First Graders Share Their Hopes For Summer Adventures

We're gearing up for summer! The first graders read How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague. 

"Some kids spend their summer vacation at camp. Some kids spend it at Grandma’s house. Wallace Bleff spent his out west…on a ride, a rope, and a roundup he’ll never forget."

We started with this question, "What adventures do you hope you will have this summer?"

After reading the story, the students were asked to picture themselves back here in September and to think about what they would like to be sharing with the class. 

Their hopes for summer are fun and far-ranging. It's hard to tell which students followed the fantastical but seemingly real element of Mark Teague's story and which students shared their actual summer plans. Regardless, they are pretty awesome. Here's a look at a few of them:

Finding Poetic Inspiration in a Photograph

The fourth graders have been exploring poetry all year. Most recently, they found poetry in the written word using the blackout poetry form. Last week, they used the skills they developed during work with a poet-in-residence to find poetic inspiration in a photograph.

The students used PicLits, a website for inspired picture writing. After finding a photograph that spoke to them, the students created a poem from the word bank or wrote their own. It's hard work, harder I think than sitting down and writing a poem. I was interested to see some repetition of photographs and themes, yet a unique approach to creating the poem.  Have a look:

Testing theories and developing skills in the school library