Another great book from the Charter Oak Children's Book Award...Nelly May Has Her Say written by Cynthia DeFelice and illustrated by Henry Cole. Nelly May's employer insists that she call common object by the special names he has created. For example, his dog is a "fur-faced fluffenbarker." The kids laughed more with each outrageous name. After hearing the book, they had a chance to make up their own special, fancy words for everyday objects. The kids thought about what an object did, looked like, sounded like, etc., and used those words to come up with a new name for the object.
This week, kindergarten through third grade classes read Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More: Poems for Two Voices by Carole Gerber and Eugene Yeltsin as one of the nominees for the Charter Oak Children's Book Award. One of the highlights was video conferencing with students at Whiting Lane School in West Hartford. Each class took one part of the poem, and then they read it together. The kids read the poem beautifully!
What book did Lawrence 4th through 5th graders choose as the winner of the Intermediate Nutmeg Award?
Tuesdays at the Castle with 11 votes! Here's how Lawrence students voted for the other Nutmeg nominees: King of the Mound-5 Joshua Dread-6 Liar & Spy-3 Saint Louis Armstrong Beach-5 Shadow-0 Spy School-6 The Unwanteds-10 Walls Within Walls-7 White Fur Flying-4 The official statewide winner will be announced soon! What book did Lawrence 2nd through 4th graders choose as the winner of the Elementary Nutmeg Award?
The Day the Crayons Quit with 26 votes! Here's how Lawrence students voted for the other Nutmeg nominees: Balloons Over Broadway-4 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind-3 Chloe and the Lion-9 Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000-1 Happy Like Soccer-4 Locomotive-3 Lulu and the Dog from the Sea-0 Miracle Mud-6 Odd Duck-13 Sidney and Sydney: Third Grade Mix-Up-8 Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs-9 The Secret of the Stone Frog-0 The Trouble with Chickens-2 Zita the Spacegirl: Far From Home-12 The official statewide winner will be announced soon!
In the regular classroom, kindergarten and first grade students are studying animals in different habitats and animal life cycles. During library class, students came up with a list of different sources we could use to find information about animals, such as books, observation, Pebble Go, experts, websites, videos, photos, and our own brains. We read books, looked at Pebble Go, and watched videos, and then made lists of what we learned and what questions we had. We decided to contact an expert to help answer our questions. Things got really exciting then. We were able to set up a video conference with park rangers in California who gave wonderful presentations about salmon, monarch butterflies, and elephant seals. Students then had a chance to talk to the rangers and ask some questions. They loved it and learned so much!
This year, kindergarteners through third graders are very excited to participate in the Charter Oak Children's Book Award. Students will listen to eight great books, participate in activities related to them, and then vote on their favorite. We hope to connect with some other Connecticut classes, too.
Fourth graders will participate in a Mystery Skype to complement the region study in their regular classrooms. This is how it works: they talk to another class via video chat and ask each other yes/no questions to determine what school they attend and where. It is a great way to become familiar with US geography and also use information tools such as maps, atlases, and websites for practical purposes. Fifth graders are creating book trailers using Animoto, a video-making website. They each have chosen a book that they read in class with their teacher. Next year, fifth grade teachers can show the book trailers to introduce the books and get the kids excited to read them. We are all looking forward to the finished work!
This was our first year participating in a Mock Caldecott unit. Watch the Animoto video to get the highlights!
Read Across America is an event that honors Dr. Seuss’s birthday! To celebrate, MHS Pathways to Teaching students will be visiting Lawrence School on March 3 and reading stories with our students.
Once again, the PTA will hold the Scholastic Book Fair in the library media center during the week of March 23. Stop in before or after your child’s conference and pick out some great books. THANK YOU to the PTA for all the work they do to support literacy in our school!
First graders enjoyed the 2015 Caldecott Medal winner The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, written and illustrated by Dan Santat. After hearing the story, they drew pictures of their own imaginary friends. I uploaded their pictures into Little Bird Tales, a great website that can be used for digital publishing. Students dictated information about their friend to me, I typed it onto their page, and they practiced reading with fluency until they were ready to record it with the microphone. Please enjoy the work of Mrs. Gervais's and Mrs. Weitz's classes. (We had a snow day every Monday in January, so I was unable to do this project with Mrs. Nelson's class.)
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AuthorKerry Darby Archives
April 2019
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