Today’s Google landing page is a fun Halloween-themed game full of interesting facts. Check it out!
Interactive Google Doodle
Posted in holiday, and technology
Month: October 2019
If I Had a Gryphon 2019
Posted in picture book lesson, and second grade
Second graders created their own original mythical creatures in the Jackson Library after reading If I Had a Gryphon.
If I Had a Gryphon
4th Grade Color Poems
Posted in fourth grade, picture book lesson, poetry, and writing
Fourth graders were inspired by a read aloud from the Eric Carle book, What’s Your Favorite Color? I found this gem at the last year’s Scholastic book fair. After reading the story, the kids thought about their favorite color and used my template to brainstorm how their color might sound, taste, and feel. I love the imagery they used! As they wrote, we played the video of Hailstones and Halibut Bones for more ideas, since it has a similar theme.
Green Example: Read Write Think
Bumblebee Bat
Posted in bilingual, kindergarten, nonfiction lesson, picture book lesson, and technology
Last week in the Jackson Library, kindergarten learned facts about the bumblebee bat and used a Seesaw template I created to label the bat. The bilingual students used the Spanish words. This book won the Theodor Seuss Geisel award.
Round is a Tortilla
Posted in holiday, picture book lesson, and Pre-K
To wrap up Hispanic Heritage month, the bilingual Pre-K class identified objects with different shapes in the story, Round is a Tortilla. Kirkus applauds this book for incorporating cultural elements along with the shapes.
Spooky Magnetic Poetry!
Posted in fifth grade, poetry, technology, and writing
Last week was a short three-day library week due to the holidays so during quick check out, fifth grade quickly created a spooky poem. They used the Chromebooks to access my Seesaw spooky poetry template. This was fun to create and fun for the kids too. Grab the template below!
Tracking a Hurricane
Posted in current events, fifth grade, picture book lesson, science, and social-emotional learning
A couple of weeks ago when there were five tropical systems developing in the gulf, fifth graders at Jackson tracked a hurricane. Before the story, we discussed New Orleans and listened to Louis Armstrong music. After reading A Storm Called Katrina, we discussed empathy and what the victims of Hurricane Katrina had to endure. We read the endpapers of the book that showed pictures of actual victims and the dog that inspired the dog with the red ball in the book. Then we used the NOAA site to track Hurricane Katrina. The kids loved the book so much they applauded at the end!
The Wonky Donkey and Seesaw
Posted in bilingual, first grade, picture book lesson, technology, and TTESS 1819
Last week, I created my first Seesaw activity! (link below) After reading The Wonky Donkey and singing the song, the first graders had to think of a NEW flaw for the donkey. They used Seesaw in pairs to draw their wonkier donkey and they used the microphone to tell about its new flaw. They had a blast!
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Posted in holiday
Twister!
Posted in technology, third grade, and writing
Third graders used their five senses when reading the story Twister! As we read the story, we emphasized finding the five senses on all of the pages, admiring the beautiful paintings. After the story, the kids dragged the phrases to the correct sense box in a Seesaw activity I created for them. “Natt’s eyes look big and round and full of tears.” This is a beautifully written and painted story! The kids liked how the illustrator painted the swing at the end of the story to match the text: “The sight of our porch swing stops me. An arm is broken, a slat is missing, it’s sloping on one chain.”
