Grade 6 Music Survey Results

This year, sixth graders will be working on a music-themed research project of their choosing. I will expect them to use a variety of print and electronic sources, credit these sources correctly, and create an online presentation of their findings.

As we learn about different resources, we will also learn about musicians, instruments, styles, and big moments in music history. For example, this week students are comparing the print and online encyclopedia by finding the answers to such questions as:

• Where did calypso music originate? 
• Name one song that Woodie Guthrie was famous for. 
• How are a lyre and a lute similar? 
• Where does the oboe’s name come from? 
• What were the dates of the Woodstock festival? 

They also filled out a Google survey for me. Here are some of the results:

  

  

Any guesses on the band with the most mentions in the write-in question re: favorite artist?

Wemberly Worried, but K Didn't

Starting school can make kids worried ... it can make teachers worried, too! I read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes to kindergartners; Wemberly is an anxious mouse who worries about EVERYTHING. To calm down, she rubs the ears of her stuffed rabbit, Petal (except then she worries that she'll rub Petal's ears right off).

At our next class meeting, we rotated between three stations: a huge pile of books by Henkes, Wemberly Worried activity sheets (the kids were really good at the maze), and a puppet-making center. Below are some of the Petal puppets the students created ... note that some had a lot of detail, including teeth!

Our final related activity will be to teach our Petal puppets school rules and library routines. Then they'll be on their way home.

Go to AskRI.org for Homework Help

AskRI.org is an AWESOME, FREE site provided by the state's Office of Library and Information Services that gives you access to a ton of reference resources. For example, Homework Help lets you chat with a tutor between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. every day. That is FREE tutoring available eight hours a day.

You can read more information below or go ahead and try Homework Help now. You don't have to create an account to use the service.

Grade 3 FICtion - Room 8

Third graders finished up their book covers today; they created a fiction title written by themselves and then assigned the correct call number. Here is some of their work:

  

 

 

 

 

Grade 3 FICtion - Room 9

Third graders now get to take out books from anywhere in the library ... but they're not sure how to find what they want. So we'll be learning how to use the online catalog and convert call number listings into shelf locations.

We started simple, with the fiction section. Every fiction call number has "FIC" as the first line, and then the first three letters of the author's last name as the second line.

For example, if I wrote a book, the call number would be

FIC
MOO

What would YOUR call number be?

Students figured out the call numbers for a list of books and and then created their very own for a fiction book they "wrote."

Here are some of their book covers:

 

 

Mock Caldecott 2014 Preview

Each January, the American Library Association awards the Caldecott Medal to the artist of "the most distinguished American picture book for children." The 2013 winner was Jon Klassen for This Is Not My Hat. Last year's second graders loved it (and so do I). Here is the book trailer:

I've started making my way through some of the best reviewed picture books from the past 8 months. So far, I've winnowed the list down to 12 potential Garden City Mock Caldecott nominees to share with the second graders (and am looking forward to several being published in the fall). As we read them during the second quarter, I'll post titles and related activities. For now, here are the ones with book trailers. They are all available at the public library.

The Dark
Author: Lemony Snicket
Illustrator: Jon Klassen

Exclamation Mark
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

That Is Not a Good Idea
Mo Willems

Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great
Bob Shea