We are trying to figure out, along with Anna, Jose, and Henry, who stole the Star Spangled Banner flag! What are your thoughts far? Which of the kids do you like best so far and why? What are the best clues we have? Any red herrings? Do you think the kids make good detectives? Does one make a better detective than others? What do you think about each kid's parent(s)?
We're also starting poetry anthologies! I LOVED starting my day today at J.F. Burns and the enthusiasm you showed for your poems! What are your favorite poems so far? Why are they your favorite? Are you coming across any great words or word play?
We defined symbolism today. Keep an eye out for symbolism in your reading. If you find symbolism in your books or poems, post it here!!!
We've shared A LOT of 2012 picture books. Which ones do you hope win the Caldecott or an Honor medal so far? Why?
Some of you wanted to see the film again, but we didn't have time in class. Here it is! :-)
I LOVE this book, and we had so much fun today discussing it. The story is full of metaphors, symbolism, whimsy, depth, and theme. This is the second time I've shared it with you this year, and I'm so glad I did because we noticed new things - especially since we were concentrating on the illustrations and evaluating them for the Caldecott 2013 Book Club. During our discussion, a student remarked, "So much more goes into picture books than you would think!" I love that he has realized this during our study of picture books this month.
Here are some comments students wrote in their notebooks:
"Toward the end, the pictures show sadness because it's winter and dark."
"I like the pictures because they show the seasons and sometimes seasons represent happiness or sadness."
"The illustrations are good because he shows that some peple are black and white since they are unhappy, but when they get a book they turn in color which means they are happy. By the seasons he shows the stages of his life (example - winter is death)."
"I loved this book because of the use of color. When people are sad, they are gray, and when they are happy, they are in color."
"I love these illustrations. They show black and white for a lonely life and color for a full life."
"This book has such creativity in the illustrations. The outside wall of the library was made of books! I loved this book."
"I like how Mr. Joyce uses colors to show feelings and gives signs like an hour glass and seasons to tell when he will pass away."
"Soon (Morris Lessmore) goes somewhere special and leaves a legacy to a little girl."
"The circle of life!"
Thank you to my students and their parents for coming to a
book club over Wonder by R.J. Palacio! Twenty-nine people came! Here is the video of R.J. Palacio reading
"How I Came to Life:"
I also showed the beginning of an interview with
R.J. Palacio. Here is the whole thing in case you want to watch it:
It was fun breaking up into two
groups and discussing a list of questions I had put together - some from R.J.
Palacio's websit For Teachers and some I added. I enjoyed hearing what you all had to say about this book! Thanks to Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Thompson for joining us!
Here are some
pictures from the event:
Must have cookies
at a book club!
Watching R.J. Palacio read "How I Came To Life"
The
group!
Watching the
interview
What a great night
of readers and books!!
THANK YOU, R.J.
Palacio, for writing such an amazing book! CHOOSE KIND!
We're continuing Picture Book Month and evaluating books for our Mock Caldecott 2013 Club. Here are two more books I shared:
Imagination Theme
Music Theme
We discussed the theme of both and how Nightsong can be looked at as a metaphor for life - you can go out on your own and fulfill your dreams, but you can always come home. It would make a great graduation gift! The Cloud Spinner taught us to only use what we need. Don't be greedy! Neily said, "Take only memories, leave only footprints." Reece said, "It's like the Boy Scout motto, Leave no trace."
Since I met Loren Long recently at The Blue Manatee, I leave you with some video and pictures that I took at the event:
We're also enjoying Capture the Flag and our book group mysteries. Here are spin cams of the JF Burns groups:
I LOVE picture books, and it's so fun to share them with my classes! We're using the Picture Book Month calendar to choose a book that follows the theme, then we're summarizing and evaluating them. Here are the books we've read so far:
One class also read The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins:
Tomorrow the theme is IMAGINATION! I have just the book to read! :-)
We also started Capture the Flag by Kate Messner in 3 classes. Don't worry, KME, we'll start tomorrow! Here is a cool website to learn about the flag that inspired the "Star Spangled Banner."
