Last week, I set up time for the seventh graders to share their work with the third graders. Thank you to Mrs. Gross and Mr. Dopp for sharing their students and class time to make this experience possible!
Some of my favorite picture books are those that teach about the lives of real people. We have many of these in our library that are written for various age levels and that provide wonderful illustrations along with interesting stories. Below are cover pictures from just a few of these books: Several weeks ago, the seventh graders started off a biographical research project by selecting and reading one of these picture book biographies. They then further researched their subject and prepared a short slideshow to be shared with the third graders. The focus for this project was on navigating within and using the features of the Britannica School Middle encyclopedia (available through ELM4You.org) and on searching for online images that they would be free to use (not copyright-restricted). Seventh graders were expected to provide citations for each of their sources, including each of the images in their slideshow. Last week, I set up time for the seventh graders to share their work with the third graders. Thank you to Mrs. Gross and Mr. Dopp for sharing their students and class time to make this experience possible!
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The Barnes and Noble Book Fair is coming up this Friday and I need to start thinking about what new books we will order with our book fair earnings. This is a big job, so again this year I am asking the 6th graders to help me out. Part of our library time this week will be dedicated to exploring the books recommended on book list and book review sites (such as those on this website's Great Links page). I'm particularly interested in suggestions for narrative non-fiction (this is non-fiction that reads more like a story) but fiction and informational non-fiction suggestions are welcome as well. Sixth graders and anyone else who would like to share a recommendation, please comment below. If you're wondering if we already have a particular book, please check our catalog before posting your comment. Thank you!
Last week I talked with the 2nd-5th graders about narrative and literary nonfiction. We compared this type of nonfiction, which often tells a story and is generally read from to beginning to end, with more informational texts that you might or might not read from cover to cover. This week, I shared a biography (a nonfiction narrative of a person's life) with each class. First graders and kindergarteners heard The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, second and third graders listened to Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, and fourth and fifth graders heard Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson. All of the students listened intently and had some thoughtful reactions to the books about these leaders for equality and justice.
The pictures below are of the fifth graders this week. Most weeks many of the fourth and fifth graders have some time to read after they have selected books. This week it was remarkable to see virtually all of these older students completely engrossed in their independent reading at the end of the class period. |
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