The first grade Fox unit continues. This week the children heard the story Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack. In the tale, a sly, egg-loving fox is outfoxed by a clever young girl delivering a basket of eggs to a neighbor. Flossie pretends not know who or what the fox is. She says he has to prove that he is a fox and he cannot! This story was followed 
by the class participating in the reading of Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox. Each student read the part of the animal he/she had colored the previous week. In this story, various farm animals repeatedly ignore Hattie the Hen when she warns them about the fox hiding in the bushes. Lucky for Hattie, that fox also gets outfoxed!
Outfoxed again!
No Comments »
Following shapes
Storytime for Mrs. McCall’s students featured Eric Carle’s book The Secret Birthday Message. After hearing the story of a boy who had went on a shape hunt to find his birthday present, the children went on a shape hunt of their own. Nine shapes were displayed in the library. The students were told what shape to find first. That shape gave a clue to the next shape and so on. The treasure at the end of the hunt was a box of special animal bookmarks and some stickers.
Fifth graders explore Traditional Literature
Ms. Brenner’s fifth graders visited the library for an introduction to Traditional Literature. In the first session, the students explored pourquoi tales. They are the stories that explain why something in nature is the way it is. How Chipmunk Got His Stripes and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears are examples of stories in this category. After watching a video of the latter story, the students identified which characteristics of pourquoi tales were evident.
In the class’ second visit, the children explored fables. They are short didactic stories with animal characters that act like humans. A fable typically ends with a moral. The students viewed four Aesop fables (including The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf), and after taking a quiz on the morals each tale presented, discussed the characteristics that the tales have in common.
Third graders make a movie!
Mr. Bloom’s third graders recently investigated jobs in our community. They interviewed a variety of workers to learn about different jobs. Next each student picked a job to research. The children tried to identify the duties, tools, hours, education required, and salary for their selected job. Then the students wrote about their jobs in an interview format. In pairs, the students performed their interviews while Mrs. Miliano recorded them on film. The class is looking forward to watching the performances on the big screen!
Frog unit begins
The kindergartners have started a unit about frogs. The first lesson featured the song “Five Little Frogs” and a look at the frog’s life cycle with the big book Tadpole Diary by David Drew. Next came a retelling of the old tale “The Wide Mouth Frog.” After checking out new books, the children started making frog puppets so they, too, will be able to tell the story about that funny frog.