Third grade is Discovering desert animals
Aztec third graders are busy conducting research on desert animals. Ms. Turner and I have been working with the students in 3A, 3B and 3E as they have been learning about desert inhabitants like the scorpion, meerkat and jack rabbit using print and online resources. On our first day together, the children used print resources to complete a worksheet with information about their animal. They used the parts of their books such as the table of contents and index to locate the details about their subject's diet, habitat, characteristics. They took notes and sketched pictures as an alternative note-taking method.
On our second day of research, the third graders used online resources such as PebbleGo, Britannica Online and National Geographic for Kids to gather additional information, including their desert animal's predators.
Now the children will be working to create a final product, a PowerPoint, with their all they have learned.
On our second day of research, the third graders used online resources such as PebbleGo, Britannica Online and National Geographic for Kids to gather additional information, including their desert animal's predators.
Now the children will be working to create a final product, a PowerPoint, with their all they have learned.
Experiencing the United States
The students in 2C selected one of the 50 states to investigate for a research project in the classroom and library. They began this activity by looking over an assortment of shiny new state books and selecting a state that was of interest to them. Then we started answering questions and taking notes on a librarian-created graphic organizer. The children did a great job using the parts of a book - table of contents, index and the text features - captions, bold-faced words - to find the information asked of them. Later this week, the class will return to the library to use online resources to find additional information about their state and then we hope to put everything together in a creative final product. I loved the enthusiasm and excitement these children had for conducting their research. Bravo, 2C.
Check out SeussVille for games and stories and Fun!!
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Guerrero Aztecs, on Wednesday, March 2, we will celebrate Read Across America and Theodor Geisel's birthday. Who is Theodor Geisel and why are we celebrating HIS birthday, you might ask? Click on this <------PowerPoint file to meet Theodor! Come to think of it, you probably already know him!
Be sure to wear crazy socks and/or a crazy hat on Wednesday for Read Across America day. Click here to check out Seussville, where you can enjoy a whole world of fun with Dr. Seuss. |
Taking note of Dr. Seuss
In honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel's birthday and Read Across America Day, I thought the third graders might enjoy learning a little more about this popular children's author. I created a PowerPoint about Dr. Seuss then shared it with Ms. Turner's three language arts classes. While the children watched the slide show, they were also taking notes on important facts from the presentation. The facts were recorded on white strips that were glued to a red Cat in the Hat construction paper hat. From their notes, the students will be able to write a short essay about Dr. Seuss. We also talked a bit about narrative nonfiction/biographies vs. nonfiction/biographies. The children worked diligently and seemed to really enjoy this project. Of course, we checked out library books afterward.
A Library Fan
On Monday, when the second graders came for research, it was very spring-like outside and downright summery in the library because our AC wasn't on yet. I must have looked pretty sweaty and soupy because the kids even noticed that I was wringing wet with sweat!! Today I was so touched when one of the sweet babies in 2C brought me a fan today. Isn't that the very best thing? Absolutely made my day. And made my day much more comfortable. Thank you, Alyssa!
Roget and the Right Word
This week I so enjoyed working with Ms. Haarstad's three classes of fourth grade language arts and reading. We talked a little bit about narrative nonfiction/narrative biographies vs. standard nonfiction/biographies. I read the children another Bluebonnet book from the 2015-2016 Master List, The Right Word by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. We made an immediate connection between the illustrations in this book and an earlier Bluebonnet Book, Emily's Blue Period and the collages the students made in the library. After reading The Right Word the children checked out library books and then each child selected a piece of scratch paper on which I had written a tired old word like nice, good, little, mad. The kids used Thesaurus.com to look up three rich, strong, better synonyms for the tired word on their paper. I think they enjoyed reading the lists of suggested words and in almost every case, the children wrote some really terrific synonyms.
Second graders are research pros!
The Guerrero second graders have been busy in the library this week conducting research on animals. Some of the classes have researched polar animals while other classes students researched an animal of their choice. The children used print resources and the PebbleGo database to answer questions and document information on a librarian-created worksheet. The children had to sketch some of their responses, such as the habitat where their animal lives, the food it eats. They were required to identify the text features in the nonfiction book they used. I was thrilled watching these little ones working for up to an hour or more at a time, quietly, enthusiastically on this project. Yay, second grade.
Who was Mother Goose?
Some of the younger Guerrero Aztecs have been learning about Mother Goose in the library this month. When I started the finger play for the "Itsy Bitsy Spider", the children immediately joined in but didn't realize that the song was one of Mother Goose's nursery rhymes. I explained that Mother Goose lived many, many years ago before we had cameras so we aren't sure how she looked and really don't know exactly who she was. I showed the children images of Mother Goose as a grandmother and as a goose, but we talked about how geese can't make up songs or rhymes so we know that Mother Goose was a person. I added that the rhymes and songs were designed to help children begin to learn to read bu learning rhymes sounds. Some of the rhymes even teach a principle in science like "Humpty Dumpty/Jack and Jill" and gravity or "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the water cycle. Then the children in PK watched Richard Scarry's Mother Goose video and made little lambs. I asked them to go home and share a nursery rhyme with someone they love. First graders made a Mother Goose. And were tasked with going home to tell someone what they had learned about Mother Goose.
The Elements of Drama, reader's theater and a little research
The week of January 25 was Week 3 in the library which is the week that I continue withdrawing out-of-date material from the library and the circulation database and doing a little reorganizing of the library collection. This week, I also worked on orders for the library so that we can expect shiny, brand-new materials to be arriving very soon. This week I also celebrated having Ms. Lorena Manso begin working opposite me as the other library substitute at Guerrero. I have tried to manage the library the best that I could on two and a half days a week but it is a big job and I am so thankful to have some help again! Welcome, Ms. Manso, who just happens to be my former library assistant when we both worked at H.R. Moye.
Ms. Gaitlin had arranged to bring all of the fourth graders to the library for research on tides, a kind of difficult concept to understand. Ms. Berron brought her class to the library to review the elements of drama and to try their hand at a Reader's Theater script for Bluebonnet book Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh. Ms. Kornegay's first graders also visited the library this week. Take a look at the pictures below from the library activities.
Ms. Gaitlin had arranged to bring all of the fourth graders to the library for research on tides, a kind of difficult concept to understand. Ms. Berron brought her class to the library to review the elements of drama and to try their hand at a Reader's Theater script for Bluebonnet book Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh. Ms. Kornegay's first graders also visited the library this week. Take a look at the pictures below from the library activities.
Busy week in the library
The week of January 15, there was a whole lot going on in the Guerrero library. PK students read about hibernation in Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson and made hibernating bears hidden away for the winter in their dens. Kinder babies read Making a Friend by Allison McGhee and The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming, then helped Ms. C. create a giant snowman following the snowman building sequence in the stories. First graders read All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle and "built" snowmen following step-by-step oral directions. Second graders did research on penguins using print and PebbleGo online database then completed worksheets together. After an introduction through Sorting Information by Anne Rooney, third graders participated in a sorting activity designed to introduce them to how library books are categorized and sorted using the Dewey Decimal System. Fourth and fifth graders continued with the Bluebonnet Reading Program. Some students read The Scraps Book by Lois Ehlert and created collage snowman faces from found objects. Others read Rutherford B., Who was He? by Marilyn Singer. Those children researched a President on PebbleGo and took notes about his life from poems in the Rutherford B. book and the online database. They used their notes to make concrete poems. Here are some pictures from our week. Check us out below!
Understanding High and low tide
Fourth graders, watch the video below for an introduction to high and low tide. What three things work together to create and impact the tides in Earth's oceans?
Do away with Dewey?
A librarian-friend of mine, Lisa Lopez-Williamson tagged me on a Facebook post that included this video and the idea of librarians and libraries moving away from using the Dewey Decimal Classification for organizing nonfiction books. My instant response was NO! How will we ever find anything. But as this video explains, we might find books we are looking for more quickly and reshelve books that have been returned in less time, too. What do you think? Take a minute to check out the video below.
Talking about Keyword searches and Plagiarism with Third Grade
During our first week back to school after the winter holiday, I worked with Ms. Turner to present the second and third Digital Citizenship classes to her third grade reading/language arts students. Great fun! The kids were very well behaved and seemed to enjoy trying their hand at using the Google search engine to conduct keyword searches about dogs. The students worked in pairs to research questions about which foods are toxic to dogs, which breeds of dogs are smartest, which breeds are the largest and smallest, and what kinds of jobs dogs do for people. It was an honor to team-teach with Ms. Turner and I am hoping to do more co-teaching with her in the near future.
Digital Citizenship and Going Places safely with 2D
The students in Ms. Rodriguez's class, 2D, joined me in the library for their first Digital Citizenship class. We talked about going places safely, both in real life and online. We established three rules for using the Internet: 1) ask permission of an adult to use the Internet; 2) visit only kid-friendly websites; 3) talk online only with people you know. We took field trips to the Museum of Art and the San Diego Zoo and checked out PebbleGo database. The children drew a picture of something they saw on a website we visited and completed an assessment on the lesson. I enjoyed working with these great second graders and look forward to using online resources in the library again with them very soon.
Thank you, 2D and Ms. Rodriguez. |
Speed research with 2c
The students in Ms. Schroeder's second class did a wonderful job at some impromptu animal research this past week. The children were paired and assigned an animal to research with their partner using PebbleGo database. Each student folded a sheet of white paper horizontally (hot dog) and vertically (hamburger) to create four boxes. They wrote the URL and login information for the database in one box, drew a picture of their animal in another box, wrote a note about the food their animal eats and one interesting fact about their animal. I was so proud of the work these babies did in the thirty minutes we had together. Bravo, 2C!
Read across the District with Ms. Booth
Guerrero's youngest Aztecs enjoyed stories read by Ms. Brenda Booth, from central office, during Read Across the District, Friday, November 13. Ms. Booth graciously volunteered to adopt Guerrero Elementary for this district-wide activity. She read two books to each group and the students were on their best behavior.
Bluebonnet book Number 2: RutherFord B., Who was He?
Rocky VisitsPeter Piper Pizza's very own Rocky the dinosaur visited Guerrero Elementary on Wednesday, November 4. He was there graciously giving dictionaries, bookmarks and stickers to all of the Aztec third graders. The southwest area restaurant chain will be donating dictionaries to all third graders in communities around their pizzerias. Our students were very well behaved as they stood in line to receive their book and share a high five or hug with this lovable guy.
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Aztec Actors and Actresses
On a recent visit to the library, students in fifth and fourth grade classes, performed a reader's theater script for their first book on the 2015-2016 Texas Bluebonnet Master List. The script was an adaptation of Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly, illustrated by Lisa Brown. Emily's parents have separated and she is feeling confused and sad. When her art teacher introduces the class to the work of Pablo Picasso, Emily realizes that she is experiencing a blue period in her life similar to the one the famous painter experienced. Emily uses her art to cope with her upside-down life.
Learn more about Pablo Picasso by clicking here. Try your hand at making a Picasso cubist portrait here.
During an earlier library visit, the children had been introduced to the Bluebonnet Award and reading program. They watched a slide show presentation that explained the program's slogan "Read Five, Then Decide". In order to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book in January, Guerrero Aztecs will have to read/listen to at least five of the twenty titles on the Master List. You can check out this book and the others on this year's list by clicking here.
Learn more about Pablo Picasso by clicking here. Try your hand at making a Picasso cubist portrait here.
During an earlier library visit, the children had been introduced to the Bluebonnet Award and reading program. They watched a slide show presentation that explained the program's slogan "Read Five, Then Decide". In order to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book in January, Guerrero Aztecs will have to read/listen to at least five of the twenty titles on the Master List. You can check out this book and the others on this year's list by clicking here.
Feed the fish
Learning about Dia de los muertos
At the heart of this tradition are altars built to welcome the deceased back to earth from the other side, from heaven. It is believed that on Dia de los Muertos spirits return to visit their living family and friends, and the altars are created to provide everything the spirits will need to make their brief return pleasant. I built my altar in memory of my nephew Andrew who died of cancer when he was three years old.
To begin, an altar is often referred to as an ofrenda because much of what is collected for the altar is actually being offered to the spirits for their comfort. It is usually arranged on a table top, often one reserved for this purpose. I have used tables and AV carts in the past. This year I used a book cart for the base of my ofrenda.
Ofrendas usually have several tiers. I created my tier with a cardboard box. Crates work even better. The tiers are covered with fabric or paper. I used a camo-ghost fabric I found at Walmart for my top tier and a Batman birthday party tablecloth - my nephew Andrew loved Batman - to cover the book cart. While ofrendas are as unique as the individual they are created to celebrate, they do contain certain basic, often symbolic elements: candles, marigold flowers, incense, paper banners, bread of the dead, sugar skulls, toiletries, water and food for the returning spirits.
For more information on Dia de los Muertos, check out these websites: Dia de los Muertos Altar and Decoding the Food and Drink on a Day of the Dead Altar. There are a number of great children's books about this celebration including the two featured on my altar Day of the Dead by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith and Pablo Remembers by George Ancona.
To begin, an altar is often referred to as an ofrenda because much of what is collected for the altar is actually being offered to the spirits for their comfort. It is usually arranged on a table top, often one reserved for this purpose. I have used tables and AV carts in the past. This year I used a book cart for the base of my ofrenda.
Ofrendas usually have several tiers. I created my tier with a cardboard box. Crates work even better. The tiers are covered with fabric or paper. I used a camo-ghost fabric I found at Walmart for my top tier and a Batman birthday party tablecloth - my nephew Andrew loved Batman - to cover the book cart. While ofrendas are as unique as the individual they are created to celebrate, they do contain certain basic, often symbolic elements: candles, marigold flowers, incense, paper banners, bread of the dead, sugar skulls, toiletries, water and food for the returning spirits.
For more information on Dia de los Muertos, check out these websites: Dia de los Muertos Altar and Decoding the Food and Drink on a Day of the Dead Altar. There are a number of great children's books about this celebration including the two featured on my altar Day of the Dead by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith and Pablo Remembers by George Ancona.