Learning is fun!
Posted in writing
Last week when I was substituting in fourth grade, one of the assignments was to write a spooky story! This is right up my alley! I read the bilingual class the opening and closing lines from several spooky stories in the library and they took off with their imagination! They wrote an opening line and ending for a scary story. We had fun!
Posted in bilingual, displays and deco, fifth grade, fourth grade, poetry, third grade, and writing
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!
Posted in fifth grade, games, poetry, and writing
This week in the Jackson Library, fifth grade read Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball poem (we used MrsBlewettELA’s TPT Questions) and watched the Oscar-winning short animated movie. Fifth graders wrote a letter to SOMETHING they love. If they wrote a poem, they wadded up some paper to shoot a basket into the trash can. This idea is from Michael Bonner. Fun!
Embedded: Arthur, Garcia classes
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Posted in nonfiction lesson, picture book lesson, and writing
In the fall, fifth graders had fun sharing their ‘expert knowledge’ on different topics by creating an alphabet book. Since I started taking guitar lessons on Zoom last July, I created a sample ‘book’ to use as a model and then also shared the book, Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet by Chris Barton. They had fun and we all learned so much!
Samples
Posted in poetry, remote learning, technology, and writing
Thanks to Kasey Bell for the Summer Magnetic Poetry template! Jackson Library remote learners loved it! Check out their poems!
Posted in remote learning, and writing
Thanks to Jimmy Fallon for this get-to-know-you remote learning lesson idea! Using only six words, fourth and fifth graders summarized their summer in the Jackson Library Google Classroom.
Inspiration:
Lesson:
+++Posted in fun events, grants, and writing
Who is the masked writer? Students send in their guesses via the Jackson Library Google Classroom. Thanks to @MedCityPlano and @PISDEF for library books to reinforce writing strategies! In the fall, I wrote a PISD Education Foundation Grant for library books to use as mentor writing texts. Then I taught a series of writing strategy lessons to grades 3-5 during their library time. There were certain targeted writing skills they had to achieve in each piece. I chose a few papers for children to read while wearing a mask. (videos) The other kids in the grade level guess as to who is behind the mask. Fun!
Some other Masked Writer Contestants:
Some mentor texts used:
Twister – Beard
Sergio’s Bike– Boelts
Up North at the Cabin – Chall
Night Driving – Coy
Strong to the Hoop – Coy
Goal! Javaherbin
My Best Friend – Rodman
Google Classroom Guesses
Posted in fifth grade, fourth grade, third grade, and writing
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
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
Posted in fourth grade, picture book lesson, Seesaw, and writing
In the library, fourth graders listened to the read aloud Strong to the Hoop by Coy, found the active verbs in a Seesaw activity I created, and wrote their own exciting introduction to a narrative. Several wrote about their recent aquarium field trip. Check it out!
Posted in character education, displays and deco, fifth grade, poetry, TTESS 1819, and writing
Last week in the Jackson Library, fifth graders researched famous African Americans. They synthesized research information into an acrostic poem highlighting important contributions of the person. Click through to see the people, A to Z!
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