Theme, Poetry, and Susan Stevens Crummel

This past week has been super busy in the Hillside library with all sorts of learning! When we return from the Thanksgiving break, we will have an author visit. We are very excited to have Susan Stevens Crummel visit with all grade levels.

My plan is to have a bulletin board displaying student work pertaining to Susan Stevens Crummel's books. With first grade this week, I read aloud the book PLAIDYPUS LOST.  The students loved the repeating text, and read it in chorus with me. After reading the story, the students created their own platypus. They designed the pajamas, and we added patches with pieces of scrapbook paper. I loved how they turned out, and can't wait for Susan Stevens Crummel to see all of their work.

Last week, a third grade teacher approached me and asked if she could bring her class in for a lesson over theme. They had covered the skill in class, but needed a little extra practice. I decided to use the picture books by Susan Stevens Crummel for the lesson. First, the teacher and I went over theme, and I made an anchor chart while we taught/reviewed. (I did not take a picture of my anchor chart, it was not pinterest worthy.)  We taught the students a great way to remember THEME is that it is THE MEssage that the author wants the reader to learn. The students then brainstormed some common themes we see in literature, such as perseverance, teamwork, honesty, and responsibility to name a few. 

I read aloud one of my favorite books, THE LITTLE RED PEN by Susan Stevens Crummel. The students loved the book, especially the pushpin AKA Señorita Chincheta. After reading the book, we brainstormed together the theme of the story. The students came up with "Teamwork, "Don't Be Lazy", and "Never Give Up".

Next, the students were paired up by their teacher, and I brought each pair a book by Crummel. Their job was to read the book and together decide what the theme was. They also had to include text evidence to prove their theme.  

As you can see from the picture our tables were missing, so we had to be flexible. Hillside had our Blue Ribbon celebration that day, so all of the library tables and chairs were being used for the celebration. We still work hard and learn in the library, even without chairs! 

Fourth grade has a unit over poetry this month, specifically figurative language this week. The fourth grade ELA teacher and I discussed a lesson together, and we decided to use the book 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING by Dav Pilkey. The fourth graders all wanted to go down to the rug, so I read the book in our reading area to them. We then reviewed personification, simile, and metaphor. 

The assignment was to create a Popplet (www.popplet.com) and categorize the 3 types of figurative language from the poem. I did type out the poem for the students so they could have the text in front of them to find the examples. 

Whew! Just one more day until our Thanksgiving break!!

SaveSave

I Can't Believe I Haven't Blogged in a Month

I'm still here, nothing happened, except for an extremely busy October!!! However, it was a good busy, including a book fair, book character pumpkin contest, book character day, and collaborative lessons every week!

The book fair was an enormous success and tons of our readers were able to purchase books for their personal libraries at home. Plus, the library gets to keep the proceeds to purchase new books, new technology, and other fun things for the students. Last year's book fair proceeds helped me to buy new biography books, 6 new Chromebook laptops, lunch for the Bluebonnet club readers, supplies and materials for the MakerSpace, and breakfast for all the students that read over a million words. This year, I plan on purchasing more books to update the nonfiction section, more Chromebook laptops, and incentives for my super readers again.


One of my goals each year is to teach the students to be independent in the library. I want them to think on their own and know how to search for books on their own. I teach the students early on to self-checkout their books. This past month, students in first grade learned how to use the library catalog to search for books by author, subject, and series.

This year, one of the district's initiative is to help our students be future ready. Librarians play a huge part in this, so all the elementary librarians met with our district library coordinator to write goals to ensure our library programs are future ready. One of the goals I wrote for my library is to provide a flexible schedule in order for more classes to be able to participate in research and for teachers to collaborate with me on what needs to be taught. The first 2 six weeks have passed, and so far this goal is a success! The students love coming to the library for lessons, and the teachers are appreciative of the extra help in teaching the skills. 

One of the third grade teachers recently approached me regarding poetry. This teacher is new to third grade, and didn't feel really comfortable teaching poetry skills. So, we discussed the objectives and what was expected of the students together. Looking through the curriculum, we decided to focus on 4 types of poetry that will be on the 3rd grade state assessment. I found examples of these poems and posted them all around the library. After going over the 4 types of poems in a whole group, the students were put into groups and went on a scavenger hunt around the library for the different types of poems. They had to identify the type of poem, but also tell why they thought it was that type of poem. 

If you cannot tell, I am a HUGE advocate for flexible schedule in the elementary library. I've heard so many people say it cannot be done, but I am proof that it can be done and it can work well. Flexible schedule is better for the students, and the lessons are more meaningful when they are tied in with the curriculum.  

A few weeks ago, fourth grade classes came in to the library after the teacher and I collaborated about teaching Theme in Fables. In September, this same teacher and I taught a lesson together about genres, so we decided we would continue this lesson each month and take it further. This week we focused on fables, and the required skill from the district curriculum was theme. 

The best part of collaborative lessons is that their are 2 teachers helping the students. We are able to give more one-to-one help when there are 2 of us to monitor and check for understanding. For the lesson, the teacher and I took turns explaining theme and how to look for the clues in the story. The students then got on the Chromebook laptops and went to a website I gave them with a list of fables. With their partner, they were able to choose a fable to read, then fill out a graphic organizer with clues to determine the theme. 

So much more to tell you, but my fingers are getting tired and this is turning into a novel. Later this week I will post the Book Character pumpkin patch pictures. It was so hard to decide the winner this year! Also, this week I have second graders coming in for colonial research.