Learning is fun!
Posted in bilingual, 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!
Posted in picture book lesson
Last week in the Jackson Library, kindergarteners had fun with a classic autumn read aloud titled Leaf Man (Ehlert). They had fun creating their own leaf creatures!
First graders enjoyed the award winning read aloud, Oh No! by Fleming and Rohmann. They predicted what would happen at the end of the story and who came to rescue the animals. At the tables, they watched the book trailer, sequenced the animals (sheet below), and rotated on the computers to explore animal information on Pebble Go in English and Spanish. PebbleGo is one of our district databases. The kids can listen to the sounds, read short text, and watch videos to go with each animal. After check out, they watched a San Diego zoo video about tigers. Fun!
Posted in apps, picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology
Last week in the Jackson Library, fifth graders studied characters by their appearance, actions, and dialogue in the book, This is a Moose. After the story, they used a Seesaw activity I created to complete a bubble map describing the character(s) of their choice. They were allowed to use two physical attributes and the rest were to be personality traits. Check out their awesome work!
Character Trait Bubble Map Seesaw Activity
Posted in bilingual, picture book lesson, reading skills, and social-emotional learning
One book we are reading to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in the Jackson Library is Lucia la Luchadora by Cynthia Leonor Garza. Last week, the second graders identified causes and effects in the story. Since the boys teased Lucia, she asked her abuela for help. When she wore the luchadora costume and mask, she had the courage to rescue Coco from the top of the slide. We discussed stereotypes and assumptions people make about appearances and how to overcome those with inner confidence and strength. After the story, the kids wrote a sentence about what some people perceive as a limitation, and then wrote what they CAN do despite that perception. This great idea is from Ms. Rodrigo’s Twitter feed! Finally, they colored their own Nino (from Yuyi Morales’ Nino Wrestles the World book) or Lucia la Luchadora (mask drawn by me) to take home to finish.
Hou Chronicle Author Interview
Lucia luchadora mask – drawing attempt by AK
Lesson idea from Ms. Rodrigo’s Twitter Feed
Check out Cynthia Leonor Garza’s new book about Lucia!
Posted in picture book lesson
Last week in the Jackson Library, kindergarteners listened to the story, Kitten’s First Full Moon by Henkes. During the story, they had to identify picture cause and effect events. At the tables, they matched the events again and watched two video versions of the book. They love this instant classic book!
Kitten’s First Full Moon
Kitten’s First Full Moon -Henkes – Safeshare video
kitten cause effect stu sheet
Jackson Elementary second graders had fun learning about Seesaw and how to post work on the site/app. This week, we read the Peter Reynolds’ book, The Dot, and discussed how Vashti felt during the story. After we watched the Tumblebook book animation, the kids worked in pairs to use Deanna Perkins’ character trait activity in Seesaw. I love how this activity makes them think of careful word choice and adds words to their vocabulary they might have not thought of before. We love Seesaw, too!
Deanna Perkins The Dot Activity – Character Analysis in Seesaw
Last week in the Jackson Library, kindergarten and first grade were rocking in their school shoes like Pete the Cat. After we read Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, the kids drew Pete at Jackson Elementary School. They wrote a sentence about what Pete was doing at school. After the activity, they sang Pete the Cat songs during check out. As Pete says, “It’s alllllll good!”
Pete the Cat School Student Sheet
Posted in picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology
Posted in picture book lesson, reading skills, and technology
Third graders were given just the text portion of the story Two Bad Ants by Chris van Allsburg and had to analyze the text to figure out the location of the ants. Then I showed them the picture so they could see if their predictions were accurate. After the story, they played a Classtools game I customized with questions from the story and had the option to explore the Archibald’s Adventure simulation game.
