3rd Graders encountered The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter this week, a luscious ramble through the adventures of a voracious word collector. Though his chums call Selig an oddball, the word lover eventually finds a way to direct his passion for language. Before entering the library, each student received a sticker featuring a word from the story and its definition. Words like aflutter, djinn and emporium tantalized our tongues. (All italicized words are featured in the book.)
Preschool: Preschoolers met the famous bear Corduroy by Don Freeman this week. In this sweet story, Corduroy lives his life in a department store, ventures off to find his lost button, and eventually goes home to live with his new owner.
Kindergarten: To supplement their learning about Native Americans this week, Kindergarteners listened to a Ute Tale called Coyote Steals the Blanket, retold and illustrated by Janet Stevens. In this rollicking tale set in Arches National Park, proud Coyote decides not to heed the advice of Hummingbird, who warns him against taking things that don't belong to him. Kindergarteners enjoyed watching the silly coyote get into trouble, and we agreed that the silliest part of all was that he didn't learn from his mistakes!
1st Grade: 1st Graders worked on comparing and contrasting this week with There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback and the Halloween version There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro. These classic folk poems are also wonderful tools for teaching rhythm and story patterns. By the third page or so, students are chanting along with the words.
2nd Grade: A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry tells the environmental history of the Nashua River in Massachusetts. The story follows the river through times of plenty, pollution and eventual restoration. We talked about the book in connection with our Core Virtue for the month, Stewardship, and 2nd Graders pointed out examples of good and bad stewardship throughout the story.
3rd Grade: See opening post.
4th Grade: 4th Graders became Nonfiction tour guides this week, guiding their classmates through the sections of the Dewey Decimal System. Each pair presented their section number and name, talked about what kinds of books could be found there, and highlighted three specific books to recommend from their section.
5th Grade: This week 5th Graders learned about the Battle of the Books and we discussed strategies for finding "just right" books. We discussed how reading books that are too difficult can make the reader frustrated, bored, or confused. Check here and here for some strategies and an article on student book choices from a 4th Grade teacher.
What would you do if you heard a news report saying aliens were invading earth? In 1938, a radio play of Orson Welles' version of War of the Worlds set off a mass panic throughout the United States. 4th Graders learned about this bizarre historical event through Meghan McCarthy's book Aliens are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast. The book features 1930s style comic book art and a section at the back explaining more about the 1938 event. After reading the story, we listened to a YouTube clip of the original broadcast. We all agreed that the crackly radio noise make the news report about aliens even more creepy. Happy Halloween!
Preschool: Preschoolers choose their check-out books so quickly these days, we decided it was a two book day. We started with Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley, a fun book with movable parts in which each turn of the page adds another element to the big green monster. Preschoolers also listened to Mouse's First Halloween by Lauren Thompson and had fun guessing what those scary noises could be. Rustle Rustle Rustle, Drop Drop Drop, and Grin Grin Grin may seem frightening, but each turn of the page reveals that rustling leaves, falling apples and glowing jack-o-lanterns aren't so scary after all!
Junior Kindgergarten: Junior Kindgergarteners learned the value of cooperation in Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. After Witch struggles to yank her ripe pumpkin from the vine, a series of spooky characters try to help. The big pumpkin doesn't budge until one particularly clever (but very small) creature appears to offer some advice.
Kindergarten and 2nd Grade were partying away at the Costume Carnival during their regular library time.
1st Grade: In Bone Soup by Cambria Evans, Finnigan the Eater arrives in a new town tired, lonely and very hungry. Unfortunately, his reputation precedes him and everyone in town has already decided not to give him a thing to eat. In this spooky twist on the classic Stone Soup, Finnigan cleverly acquires all the bat wings, snake eyeballs, and friends he needs to make Bone Soup.
3rd Grade: 3rd Graders listened to poems from Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich (and other stories you're sure to like, because they're all about monsters, and some of them are also about food, you like food, don't you? Well, alright then) by Adam Rex. The poems are about as silly as the book's subtitle and include poems like "The Phantom of the Opera who gets It's a Small World Stuck in his Head" and "The Invisible Man Gets a Haircut."
4th Grade: See opening post.
5th Grade: To wrap our unit on Poe, one of our 5th Grade parents read the author's chilling narrative poem "The Raven." The poem's lyrical quality makes it the perfect read-aloud, and our reader shared stories about reading "The Tell-Tale Heart by candlelight during power outages in New York as a child.
