GRA: Exclamation Mark continued...

Third graders made individual exclamation mark mini-posters.  They wrote exclamations of their own, exclaimed what they were good at, and shared how they would make their marks on the world.  Their posters did a great job of expressing who they are.

GRA: Exclamation Mark

Third and fourth graders had a great time reading and working with the Global Read Aloud selection Exclamation Mark.  After we read the book students talked in groups to decide what they thought the moral of the story was.  Though there were many answers, the most common was that it's important to be yourself.

Fourth graders created group posters by collaboratively answering four questions inspired by the book.  Take a look!

GRA: More Chopsticks

Second graders practiced their dictionary skills and looked up words Amy Krouse Rosenthal used in the book Chopsticks.  Then they made their own chopsticks dictionaries.  Their dictionaries included the words they looked up and the definitions.  Then they illustrated their definitions using the chopstick characters from the book.

GRA: Duck! Rabbit!

We've had so much fun with this book!

Second, third, and fourth graders loved reading this selection for the Global Read Aloud.

Most of our students decided the animal is a rabbit...but not everyone is convinced.  And it wasn't until near the end of the week that I realized I had been reading the title incorrectly.  I had been saying, "Duck. Rabbit." when I should have been saying "Duck! Rabbit!"  Fortunately it was the perfect transition to our next book Exclamation Mark.

Third and fourth grade students created their own optical illusion creations using colored pencils and watercolors.

Jellyfish!  Octopus!

Snail! Hermit Crab!

Lizard! Chameleon!

Rainbow Snake! Rainbow Worm!

Snake! Glow worm!

Worm! Snake!

Snail! Snake!

Giraffe! Spotted dinosaur!

Shrimp! Piglet!

Piranha! Goldfish!

Students also loved checking out an optical illusion website that included the duck/rabbit optical illusion.

Optical Illusions

Why Huey, Louie, and Melvil Dewey?

Can you figure it out?  Hoping Melvil Dewey is a familiar name to some of my students... Sam? Victor?

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.

Global Read Aloud

I am so excited to have my 1st-4th grade classes participating in the Global Read Aloud this year.  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 is Chicago's own Amy Krouse Rosenthal!  A big thank you to Ms. Stumbras for letting me know about this great opportunity.

Follow the link to find out more:

The Global Read Aloud