Sharing their speeches and note-taking sheets with grandparents!
Presenting Idaho!
Back in December, 3rd graders began brainstorming "I wonder..." questions about their states. They organized these questions into categories which became the categories on their note-taking sheets. Next, they turned their most interesting facts into reasons to visit their states. Their final lists are amazing! Did you know that 90% of the popcorn in the US comes from Indiana? How about that there are more hogs in Iowa than people? Or that Alabama is home to the National Women's Football League?
Beginning last week, the 3rd graders started presenting their findings in their "Top 10 Reasons to Visit My State" speeches. These children have worked hard to convince their classmates to visit their states. I am not sure how they will choose which one is the most convincing in their class. The winner in each class will receive a letter from someone who lives or used to live in their state!
Practicing speeches with a partner before the final presentation.
Every year students in second grade are exposed to our biography collection in the library. Sometimes that exposure happens explicitly, but sometimes the exposure will happen through other units. For example, a biography might be a book on our Mock Caldecott reading list or a part of an author study. This year I wanted to create an experience where students would learn about biographies and be pushed to dive deeper creating an experience that showed more than the definition of a biography. I wanted students to learn about people in our history that they may have not known about. As in past years, I explained to students what a biography is, but this year I also read two to three biographies during library class. We then chose one of the people from the three biographies we read, and then we gathered information about that person. The person students chose was Ernest "Ernie" Barnes; the first official artist of the National Football League.
We discussed important information that should be included in our research and what information qualified as "jaw dropping or mind blowing information". Students then chose their own biography to read and gather information from.
I was blown away by my second graders's hard work, creative practices and the information they chose to share out. These projects are on display in the story room and I encourage you to stop in during your free time and see them. Along with their biographies their fables will also be on display for your reading pleasure.
Yes. The heading is true! We held our 30th Annual Battle of the Books Thursday night April 25 at the Lincoln School. We also honored the retirement of two people who have participated in the Battle from the very beginning: Mrs. Simpson and Mrs. Hahn. Thank you for your 30 years of support for this event.
Students from Wheeler/Hamilton, Lincoln, Gordon and St. Michael's answered quiz-show-like questions about the 30 books on the Battle List. They competed collaboratively on teams that included students from all four schools. Each school also performed a cheer. As you can see from the video, not only did our 4th graders create a fun cheer they also performed it with a ton of enthusiasm. For those of you who haven't attended the Battle in the past, you would be amazed by the palpable excitement in the room. One fourth grader put it best, "That was the best night of my life!"
