Monday, May 21, 2007

Fourth Graders Are Published Authors!

Fourth Graders Publish!

We got our books! Fourth Graders in Mrs. Edwards' and Mr. Orr's classes finished our unit on Tall Tales and after writing a class tall tale and illustrating it, I sent it to Apple to be published as an hardback iPhoto book. The books arrived this week. They are fantastic. They have been cataloged as folktales and will be a part of our permanent collection. Parents....please stop by and see your child's remarkable work!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--It's always fun to read a classic and this week Kindergarteners heard James Marshall's version of The Three Little Pigs. Once again, I realized why these stories have remained favorites for so many years. There is drama, a great villain, a clever hero who uses his brains to outwit his opponent, and a satisfying ending. I use this story as a way to discuss what makes a classic, why it's okay to hear a story more than once, and to begin teaching about character, plot, and ending.

First Grade--The delightful story of The Pigs Wedding by Helme Heine never fails to cause giggles when Porker and Curly Tail paint wedding clothes on all their guests. All the best intentions aside, a sudden rainstorm turns the wedding reception in something the pigs really like--a nice romp in deliciously squishy mud. This is simply a fun story with lovely illustrations and is always enjoyed by the students.

Second Grade--Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking? In Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh, the family feeds Martha, the dog, a bowl of alphabet soup and a strange thing happens. Instead of going to her stomach, the letters go to her brain, and amazingly Martha begins to speak. This is funny until she can't seems to stop speaking and finally her family tells her in no uncertain terms to be quiet. When a burglar arrives, Martha saves the day, and her family is so thankful she gets to talk whenever she wants.

Third Grade--Keeping with our pig theme, Hog Eye, also by Susan Meddaugh, causes great laughs when a piglet outfoxes a fox with the magic spell called "Hog Eye. " The curse is hysterical and all through the story is a gentle message about the importance of being able to read for yourself! (Just ask the poor wolf....)

Fourth Grade--To conclude our Tall Tales unit we read The Bunyans by Audrey Wood which tells what happened to old Paul Bunyan in later years. We especially like the ending with the reference to the "Martian Face" and after the story looked up the actual pictures on the Internet.

Fifth Graders--Fifth graders began their blog posting research lesson this week. We discussed how the blog worked and they teamed up to do research on four famous people. Next week we'll do our posting. If you'd like to see the lesson please go to the Library Skills Blog.

Sixth Graders--We had a relaxing week. The sixth graders are getting very busy with preparations for their play and graduation. I gave them time to look at the display I made of their "Favorite Book" project and it was nice to hear all their comments as they reminisced about their choices and those of their classmates. Parents...please stop by the library for a look!

There are two more weeks of Library classes for this year! Please start looking for all those missing books!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful blog! I love that you have listed what each grade is doing for the day/week. I am an SB teacher training to be an LMT and I am really impressed with your site/blog. Thanks!