Wolf Stories

Last week, we studied fantasy. Our story, Wolf!, is about a wolf that comes across a unique farm. This farm is for educated animals, and when he sees the other animals reading he is inspired. Through hard work and practice, the wolf becomes a good reader. 

Two writings were incorporated with this story. First, the students researched wolves using A-Z Animals. Bubble maps were filled in with wolf facts.

From the bubble maps, the facts were organized onto a Flee map and then written as a final copy.

Then, the students were given the prompt "Once upon a time I saw a wolf" and instructed to write a story.

Their imaginations really shined during this writing! Please take a minute to visit their blogs and experience their creativity. Also, they LOVE comments!! :)

 

Particles, Apple Turn-Overs, Family Night, and Pen Pals

I have a lot to share about this past week!

In Science, we discovered how particles are arranged in solids, liquids, and gases and how heat affects its movement.

Each group of students received 3 petri dishes with popcorn kernels. One  dish was completely filled (solids), one was semi-filled (liquids), and one contained a few kernels (gas). They observed the movement of kernels (particles) by gently shaking the dishes.

In Reading, we read Johnny Appleseed and watched an animated e-book that was accessed through our local library. As a class, we wrote a summary that included characters, setting, and plot. 

Here comes the fun part...the next day. Each student made an apple turn-over. 

First, the students flattened their biscuit. Then, they added butter to one side and dipped the buttered side in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Next, an apple slice was placed in the middle and the biscuit was folded over the apple slice. Finally, the turn-overs were baked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Time to enjoy! 

Upon returning to class, the students wrote about making turn-overs. We outlined our recipe by completing a Flee Map. The recipe was written as a story using the Flee Map. You can read some of their writings at our class blog. Feel free to leave a comment. Students love reading them!!!

This is the first year that my class will have pen pals! Our pen pals are 3rd graders from a school in Wisconsin. Here is a picture of the students with letters from their pen pals.

After reading their letters, the students busily began responding. They are so excited to meet someone from another state and cannot wait to hear from them!! Here is a picture with their letters to their new friends.

In addition to all the fun we were having during class, we also had fun after school. Our school held a Family Skate Night at the local skating rink.

We had a wonderful turn-out! Teachers, kids, and parents really enjoyed this evening of fun!!!

Writing, Editing, and Publishing Our Hurricane Isaac Stories

Yesterday the students filled in Flee Maps in preparation for their writings about Hurricane Isaac.

Today we got down to business and constructed our writings. The Flee Maps were used as an outline to guide their writings. After the rough draft was written, the students learned about using guide words to locate words in a dictionary.

 

The students were armed with the knowledge of locating words in a dictionary and instructed to edit their rough drafts by correcting misspelled words. {Ms. Gros and I read each rough draft while the kiddos were at PE and underlined misspelled words.}

 


After the final draft was written, they posted their story to Kid Blog.

We would love for you to read our stories and comment. Click here to access their posts. 

On a different note, I posted the other day about my Math and ELA Focus Walls. I did not have a picture of the ELA Focus Wall when I posted, but that has changed. 

Have a great weekend and I hope you enjoy the students' posts!