Encouraging Students to Doodle During a Read Aloud

Grace Lin is coming to our school at the end of the month! My fourth graders have all read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and most have read Starry River of the Sky, so I decided to read an excerpt from When the Sea Turned to Silver. I gave each student a pad and a sharpie and asked them to write down predictions, to draw the images that emerged, and to note language that resonated with them. The busy hands let me know how intently they were listening. It was incredible. They then shared their predictions, thoughts, and drawings with each other. Here's a sample of what they created:

Developing inquiry in Kindergarten Students

The kindergarten students have been learning about the library neighborhoods and the kinds of books live in each neighborhood. We started with picture books, moved into early readers, stopped by series, and now arrive at the Wonder Wall or nonfiction neighborhood.

I started with my somewhat long welcome message.

After learning about spine label stickers from different neighborhoods, the kindergarten students shared things they were wondering about. Students shared things like...

How do birds fly?

How do leaves change color?

How do machines work?

How do giraffes get born?

I then followed my wonderings as a model for inquiry. I had read of the safe landing of these astronauts in the Guardian.

 

I didn't show the students these pictures, but may do so next week. I talked about seeing pictures of the safe landing and wondering who went up to the Space Station and how they were chosen. I talked through the process of finding a book along the Wonder Wall that could begin to answer my questions. I showed the students Astronaut Handbook  by Meghan McCarthy. I also talked through finding out if it was fiction or nonfiction. After deciding this, we read the book to see if we could answer my wondering questions.

In a WONDERful turn of events, the reading of Astronaut Handbook inspired quite a number of questions from the students. We'll be trying to answer them next week. 

These students are natural scientists. Have a look:

How many years do they train to be astronauts?

How old do you have to be?

I wonder why they have to wait so long to take off.

What if there are not enough seats?

How do they get down?

What if they can't blast off?

What of they find something wrong?

How do they get to the space ship?

Do they practice flying on normal planes?

How do they eat?

Do they have a bed?

What do they do once they get there?

How many days does it take to get to the Space Station?

How many feet is the sky to the ground?

How do they go to the bathroom?

How do you sleep?

How did the red spot got on Jupiter?

I WONDER what we will learn!

Let the Lunch Bunch Begin!

It's always interesting to collect and analyze information. My fifth graders are getting ready to being their book group lunches. This information, along with the books they indicated they wanted to read, will help me set up the groups. For the students who want to read their books at home, I think I am going to try to have two book discussions going at the same time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Wherein I Create Library Neighborhood Visuals and the Students Help Make Them Better

Working with students on understanding how a library is organized and helping them make the connection between the information in the Destiny Catalog and the book on the shelf  is both fun and challenging. Before they can begin exploring on their own, there has to be some foundational work. The struggle comes in making this conversation one that meets the needs of all learners. Over the years, I have worked to create visuals that I hope clarify the organizational aspect of the library and make that Destiny-Book connection. This year, I think I have finally found something I like.

I had my fourth graders give me feedback on the new visuals and was incredibly appreciative of their input. For instance, in the image below, they suggested that I put the library information on the left and city on the right. I agreed and changed the graphic. They gave feedback on font, color, and language. It was one great conversation. Have a look below. What do you think? How can I make these better?

Our library is like a city...

A book is like a building on a street, if you have the address...

The first part of a call number sends you to the neighborhood...

We can identify our neighborhoods by the color stickers on the books and tape on the shelves...

The second part of the call number brings you to the shelf.... 

On this street is a building...

On this shelf is a book...

Here are others visuals I am working on...

What do you think?

"I like to read picture books because they open up my mind"

This week the third graders answered a brief survey about their reading interests. 

Why do you enjoy reading books from this neighborhood?

I can't help it. I love making Wordles. Clearly, the students find the books in their favorite neighborhoods, fun, interesting and funny.

I enjoy reading books from this neighborhood...

because they are fun to read
because I like made up things
Because I like the funny books in it like Scaredy Squirrel and The Day the Crayons Came Home
mercy watson
because they are fun to read
Because i like learning things
because it teaches me about other people
Because I like to learn about famous people and their life
they are not real
more action
it is fun to look at the pictures
books in a series have more action
I like to learn
because of the pictures
the pictures help you understand the story
because diary of a wimpy kid in this neighborhood
i like to do some books that show me how to do something
i like to lean about things
to make mental images in my mind
because when your done with the first book you can read the second
I like to see the colorful pictures
because i love cooking.
They tell me about things I want to know and I also want to save the Amazon Rainforest when I grow up and it tells me about animals and plants.
because you can read lots of the same series
I like series books because I like action.
because you get more information
Because I like animals
I like to read picture books because they open up my mind

This quick survey also gave me an opportunity to get a better understanding of how the students use the library.

Most students are making the connections between Destiny, our library catalog, and the spine label stickers and call number stickers on the books. Still more work to do here regarding title.

A call number is like ....

I left this question open ended on purpose, so put the results into a Wordle and can see that more students have made the connection that a call number is like an address for the book. I still have work to do here though.

Stay tuned! I am making new graphics for teaching and learning about location and access.