Mrs. Travis’ Classroom Blog

The Reading class created a bag of chips about a non-fiction book they read for a book report. They read a non-fiction book of their choice and drew a picture of the topic on the front of the bag. On the back they wrote a summary of their book. Inside the bag were 10 chips with facts about their topic. Students kept their bags hidden and read their 10 facts to their teams. The teams tried to determine the topic of the book report based on the facts. Erika, Ke’Turah, and Na’Tale’ stumped their teams and it took the whole class to determine their topics. Students then shared their bags with the class. They did a great job!

Students in this year’s Reading class have learned about Haiku poetry and written their own Haiku poems.  Check out their work in the slideshow below:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Students in the the 1st and 2nd grade Enrichment class read non-fiction books on animals.  They identified important and interesting facts about their animals and created Voice Threads on their animals.  Below is Samuel’s example.  To see more examples go to the Non-Fiction Picture Books section of the Read and Respond Project.

Students in Enrichment classes from grades 1 – 5 have begun a new project.  Each class is responding to a picture or chapter book of their choice and responding to the book using technology.  The 3rd through 5th grade Enrichment classes are creating webpages based on their favorite chapter books.  One of the combined 1st and 2nd grade classes has created a retelling of a picture book using Microsoft Movie Maker.  Upcoming classes will be creating podcasts, online posters, blog posts, and more based on books of their choice.  Check out what the classes have contributed so far and make sure to look for more books to be added in the future.

http://readandrespondproject.wikispaces.com/

Our 2nd grade Enrichment class has been learning how to summarize fictional texts.  Students chose their favorite story and will summarize the story in this post. 

Students make sure to include the title of your story.  Remember that a summary only tells the most important main events or ideas in a story and is much shorter than the original story read.

This week we are reading a biographical story about the great baseball player Lou Gehrig.  We will learn that although Mr. Gehrig had many obstacles in his life, he believed he was still the luckiest man alive.  Take a web field trip to learn more about baseball.  Go to the link below.  Choose one of the three baseball sites.  In the comments section tell which site you went to and 3 facts you learned from the site that you didn’t already know.

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr05/gr4/activities/gr4_th5_sel3_trip.html

This week we are learning about a boy named Peter who goes to stay with his Great Aunt in Chinatown for summer vacation.  While he is there he finds  an old dragon that is in bad condition and decides to fix the dragon.  Go to the link below and learn more about dragons.  When you are done summarize what you have read.

http://www.tooter4kids.com/MedievalTimes/History%20of%20Dragons.htm

This week we are learning about a boy who is sent to a logging camp in 1918 to protect him from influenza.  Go to the link below and click on the eWord Game link on the left of the screen.  Practice vocabulary words from the story.  When you are done click on the Crossword Puzzle link on the left, print out the crossword, and complete the puzzle.  In the comments section below think of a word from the story that you did not know the meaning of.  Find the meaning.  Write the word, the meaning, and why adding your word to the eGame would help the reader better understand the story.

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr05/gr4/gr4_th4_sel2.html

This week in Reading we are studying cause and effect relationships.  We are reading The Name Game and additional Weekly Reader articles.  You are going to identify a cause and effect relationship in how you got your own name.  For example, a new mom missed her grandmother Katherine who had died (cause) so she named her new daughter Katherine (effect).  Talk to your parents and find out how you got your name and write the cause and effect relationship in how you got your name in the comments section under this post.  For extra credit find another cause and effect relationship in how someone else you know got their name.

This week in Reading we are comparing and contrasting characters, settings, events, and stories.  We are reading a story called Cendrillon, which is a variant tale of Cinderella.  Go to the site below and read another version of the Cinderella story.   Then answer the following compare and contrast questions in the comments section under this post:

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html

1.  What is the name of the story you are comparing and contrasting with Cendrillon?

2.  How is the main character in your story the same as Cendrillon?

3.  How is the main character in your story different from Cendrillon?