Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Finally Some More Caldecotts

We have been reading Caldecotts...as you can see they were such a hit, they were reread by my five year old.

Mother Goose (1945 Honor) Tasha Tudor

High This delightful book of rhymes was a huge hit for both of my kiddos. They loved that it had many "chapters," since there was a table of contents in the front. They also loved reciting the rhymes that they knew. A huge hit was "Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well..." which my mother had just taught them the prior week.
 
Low  I was unfamiliar with many of the rhymes, and had a difficult time finding the rhyme and rhythm of them.
 
Many Moons (1944 Winner) by James Thurber, Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
 
High This clever little tale about a spoiled princess that wants the moon had a fun story that both my kids enjoyed. Above, Frankie is pointing to her favorite illustration of the princess in her bed. Notice all of the pink. We read this story three nights in a row.
 
Low We read this story three nights in a row.  (kind of long....and predictable)

Big Nate T-Shirt Winner

S. from 4Y won the signed Big Nate t-shirt. He is a Big Nate fan, and so excited!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Dewey with Third Grade

 In third grade, students have been working to find books in the nonfiction section of our library.

I taught the students how the call numbers worked, and the arrangement of our library. They then worked to find different books using prepared cards that have and image of the book and the call number.

Students worked with a partner. One student found the book, and the other was a human shelf marker while the finder brought the book and the card to me or their teacher to check. Students then reversed roles. An added bonus was that many books in the nonfiction section were checked out, because students thought they looked interesting.

Links to 6th Grade Websites

In 6th Grade, students learned how to create websites to teach others about the information they had learned in Social Studies. Click on the links below to see their great work:

1.Zach6k22.Sam (6- J)43.roman( 6k)
2.Oman6k23.Liam (6- J)44.Quinton( 6K)
3.Angela 6K24.Jerry 6-J45.navid (6k)
4.Akiko6R25.joshua (6- J)46.Emily (6- K)
5.annabel6R26.Devin 6J47.Jason( 6K)
6.brandon6r27.Emile6J48.Julia (6K)
7.Hafeni6r28.Teigan (6J)49.Elian (6k)
8.Dai6R29.Zach 6J50.Frank( 6K)
9.Jungho (6- R)30.Lizzy (6- J)51.Will (6k)
10.Chance6R31.ryan 6j52.Hae- joo (6- K)
11.Jun6- R32.Karl- 6J53.alexia pliego
12.Anmol (6- R)33.Calvin (6J)54.Claire (6- R)
13.Sam6R34.Lia (6J)55.Claudia 6-R
14.Austin 6-R35.Owen (6- J)56.Sophie (6R)
15.R' Elle6R36.Sammy 6J57.Maggie (6R)
16.skielett 6R37.Isabel (6- J)58.Seth (6R)
17.Aya (6- R)38.Aniruddha 6j59.Ethan (6R)
18.Marc 6R39.Claire (6K)60.Kristina (6K)
19.Megan- 6K40.Stefanno (6k)
20.Kaitlyn (6K)41.Colin (6K)  
21.michael- 6J42.Kasyah (6K)  

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Research

Research has been thriving at Brimhall this spring. In 3rd grade, students have been using books to take notes independently on different topics about Native American Cultures of the Southwest. Students worked brainstormed what they wanted to learn to teach others, learning note taking skills, and practiced using the index and table of contents to find important information. We also worked really hard to put our notes into our own words so that we would not plagiarize.


In 2nd Grade, classes used an eBook to conduct research. Classes thought of 3 facts they wanted to learn about the Liberty Bell. I modeled using the eBook, and we found the answers to two of their questions together. Students then worked in partnerships to answer the third question and find extra information. These mini guided research projects are really preparing them for their work in 3rd grade.

Dewey in Our Library

In fifth grade we learned about how the Dewey Decimal System helps organize the nonfiction side of our library.

Students learned what each of the hundreds classified as a class. We then broke up into small groups of 2-3 students to examine one section closer. Students first looked at the books and the heading for each section. They then chose 5-6 books that really represented that section of our library and recorded the title of the book and call number on a note card. This week, students went back to the shelves, and photographed the books they had chosen. Next week, we will be learning how to edit our photos and upload them to Glogster (I thought I would get my 5th graders prepped for the big Glogster project they will do next year). Look for our work about Dewey in Our Library soon!