Amazing Pumpkin Characters!

Wow, your pumpkin characters are AWESOME!  If you are unable to make it to Spirit Night and want to see the class's pumpkins, check them out here!

 

"It's Monday…What Are You Reading?"

What a week we have ahead in Reading!  This week, we will finish our Gooney Bird books in book clubs!  We are studying Gooney Bird closely as we wrap up our character trait unit.  In addition to pin-pointing appropriate character traits to various characters, we are also studying ways that characters and their traits drive the events of the text, their motivations, and actions that contribute to the sequence of events in the text.  Students will view, participate, and apply learning to a series of lessons by learnzillion.com that review how to do a "close reading" of literature on The Story of the Three Little Pigs, with a focus on character traits.  Check it out with a subscription FREE with a google account.  It's an excellent resource.  Happy reading!  And I am REALLY looking forward to seeing your pumpkin characters on Wednesday!      

"It's Monday…What Are You Reading?"

Did you know that a man once tight-rope walked between the two World Trade Center buildings?  It's true!  Ask your child about Philippe Petit, an aerialist who "spent almost an hour walking, dancing, and performing tricks a quarter of a mile in the sky."  This was a 'character' who demonstrated traits including bravery, courage, and determination in the book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.  He was goal-oriented and a risk-taker.  Check out real-live footage of Mr. Petit!  Although we read this book at the end of last week, it's such an inspiring story, I really wanted to share it!  We will continue our study of character traits and discuss what moves/contributes to the actions of characters in a story.  We are currently reading different Gooney Bird books in our book clubs and observing her grow and change as a creative, fun-loving, unique character!

"It's Monday…What Are You Reading?"

Today, we continued to discuss our reading strategies/thinking while reading post-its with a focus on Author's Craft.  We talked about John Updike's use of literary devices in his poem, October.  We made great connections to how we feel in the month of October.  However, students were a little stumped on what "frost bites the lawn" might look like in the early October morning.  Perhaps show them one morning!  We also noticed that he intentionally writes with beautiful craft, including personification, similes, metaphors, and imagery.  We discussed some new terms, too, including idiom, hyperbole, and assonance.  See if your child knows these literary devices!  We also continued our discussion of Gooney Bird Greene, noticing that the author writes with a lot of repetition in her story.