Snowman fun
Recent storytimes for Mrs. McCall’s class featured snowman stories and rhymes. The children enjoyed Snowballs by Lois Ehlert, Snow by Uri Shulevitz, and Snowmen at Nightby Caralyn Buehner. They helped to recite the rhymes “A Chubby Little Snowman” and used snowmen puppets to act out “Five Little Snowmen” in the puppet theater. The children also made paper snowmen using different shapes for the snowballs, buttons, eyes, and hat.
Sixth graders learn to be responsible researchers
Mrs. David’s sixth graders are learning how to conduct research and write a report. In order to learn how to avoid plagiarism by citing their sources, the class visited the library twice in January. The students began by learning the five pieces of information needed to cite a book (title, author, publisher, place of publication, and copyright date) and where to locate each piece of information. They practiced putting the pieces of a citation in order and writing citations with the correct punctuation. The students already get to put their new skill to use as they are currently researching topics related to the Middle Ages.
Grade 6 | Comment (0)First graders experience Chickadee book
A Second is a Hiccup was the first Chickadee book the first graders shared. In rhyme, the book describes the various units of measure we have for time. After the story, the children recalled the name and relationship of seconds, minutes (60 seconds = 1 minute), and hours (60 minutes = 1hour). Next they sorted pictures of various activities by the approximate amount of time each takes. For example, jumping a rope once takes about a second while building a sandcastle takes about an hour. Then the students did a variety of activities for a second and a minute to help develop an understanding of time. The children wrote out the alphabet for a second and then a minute. They observed that they could accomplish much more in a minute than a second. They also noticed how long a minute can seem when sustaining a physical pose. For example, the children tried to stand on one foot (with no support) for one second and then one minute. The latter felt like a l-o-n-g time on one foot!
Kindergartners explore a Chickadee book
This week all Kindergarten storytimes featured the Chickadee Award nominee Rabbit’s Giftby George Shannon. Storytime began with Mrs. Miliano holidng up a real turnip and asking students to identify it. Few recognized the root vegetable. After identifying it, Mrs. M. introduced the book Rabbit’s Gift, pointed out the turnip on the cover, and read the story. The children seemed to enjoy this Chinese fable and noticed how the Chinese symbols for the animals in the story were incorporated in the art work. To help recall the story when it comes time for picking a favorite, each child glued a picture of the cover in his/her own “Chickadee booklet.” Afterwards, the children made paper bracelets featuring the cover of the book, a picture of turnips, and the Chinese symbol for rabbit.
Second graders explore Chickadee books
Miss Mallon and Mrs. Sturtevant’s second graders visit the library every week to return books and to check out new ones. Recently, each class has begun its weekly visit witha Chickadee storytime. So far the students have explored the 2008-2009 Chickadee Award nominees A Day in the Salt Marsh by Kevin Kurtz and Consie Powell and A Second is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins. A brief discussion of the salt marsh in Wells, Maine, followed the first book. After the second book, the children were challenged to sustain various poses for a second and then a minute. A minute sure can seem like a long time when you hold your arms above your head or stand on one foot!
