Ask your child what a literary non-fiction story is!  They should know from our unit on Antarctica!       

Non-Fiction Antarctica/Craft Study

Here is what we studied during our mini non-fiction unit on Antarctica. 

This will help you understand the assessment your child took today that asked them: 

Choose two texts (books or articles) that we read about for our study of Antarctica.  One text should be your MOST favorite!  Tell one way they are alike and one way they are different.  Then, tell which text was your favorite and why.

Their answers showed great insight and critical thinking!  Wow!

 

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

We are continuing our Navigating Non-Fiction unit of study with a focus on Arctic animals.  Today, we discussed how good non-fiction readers approach a non-fiction text.  Our strategies include:

1.  Read the title closely.  Read and think about the author.
2.  Look for a summary.  Read it.
3.  Read and think about the Table of Contents.  Predict!
4.  Preview the text:  look carefully at text features.
5.  Read and code the text.
6.  Use the glossary to look up words you don't know the meaning of.  Use the index to look up information on specific topics. 

Students practiced this approach in their book clubs with three different books, including: The Blue Whales of Antarctica, The Weddell Seals, and The Wandering Albatross.  Ask your child about the book he or she is reading!!!   

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

I am excited to say we are officially kicking off our Navigating Non-Fiction unit of study in Reader's Workshop!  During this unit, we will learn reading strategies that focus specifically on comprehension of non-fiction texts.  This unit of study will focus on coding non-fiction texts for main ideas(s) details (VIP's), disconnected details, and questions the reader has while reading.  In addition to coding, we will also focus on text features, navigating electronic tools/websites, and noticing how/why the author wrote in a specific sequence.  We will be busy from now until Winter Vacation navigating our way through the wonderful, real-world of non-fiction!  Our unit kicked off today with a non-fiction picture book, Antarctica.  All week, we will continue to read books on the topic of Antarctica...which will connect nicely to our next Science unit, Habitats.

Pumpkin Characters!

Check out the pumpkin characters we created for the pumpkin book project!

Wow, our class did a fantastic job creating characters out of pumpkins! 

Some of our characters include: Junie B., Harry Potter, Wilbur, Molly, Captain Underpants, Pinkalicious, Geronimo Stilton, Spiderman, Greg (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Baby Mouse, Gooney Bird, Curious George, and more! 

 

Math!

I know I have not done a Math post yet...but we do math everyday, of course!  In Unit 4, we are working with Base Ten Pieces to build numbers and partition (break apart) numbers.  Check out this great website that includes many Math Manipulatives! 

We will also be working on Telling Time and Elapsed Time.  Please ask your child to read analog clocks often!   

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

As we finish up our character trait study this week, today we finished Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry.  This was such an enjoyable story that included a special main character, Gooney Bird, who was full of unique character traits. These traits include: unique, interesting, mysterious, creative, and friendly.  Gooney Bird told her new class stories about her life, including how she got her name and how she traveled from China on a magic carpet!  Ask your child how these stories could possibly be "absolutely true" as Gooney says!  By the end of this week, all of your children will submit their own blog about a wonderful character they are reading about in their Book Clubs!  Look for those blogs in our Kid Blog!

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and read some good books!  My family and I enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent most of our time outdoors!  On Saturday, we went to the UConn homecoming football game.  This was exciting as I am a two-time UConn alumni, for both my Bachelor's Degree and 6th Year Certificate.  On Sunday we enjoyed time raking leaves and jumping around in them.  On Monday, we went to the park and of course, fit in lots of good reads!  Here is Camryn exploring our shelf that I filled with fall and Halloween books!  Brooklyn's favorite is Jerry Pallotta's Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween?  Be sure to check out his really neat website, too! 

Camryn choosing a good book!  You're never too young to start reading!

Floating M's in Science

Step 1
 

Step 2: Observing

Step 3: Floating M's!

In our classroom we are studying the process of the Scientific Method!  We just conducted an experiment called "Floating M's" to practice the steps of the Scientific Method.  We developed a problem question, formed a hypothesis, completed the experiment, analyzed our results, formed a conclusion, and wrote a brief reflection.  Check it out!

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

...And speaking of reading...today Mr. Nozik kissed a pig!  He kept to his promise and kissed Penny the pig.  Penny was too shy to come into West Hill, so we all went outside to witness this event!  While Mr. Nozik did keep to his promise, Penny soon got impatient and the event ended.  Congrats to all students who participated in the Summer Reading Challenge!  Today in school, we read the John Updike poem, "October."  We counted the syllables in each line of the poem, each stanza, and finally the entire poem.  As a class, we added up 81 beats in his poem and noticed his pattern.  Ask your child about the syllable pattern!  We also noticed how John Updike used imagery and a metaphor to help us picture the month of October!

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we started our "Understanding Characters" unit of study in reader's workshop.  This is one of my favorite units because we will do a close study on lots of fun characters, including Ramona Quimby, Ivy & Bean, Gooney Bird Greene, and more!  To kick off the unit, today we read The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.  Check it out on YouTube!  This is a true story about Philippe Petit, an aerialist who walked on a tight rope between the Twin Towers in 1974.  We developed a list of how Philippe's traits move the sequence of the story, including: ambitious, courageous, sneaky, clever, determined, cautious, brave, adventurous, confident, and free.  We were surprised to learn that he was NOT nervous, as we had predicted! 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we finished our Book Club selection, Junie B., First Grader, Cheater Pants by Barbara Park.  Junie B. is a favorite character of mine!  Mrs. Park's books offer a host of character trait lessons and reading with the purpose of noticing how a character's actions contribute to the sequence of events in a story.  I chose this selection to guide students on their use of our first three fiction sign-posts: Contrast & Contradictions, Tough Questions, and Aha Moment!  The class did an excellent job reading this humorous selection and noticing the main character, Junie B., grow and change throughout the text.  We will continue to study characters in many books in Reader's Workshop as we focus on CCSS RL 3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.  

Reading and Writing Anchor Charts!

The Anchor Charts that I posted in my reader's and writer's workshop mosaics were a bit fuzzy...so here are the anchor charts a little clearer!  Please use these at home to help with independent reading and writing!

Open House!

Wordles created on wordle.net:

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to Open House!  It was wonderful to see you all again and review your child's upcoming year!  I have added parent links to the toolbar on the right side of my blog.  That is where you will find the YouTube video on the Common Core that I shared at Open House.  I also shared the link to the Parent Roadmaps on the Common Core.  Remember, please feel free to contact me at anytime, e-mail works best!  Also, be sure to sign up for blog update alerts at the bottom of my blog page!

Thank you again for completing all of the paperwork involved at Open House as well!  It is greatly appreciated!  

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

What an exciting Monday morning!  Today we continued our poetry morning work with a close read of John Updike's September.  We will continue to read his poems each month throughout the school year.  His poems are a collection from his book, A Child's Calendar.  In addition to reading the poem, students were introduced to some important poetry vocabulary that we will refer to all year, including words like poetic license, rhythm, rhyme, stanza, explicate, and literary devices.  Ask your child what these terms mean!  Happy reading everyone!  

September by John Updike

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

At Writer's Workshop time, I shared the book The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, written by William Joyce, with the class.  We also watched the award-winning short film that is an animated version of the story.  The book and film teach children that their stories live on forever and helps reiterate the importance of reading and writing to develop to a colorful life!

"It's Monday!...What Are You Reading?"

It was a great first Monday in school!  Now I can finally share books that we are reading in our classroom!  Today, we started to discuss our signposts that we will Notice and Note throughout the school year on our post-it think notes!  We started by noticing when a character acts in a way that Contrasts and Contradicts what we would expect.  We then answered the question: why is the character acting this way?   Characters often act in an unusual way, hinting towards what the plot or conflict in the story will be.  We will continue to discuss this signpost throughout the week, using our mentor text,  Wolf! by Becky Bloom.  We will continue to practice this strategy tomorrow in our very first Book Club session, then practice the strategy even more at independent reading time!  I look forward to it!  In honor of our meme, It's Monday!  What Are You Reading!  my girls and I visited the Newington Lucy Robbins Welles library after school!    

Brooklyn finds a good book!

Cami explores a tunnel!