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.
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