Population Density - Room 10

Grade 4 is wrapping up a world geography unit by looking at population density. Students put their countries' area and population into Excel, and we sorted and ran a formula to see how many people lived in each square mile.

Then we practiced reading visual representations of data with this map:

source: wikipedia.org

Which continents are the most densely populated?

Here's a hint ... one of the cities on one of the continents is Tokyo, where the subway is so crowded that people get squished onto the train cars by professional "pushers." Here's video evidence:

Do You Want to Build a Snowman? - AM K

After reading Snowballs by Lois Ehlert, the kindergartners decorated their own snowmen.

Mock Caldecott: Voting is Open!

We've narrowed down our list of potential Mock Caldecott winners ... which one is YOUR favorite?

You can vote via Google form.

Mock Caldecott Finalists - Final Batch

source: simonandschuster.com

Gaston

Words: Kelly DiPucchio
Pictures: Christian Robinson

Mrs. Poodle has four children: Fi-fi, Foo-foo, Ooh la la, and Gaston. He doesn't really look like his sisters. He doesn't really act like his sisters (although he tries). When they meet Mrs. Bulldog and her four children - three boys and a girl - at the park, the two families think that maybe there's been a mixup. Or has there?

I was so happy that a student in each class was able to articulate the message of the book: just be yourself, and accept others for being themselves as well.

source: simonandschuster.com

Some Bugs

Words: Angela DiTerlizzi
Pictures: Brendan Wenzel

Rhyming text, vivid verbs, and fantastic illustrations add up to a fun readaloud. I may use it in the future to kick off a first-grade insect classification unit.

Mock Caldecott Finalists - Batch 3

Circle, Square, Moose!

Words: Kelly Bingham
Pictures: Paul O. Zelinsky

source: harpercollins.com

If you've read Z is for Zebra, then you've already met Moose. He LOVES to be the center of attention, and he thinks that he deserves to be included as a star character in every book. This one got a lot of belly laughs from first graders.

The trailer below includes the voices of lots of famous children's authors and illustrators ... make sure to watch the credits.

source: harpercollins.com

Go, Go, Go, Stop!

Charise Mericle Harper

When I started going through picture books getting "Caldecott buzz" over the summer, this was one of the first ones I put in the "my kids will like this" pile. I was not wrong. It could be because of the construction vehicles; it could be because the kids got to yell "Go!" and "Stop!" Either way, I'm glad they liked it.

Mock Caldecott Finalist - Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

source: macbarnett.com

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

Words: Mac Barnett
Pictures: Jon Klassen

I had so much fun reading this one, because the text NEEDS the pictures to give the full effect: Sam and Dave keep JUST missing "something spectacular" as they dig their hole. The students were FREAKING out as they dug next to, around, and below humongous jewels.

Here are Mac and Jon acting out some of the book:

And if you'd like tips on How to Dig a Hole, check out this episode of "Digging Deep with David Rees."

Don't Let the Pigeon Touch the Books!

In kindergarten, we discussed book care in preparation for the students' first checkout; they taught THE PIGEON some rules.

In case you haven't been introduced to the Pigeon yet, he is the star of a series of books by Mo Willems; the first one is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! We read that and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, and I am happy to report that MOST students resisted his arguments (a few were willing to be bought off by his promise of five bucks).

Then we watched this video:

The students compiled a list of rules that the Pigeon should know. For example:

DO	DON'T
read your book	color in your book
keep it away from drinks	drop the book
turn the pages gently	rip the pages
bring your book back	throw your book outside

In our next class, we drew our own Pigeons; Mo Willems has step-by-step instructions for drawing the Pigeon on his site. Then each student chose a rule to teach him. Here is some of their work:

Mock Caldecott Finalists - Batch 2

We're all about the birds in this post.

source: copychief.com

The Pigeon Needs a Bath
Mo Willems

Perennial favorite The Pigeon has a new problem this year - he stinks! He is dirty and gross and refuses to take a bath. Even the flies think he is nasty ... the "text evidence" is found in their declarations of "P.U!" and "Take a bath, dude!"

Will he ever get clean?

source: macmillan.com

Froodle
Antoinette Portis

We all know what sounds animals make, right? And birds? Like "caw," "coo," "chip," and "peep"? Well, what happens when a little brown bird decides she wants to say something new?

This is a fun readaloud to do when the students help me say all the birds' new words. Oobly snoobly!

bly!