Mrs. McCall’s cl
ass enjoyed the story The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown during their recent visit to the library. The children also enjoyed the rhymes “Five Little Scarecrows” and “Scarecrow, Scarecrow.” They made paper scarecrows after selecting new library books to borrow.
Scarecrow fun
No Comments »
Maine animal research
Mrs. Flynn’s fourth graders are busy researching Maine animals. They will create ABC books with the information they find. In preparation for the book-making, the students visited the library to learn about the parts of an informational book. We focused on the cover, the title page, and the verso (or copyright) page. For each part, we viewed several examples of published books and some Maine Animal ABC books from former students. We identified the mandatory content for each page and optional information that can be included. For example, the student’s title page must include the title, the author, and the name of the publisher. It may also include the illustrator, the place of publication, and a picture. At the end of the session, the students viewed a movie featuring some examples of high quality work from former students. All current students are invited to produce high quality work so that they, too, can include a page from their ABC books in a new movie about Maine animals.
So you think you know Maine…
Four multiple choice questions about Maine were the subject of last week’s geography quiz. Students were able to use an atlas to help them answer these questions:
- What is the name of our state?
- What is the capital of our state?
- What is our state bird?
- What state or states share a border with our state?
Everyone who answered the questions correctly was entered in a drawing for a large stuffed animal moose. (Did you know the moose is Maine’s state mammal?) The lucky winner of the contest is third grader Declan.
Fall leaves
This week’s kindergarten storytime had a fall theme. A rhyme entitled “Five Little Leaves” was introduced and the children joined in, reciting the repetitive parts. After reading and discussing the picture book Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall, the children went on an imaginary hike to collect colorful fall leaves. They enjoyed hiking up a tall mountain, through a dark forest, behind a splashing waterfall, and rowing across a cold lake. They pretended to collect maple, birch, hickory, and oak leaves along the way. The hike was interrupted by a skunk. To avoid being spray byed, the children had to hurry back across the lake, behind the waterfall, etc. What fun! The session ended with the students checking out new books and coloring leaves for next week’s puppet show. Stay tuned!
Scarecrows and Jack-O-Lanterns
Storytime for the first graders also featured a fall theme. They re-read the rhyme “Squirrels” from last week and learned two new rhymes, “Five Little Jack-O-Lanterns” and “Five Little Scarecrows.” The new rhymes introduced the theme of the stories, The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown and Jeb Scarecrow’s Pumpkin Patch by Jana Dillon. After reading the stories, the children made puppets. They had to choose between making a jack-o-lantern or a scarecrow. Next week they will recite the rhymes and act them out using their squirrel, jack-o-lantern, or scarecrow puppets.