Friday, January 29, 2010 (Thursday too!)

This week we voted on a new chapter book to read. The winner was Junie B. Jones: Shipwrecked. It was a really silly book! We compared Junie B. to Stanley from Flat Stanley. They are pretty different. We came up with lots of positive character traits that describe him: helpful, patient, serious, forgiving, and calm. We said that Junie B. is silly, hyper, immature, a chatterbox, impatient, inappropriate at times, impulsive, and someone with good intentions. Then we started reading Stanley and the Magic Lamp. In that book, Stanley isn’t flat anymore. This time, he found an old pot. When he rubbed it to shine it for his mom, a genie named Prince Haraz came out. So far, his wishes have granted him a “askit basket” to do homework for him, a liophant (part lion, part elephant), and his mother has become a celebrity. We can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Today we had R.I.F. That’s when we get to choose a book to keep from the PTA. Hunter chose a Scooby Doo book because he really likes that series. Chapter books and series were very popular choices. Some children picked books that we’ve been talking about in class. When we came back to the room, Ms. Stern gave us 5 minutes to read our new treasures.

Then, during Reader’s Workshop, Dylan A. marked a page with a post it to describe a character in his book. Sasha took Ms. Stern’s challenge today and compared a character from the book she read today (Mrs. Piggle Wiggle) with a character from a book that we read yesterday (I Know a Lady). Way to go Sasha!

After lunch we went to the library. Mrs. Cornelius taught us about fairy tales. We talked about what fairy tales are and where they come from. A fairy tale is a story that usually starts with “Once upon a time…” and ends with “They lived happily ever after.” Sarah said that they come from Pixieland. Dylan A. said that they are made up stories from someone’s head. Next, we watched a Red Riding Hood video and we read a different book called Pretty Salma. Then we filled out a Venn diagram comparing how they were alike and different. There were lots of parts that were the same.

Yesterday, in music, we played a pumpkin that was like a maraca. We also used a squash and an apple and an orange and a tomato and pear. We shook them to the beat of the rhyme 1, 2, Buckle my Shoe and Once I Saw a Little Bird. Today in P.E. we played Gator Ball and then Pin Guard. Coach Steingasser was out because she felt the baby moving so she went to doctor. She is going to have her baby any day! We are putting the finishing touches on a book that we made for her. It’s full of advice for her about how to take care of a baby.

At the end of the day, lots of people finished their number combinations paper from yesterday. Instead of writing today, we had a catch up period to complete things that have been in our unfinished work folders. People who had nothing left were allowed to do free writing.

Yesterday we read a book called I Know a Lady, by Charlotte Zolotow. It’s about a really nice old lady who treats a girl very kindly. She gives children flowers all year. During Christmas, she invites them in to see her tree and to treat them to cookies with red and green dots on them. She bakes them little cakes with yellow frosting on top for Easter. We thought about Charlotte’s inspiration for writing the story. We think that she knew someone like that lady when she was little. We had to think of people that we know in our neighborhoods that remind us of the lady in the book. After reading Knuffle Bunny, Roller Coaster, and I Know a Lady, we’re getting pretty good at figuring out the author’s inspiration. Next week, we’re going to get back to more writing while keeping our readers in mind!

We also read Silent Letters Loud and Clear by Robin Pulver since we're continuing to practice silent e spelling. The book is all about silent letters and the problems that kids in Mr. Wright's class have when the silent letters disappear. It's written by the same author as Punctuation Takes a Vacation. We noticed that some of the illustrations from the first book ended up on this one!

Don’t forget to send in PTA field trip donations!

Have a great weekend!