Room 10 Collective Nouns

After learning about collective nouns, fourth graders created original ones for themselves. Here are some from Room 10:

 

Common Core standard addressed: L.4.5. – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

In Other Words ...

Fifth graders are practicing their paraphrasing skills. Their assignment was to put the following sentences into their own words:

During my earlier years, I experienced much strife with my male and female siblings who were born before me. Now that we are more mature, we have overcome some of our differences and have the ability to interact pleasantly.

Here are some of the new sentences the students came up with:

Years ago, I was always angry with my older siblings. Now that we've grown up, we are more respectful. -. A.Y.

When I was a kid, I argued with my brother and sister. Now that I'm older, my siblings and I get along. - R.S.

When I was younger, I got into trouble with my brothers and sisters. Now that we are older, we don't get into trouble. - A.M.

Impromptu Readaloud

Blurry boys in back came sprinting across room when they saw I had the camera out.

DLP Color Train

Source: chroniclebooks.com

DLP students know their colors! We did a "color train" lesson in Trains Go by Steve Light. The kids helped me read such lines as “CHUGGA chugga chugga CHUGGA chugga chugga CHOO CHOOOOOOO!” and “zooosh zooosh ZOOOOOOOOSH ding ding ding!”

Next, we read Freight Train by Donald Crews. The second time through, each student got a board book about colors. I reread slowly to give them time to find each color in their book.

Then we watched these two videos:

Finally, the kids put together a train with construction paper cars and colored in the wheels.Thank you to student volunteer Sharon and parent volunteer Kristina for drawing the locomotives!

 

 

Good Luck for Hard Luck

wimpykid.com

Hey, kids! I finally got a copy of the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck. I know everyone will be clamoring to check it out. So here's the deal:

If you're reading this page, then you qualify to be one of the first readers. Leave a comment below with your room number and initials (NO FULL NAMES), and I'll put you on the hold list. Just choose "Anonymous" from the "Comment As" drop-down list. Remember, initials only.

A Collective of Nouns

Fourth-graders learned about collective nouns, which describe a group of people, places, or things. Some are general - a class of students or a team of players. But others can be quirky and actually work like adjectives - a splash of mermaids or a crash of rhinos. They might describe a noun's appearance, characteristics, habitat, actions, or sound.

Students used the dictionary and their brains to figure out how some terms go together, then typed a few of their discoveries below:

scurry of squirrels	Squirrels scurry along.
bask of crocodiles	Crocodiles like to bask in sun.
tangle of Gorgons	Gorgons have snakes for hair, and the snakes look like tangles.
pandemonium of parrots	A parrot has a loud screech.
leer of jack o'lanterns	A jack o'lantern has nasty glance.
aurora of polar bears	They both come from polar regions.

Next up, the kids will come up with collective nouns for themselves. In the meantime, here are a couple of games that will test your knowledge of collective nouns.

Online matching game

Printable "board" game

Barnes & Noble Book Fair - You Can Help the Library!

Books make a wonderful gift ... and if you're planning to give some as Christmas presents, why not get them at Barnes & Noble this week? A portion of your sale will go towards the Garden City library, so we can buy new books ... it's like giving two gifts in one!

Dr. Napolitano sent home vouchers that you can bring to the store in Warwick to buy books in person on Thursday, Dec. 12.

OR you can order books online between Dec. 12 and 16. As you go through the checkout page, scroll down to the bottom of the Payment section and look for the checkbox that says "Check this box if this is a Bookfair Order." Check the box and enter our ID number: 11196607.

Thank you!

Mock Caldecott: Round 2 Results

We have two more books approved as finalists in our Mock Caldecott:

source: goodreads.com

Exclamation Mark
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

As a grammar and punctuation nerd, I am excited to have the kids see that such things can be FUN. And Room 2 had some incredible observations about the artwork. Some was negative, including S.C.'s skepticism about "a bunch of smiley faces" being eligible for an illustration award. However, J.P. countered that Exclamation Mark had a sad face until he discovered his talents midway through. What do you think? As C.Y. can attest, this book is available at the Cranston Public Library to take home and discuss.

What's My Mark? game - easiest
Rags to Riches game - easier
Rags to Riches game - harder

source: peachtreepub.
blogspot.com

Tiger in My Soup 
Author: Kashmira Sheth
Illustrator: Jeffrey Ebbeler

Super bold artwork shows how a boy's imagination works overtime as he begs his older sister to read him a story. Cool perspectives and visual treats (like the T I G E R cascading into his bowl of alphabet treats as she serves him lunch) make for a striking book. Opinions were divided between those who liked the imagination in play and those who thought it made the book confusing.

pbkids.org has an alphabet soup riddle game you can play. I wonder if you'll get "R O A R"?

Boney Research - Grade 2

Second graders took notes for the first time in library, listening to Dem Bones by Bob Barner and learning such information as:

• Where is your patella? 
• How many vertebrae are in your spine? 
• Where is your clavicle? 
• How many bones are in your foot? 
• Which bone is the longest? 

Then we created a list of questions they had about bones and practiced using a table of contents to find the answers. Here are some of the facts they learned:

• A muscle that moves a bone can only work one way. 
• An unset broken bone may cut muscle. 
• A broken thigh bone might need a steel plate and screw to hold it together. 
• Your bones come together at joints. 
• Joints have different names. One kind is a ball and socket.

And here they are at work:

Bark, George!

harpercollins.com

As a follow-up to the previous lesson about animal sounds, I read Bark, George to K and PreK. Students got a huge kick out of this story about a dog who doesn't bark ... instead, he meows, quacks, oinks, and moos!

To support their retelling skills, students colored and cut out the characters so they could bring them home and share story to their families. (You can click on the link to access and download more copies.)

The official video of the book - voiced by John Lithgow - sometimes pops up on Youtube, but then is promptly removed because of copyright violation. Instead, you can watch this puppet-show version of the story: