Reading Without Walls Challenge

Students (and teachers! and parents!)  are being encouraged to participate in the Reading Without Walls Challenge.

To participate you can:

1) Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you

2) Read a book about a topic you don't know much about

3) Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun (a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, or an audio book)


What book are you going to read?

GRA: Yard Sale

This lovely Eve Bunting book inspired so many good conversations and so much empathy on the part of the first - third graders reading it.  The girl in the story is helping her family at a yard sale where they watch most of their things disappear in order to prepare for a move to a smaller place.

GRA: The Troublemaker

The second week of the Global Read Aloud focused on Lauren Castillo's book The Troublemaker which tells the story of a boy who gets in trouble for taking a toy that belongs to his sister.  Students who were really paying attention to what was going on in the background picked up on another troublemaker in the story!  We then discussed whether or not we would like to have a brother like the one in the book and why.

GRA: Nana in the City

During the first week of the Global Read Aloud, first-third graders read Lauren Castillo's Nana in the City.  The boy in this book is feeling nervous as he visits his Nana in the big scary city.  She makes him a red superhero cape to help him faces his fears.  Students came up with ideas of what their own superhero cape could help them do.

Global Read Aloud 2016

This year all of my 1st-5th grade classes are participating in the Global Read Aloud.  The idea of the Global Read Aloud is that kids all over the world are reading the same books during the same six week period.  Then their teachers and librarians are sharing what they are doing with the books using online connections.

This year's chosen picture book author/illustrator is Lauren Castillo.
Fourth and fifth graders are reading Roald Dahl's classic The BFG.  Great timing as in September we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Dahl's birth!


Follow the link to find out more:

The Global Read Aloud

Check back for more about what we've been learning and how we've been collaborating with other classes who are also participating in the Global Read Aloud.

Author Study: Pinkney Family Trees

As part of our author/illustrator study of the Pinkney family, first graders created a family tree of the family using some of the mediums used by the family's illustrators.

Students began by painting a tree using watercolor, a medium Jerry Pinkney uses frequently to create his beautiful paintings.  I often use the website Reading Rockets to find out more about favorite author/illustrators and it did not disappoint.  It's definitely worth taking a look at if you have time.

Jerry Pinkney Reading Rockets Video Link

After painting their family tree, students used crayons and a pair of scissors to add something to their scene using the scratchboard technique that Brian Pinkney is known for.  Finally, students added photographs of each member of the Pinkney family since Myles Pinkney is a photographer.  They also glued on a piece of paper to give credit to the website where we got the photographs.

I love how their family trees turned out.

Author Study: The Pinkney Family

First graders have just completed their author/illustrator study of Caldecott winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney.  His wife, Gloria, writes children's books.  Their sons, Brian and Myles, are illustrators.  And Brian and Myles's wives, Andrea Davis and Sandra respectively, are children's authors.  What a talented family!  We've focused on illustration (especially since so many of Andrea Davis Pinkney's wonderful books are really for older students.)

We've read Pinkney family books and explored Jerry Pinkney's titles on his websites.  Then we used a variety of art supplies to create art in the style of all three Pinkney illustrators.  Tune in this weekend to find out more and take a look at some of the beautiful student art work!

Melanie Watt's Chester

First grade's current author study is on author and illustrator Mélanie Watt of Chester and Scaredy Squirrel fame.  Last week students watched a video clip of Mélanie Watt talking about the process she uses to create her children's books.  The clip is on one of our favorite online databases Teaching Books.  (If your student cannot remember the login for Teaching Books s/he can ask in the library at school.) 

After reading the book Chester, students had the chance to look at a short "book" I made in the style of Mélanie Watt.  For those who have not had the pleasure of reading Chester, the book is about Chester the cat who desperately wants to have a book written about him instead of an unnamed mouse.  He repeatedly takes over the mouse's story using his red marker.  Hilarity and chaos ensue as he asserts his ideas instead of those of Mélanie Watt.  (There's even a good-natured defacing of Mélanie's photo.)

Check out what the first graders had Chester the cat do when they got hold of a red pencil and a copy of my book about the library.  I'm especially fond of the curl at the end of my mustache.

Eric Carle Artwork

Last week first graders completed one of my favorite author study projects: Eric Carle artwork.  Students used tissue paper to create their own illustrations of animals and insects in the style of Eric Carle.  Their work is then displayed in the library windows where the light shines through their beautiful illustrations.

Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This week we finally read the classic Eric Carle title The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Then students sequenced the story in illustrations and labeled parts of their illustrations.

Eric Carle/Pebble Go Research

We are very lucky to have a subscription to the online resource Pebble Go.  Pebble Go is a FANTASTIC database for primary students with four categories of information within the database: animals, biographies, science, and social studies.

Pebble Go  Ask your librarian for the username and password to enjoy this resource at home.

This week first grade students are continuing their author study of Eric Carle.  We read his classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar and students used Pebble Go to research two different types of butterflies.  As a class, we created a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two types of butterflies.

Preparing for Eric Carle Illustrations

First graders have been exploring Eric Carle's books and learning how he creates his illustrations.  Our final project for this author study will be to create a piece of artwork in the style of Eric Carle using tissue paper as he does.  This week students have been getting their materials ready.  Tissue paper has been such a fun medium to try out!

Stay tuned to find out what this paper will become...

Author Studies: Eric Carle

Now that the Global Read Aloud is over, first graders are getting back into author studies.  Next up is Eric Carle.  We started by watching the slide shows on his website that show how he creates his illustrations.

Then we read the book The Mixed Up Chameleon and students had a great time coming up with their very own mixed up creatures.

Lion Bird Robot

Giraffe Monkey

Eagle Tiger Chicken

Cat Human Chick

Duck Alligator Platypus

Lion Alligator Elephant

Starfish Tiger Penguin

Author Studies: Mo Willems

First graders will be working on author studies throughout the year.  They will explore the different styles of a variety of authors and start to learn the words to use when discussing the work of different authors.   The first author we studied this year was Mo Willems - always a favorite!  We learned that he was a stand up comedian and a writer for Sesame Street and Cartoon Network before he started writing and illustrating books.  We explored his websites:
Go Mo
Pigeon Presents

We also learned how to draw our very own pigeons using his directions.
How to Draw the Pigeon!

Pigeon drawn on the back of an old catalog card.

GRA: Chopsticks

First and second grade students enjoyed reading the book Chopsticks for the Global Read Aloud.

As part of the Global Read Aloud, we watched a video made by a 2nd grade class in another state.  Those students practiced using chopsticks.  Our first grade classes also practiced using chopsticks.  It was a lot harder than they expected!  Then first graders thought about what they like doing alone and what they like doing together - just like the chopsticks in the story.

Here are their padlets they made to share what they liked doing alone or together.  The students were able to type on the padlet at the same time and see their friends' responses.

Ms. Brannigan and Ms. Harrison's Classes
Ms. Litman-Woods's Class

Second graders found WOW words in the book chopsticks.  They looked those words up in our dictionaries to find out what they meant.  Then they illustrated their definitions with the chopstick characters.