April is National Poetry Month! Third through fifth grades had fun in the Jackson Library writing Spring poems! Some wrote diamante poems about the atmosphere layers, some wrote acrostics in English, and some wrote Spanish acrostics. We used kite templates (see TPT links below) so we could post them on the library windows. The kids had fun writing the poems!
Last week in the Jackson Library, third graders used Google’s Toontastic app to retell the story, The Monsterator by Keith Graves. This app is great because it is free, it allows them to draw their own setting and characters, it offers them options to customize their music and record their voice, and it even adds scrolling movie credits. Check out their creations!
February of this year, we read Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball poem (we used MrsBlewettELA’s TPT Questions) and watched the Oscar-winning short animated movie. Then, third through fifth grades wrote a “love letter” to SOMETHING they love. Check out their awesome work! Then, watch our video and check out the three-pointers!
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MrsBlewettELA’s TPT Dear Basketball Poem and Questions
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Student Writing
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Student Three-Pointers
This idea came from Mr. Bonner! Check out his site: Bonnerville!
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Harlem Globetrotters
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2020 Quotable Quotes, Assoc. Press
“We are all Lakers today.” — Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, in a remark to reporters after the death of Kobe Bryant, Orlando, Fla., Jan. 26
Third grade enjoyed the story, Goldilocks and the Three Martians, in the Jackson Library. They used context clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words, and predicted what would happen to Goldilocks. When we discussed gravity, we watched it in action with a YouTube video of astronauts playing soccer aboard a spaceship. That sure is memorable! Finally, we played a Kahoot! game about the story.
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 Adventuresimulation game.
Third grade had fun drawing conclusions, using prefixes, choosing the correct definition from a dictionary excerpt, and using context clues during the story, Hensel and Gretel: Ninja Chicks today in the Jackson Library. Before the story, we discussed important vocabulary words like dojo, wok, and menace, and we watched a video of kids practicing Ninjutsu. After the story, they played a Kahoot game in pairs and then we danced to Kung Fu Fighting. Fun!
Third graders enjoyed learning about Egyptian beliefs and customs during the historical fiction story, Mummy Cat. As we read the book, I introduced terms like pharaoh, serene, and hieroglyphics. We analyzed the artwork in the story and how it contributed to the narrative, to the point that there was a second story within the first! After the story and questions, we walked “Like an Egyptian” and wrote our name in hieroglyphics. The story even prompted kids to look for more books about Egypt!
Third graders had fun creating talking nonfiction text features using the Chatterkid Pix app in the library before winter break. They were to explain the purpose of the text feature and to give concrete examples in a first person voice. They had so much fun! When they finished, they played Sara Malchow’s BeeBot Robot Nonfiction Text Features Game. (see link to her TPT store below)