Simile Writing

This past week in Reading, we learned about similes and metaphors.  We did some practice with them in class and for homework using our textbook and workbook.  When I was planning our centers for the week, I wanted to do something a little creative while having the students write their own similes.  After doing a little bit of searching on Pinterest and talking with Mrs. Rini, she helped me come up with two fun activities for the students to complete.  Not only did they write a few similes on their own, they also helped me to get a bulletin board ready for the Christmas season!

Some of the students completed an activity we called Color Similes.  They wrote three similes about the color green or the color red.  I started by giving them a few examples using other colors.

The students then wrote their three similes on paint sample chips that were shaped like Christmas trees and ornaments.

Other students completed an activity we called Grinch Similes.  They wrote a minimum of four similes about the Grinch.  I started by discussing adjectives that described the Grinch.  This helped the students come up with some great similes describing the Grinch.  They wrote their final copies on papers with a picture of the Grinch in the middle.

     

All of the work looks great and I cannot wait to get it hung up for the holidays!

Animal Projects

Students have been working hard all week to complete their animal projects. For this project, students had to read a book about an animal of their choice, gather specific information, and then find digital images of food sources and potential predators to create a food web. After that, students wrote a paragraph about what they found most interesting about their animal. (Thanks for your help editing at home!) Finally, students put it all together on an informational poster.

I can't wait to see their work displayed throughout the hallways! If you visit our school at all during the month of December, please take a stroll down the halls between the third grade and fourth grade areas to view the students' work.

Veterans Day Recap

This year for Veterans Day we had another wonderful whole school assembly.  There were many Veterans included in the assembly and the students did a wonderful job singing songs, playing instruments, and reading some of their writing.

A few days before the assembly, we wanted to do some things in the classroom to emphasize the importance of Veterans Day with the students.  In Reading class, the fourth and fifth grade collaborated and completed the same project.  We got the idea here.  We had every student write a paragraph answering the question, Why is it important to honor our Veterans?  They then wrote their paragraphs on bricks and we placed them on a wall outside of the library.  We created our own "Wall of Peace."  There was a reception for the Veterans who visited in the library after our assembly so they had the chance to check out our wall.

During our Enrichment period, Mrs. Fedor had some of the fourth graders creating their own medals. Students brainstormed the sacrifices service men and women make while serving our country and were encouraged to create a medal thanking vets for such sacrifices.

COSI Day

Today we had the pleasure of having COSI visit our school.  The day began with a whole school assembly and our topic this year was Current Conditions.  The students had a lot of fun at the assembly and then were able to go back later in the morning for some more hands on fun.

A special thanks goes out to our PTO for bringing COSI to our school!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!  We plan to use this as a place to share what we are doing in the classroom, celebrate our successes, and learn from others.  We look forward to hearing your questions and contributions.  Please feel free to comment at anytime.  We can't wait to get started and are excited to see where this blog takes us!