Tangrams = Fun with Geometry

We did some work last week with tangrams, as a part of our study of geometry. Tangrams are often used to tell stories so after much discussion about the math behind the polygons, we created some characters and things from the tangrams to be used as a part of some writing this week. We posted some videos on our Twitter page but I wanted to share them here as well for easy access...

Extra Credit: Celebrate National Poetry Month!

This excerpt from a Robert Frost poem, introduced to us by Kid President, has become a favorite in our classroom. April is National Poetry Month ~ it's a great time to discover this wonderful form of writing!

For extra credit this month, create some poems of your own and publish them for your classmates to read, create an Animoto based on a favorite poem, perform a poem for the class... basically, find a way to share poetry with us!

Vacation Fun!

Our Tuesday writing homework is to think about something fun/a special memory you have from your winter vacation and describe it in detail. Here's my assignment for you to read...

      There were a lot of special moments during my vacation but one of my favorite memories was watching my nephews wrestle during lunch one day. We had just ordered our food and we were relaxing in our booth, waiting for it to arrive. Sam started grabbing his older brother Jake around the neck and squeezing him and wrestling him down to the bench seat. He was making the funniest noises and angry faces. We couldn't stop laughing at how silly he was being. He would start to settle down and then suddenly start up all over again. Jake was such a good sport and didn't even mind being attacked. He was laughing about it too because it was so funny and unexpected. My sister and I snapped a bunch of pictures and I caught a little bit of the craziness on video with my phone. I had never seen him act like that before. He was a total wild man! It makes me smile even now just thinking about it all again...


Have fun writing about your memory and feel free to type it up and include a picture too!

Letters to Lions

One of our third grade writing standards is letter writing.
Write personal and formal letters, thank-you notes, and invitations:
a. Show awareness of the knowledge and interests of the audience and establish a purpose and context.
b. Include the date, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature.

National Geographic Kids website offers a great opportunity to practice this form of writing while doing something good! From the site - "Lions are in danger of extinction across Africa. Filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert want you to help save lions! Write letters to lions and the Jouberts will deliver them to African leaders to let them know how important lions are to kids everywhere. And we may feature a few of them in a gallery on the National Geographic websites and in print!"

For more information about these beautiful animals, click here. Nat Geo Wild will be supporting National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative with Big Cat Week starting December 6th. Check it out and
cause an uproar!

April is Poetry Month!

I love poetry. It's one of my favorite things to teach to children. Kids love to read it, love to listen to it and love to write it, especially when you tell them that poems don't have to rhyme. :) Poetry is very non-threatening and it can really level the playing field, especially for kids who are still mastering their reading and writing skills.

April is Poetry Month so we will be celebrating poetry all month long! I thought I'd share some online resources with you all so you can join in the fun at home. I'll add in a few more as the month goes on...

Shel Silverstein is one of those poets I think most people are familiar with. He has a great website with games and printables that are fun for kids of all ages. You can also find animated versions of his poems on YouTube.

Another undeniable kid favorite is Jack Prelutsky. His really fun website has a number of his poems (click on the sun) and in the 'Grownups' section, silly songs (click on Jack's Music) as well as some helpful tips for reading with young children and some very funny fan letters.

I had the opportunity to meet Brod Bagert when I was earning my teaching credential. He did a session about poetry at a reading conference I attended. He believes that poems should be recited OUT LOUD and provided great ideas about getting kids up in front of others, performing them. His books are always favorites with my students. The most popular of his poems is easily one called Llama - it has just the word llama in it, written over and over. When you read it, it's quite boring but as a performance - magic! Here's another of his poems that I really like...

Kenn Nesbitt writes a lot of poems about school and things that children can really relate to. His website includes an online rhyming dictionary (SO helpful!) along with lots of his poems that you can print and email, lots of great word games and links to all kinds of poetry stuff online.

Here's his poem Tighty, Whity Spider:

(to the tune of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider")

The tighty-whity spider went down the waterslide.
Got a water wedgie halfway down the ride.
Jumped up and screamed and ran around in pain.
Now the tighty-whity spider will not do that again.

Inkless Tales is the creation of Elizabeth Bushey. On the site, children can listen to her poems, read stories, play games, create finger puppets and more. On one page of her website, visitors can make their own poem by dragging words around the screen - like a virtual Magnetic Poetry Kit.

Roger Stevens is a silly British poet. His website is a bit overwhelming but allows 4-18 year old children to share their poetry with the world! He also has animated poems available on YouTube. Here's my favorite...

Author Study

We recently wrapped up our first author study on Leo Lionni. We read about 10 of his books and did some research to learn more about his life. At the end of our study, the kids wrote a short biography about Mr. Lionni (as a group) and each of them wrote about their favorite Leo Lionni book. In addition to enjoying his stories, they were also inspired by his artwork so each of them created a collage in Lionni style. You can see their work in our school's front office as well as in our classroom.

What are the benefits of doing author studies? Here's an article that outlines them: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/authorstudy/reasons

Our new author is Eric Carle. We have read several of his books and already, the kids are asking when we can create an Eric Carle art project! At the end of this study, we will again write a biography and I'll ask them to write about their favorite book. In addition, they will work in small groups to put together a video retelling of one of Carle's stories. They will create their their own versions of the book's character(s) and act out the story on a felt board or with puppets.

Here are some of the sites we will be using during our study:
http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3234
http://www.carlemuseum.org/
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/carle
http://ericcarleblog.blogspot.com/

Videos:
Interview
Interview about The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Quiet Cricket
The Mixed-Up Chameleon
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?