Reederama

Monday, November 21, 2016

The Pen Pal relationship is off and writing!

The Pen Pal relationship is off and writing!

Earlier this year, my second grade students and I read DEAR DRAGON, written by Josh Funk and illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo.

I read Dear Dragon as the first read aloud of the school year. The book provided a natural way for me to have the students share something about their summer. As pen pals do during their correspondence, the students could share something about a hobby, a tradition, an experience, or really any aspect of their summer. This allowed me to get a little insight into how they spent their summers. I chose one class to pilot a pen pal project.

We found a fabulous pen pal class in Minnesota and are making friends from far away. Their skills as letter writers is also growing. This is going to be a great year!

Interesting Old Chinese Medicine and Funny Hair Cuts: Preparing for a visit from Grace Lin

Inspired by Old Chinese Medicine, a story from Ling and Ting Together in All Weather, my first graders added some interesting ingredients to the pot. We've been having such fun preparing for the visit from Grace Lin.

The first, second, third, and fourth grade students have been adding questions for Grace Lin to our basket.

The story connections continue to create buzz! The first graders also showed what might happen if they sneezed while getting their haircut, just as Ting did in the story The Haircuts in Ling and Ting Not Exactly the Same.

First Grade Information Gatherers: questions lead to answers which lead to more questions

The first grade researchers are in the library! I love this first exploration into gathering information.

This is a collaborative project with the classroom teacher. The students come to the library or I go to their classroom. The students listen to articles in PebbleGo and Encyclopedia Britannica as well as explore the print resources. Several parent volunteers help make this project a success.

The information gathering packet is fairly traditional.

A few years ago, the teacher and I added the page that I think is important, it asks the students to think about their own questions, especially those that may have arisen during their reading. I hope they get the message that questions and information gathering never really ends.