4th Grade Theme and Main Idea

The past few weeks have been lots of collaboration with the 4th grade ELA teachers. Our latest co-teaching endeavor has been over main idea and theme. We started with main idea, reviewing how to find the main idea of a selection.

At each table, I placed a short passage that had the title cut off. Students were given post-it notes and were asked to write the main idea in a sentence, and to give the passage a title. When the time limit was up, they covered their answers and moved to the next table. At the next table, they did the same with another passage.

On the last rotation, students then uncovered all the other answers and chose what they thought was the best written main idea.  It helped them to see that the main idea is not copied straight from the passage, but is in your own words.

The next week, we read SNEETCHES AND OTHER STORIES, by Dr. Seuss, which is a great book for comparing themes. I read the first story, SNEETCHES, to the whole group. We came up with a theme all together, then found the text evidence. At their table groups, students made a chart with each story, the theme, and the text evidence. They had the other stories from the book at their tables. This collaborative lesson took two days of 4th grade coming in. This is one reason why it is so important to be on a flexible schedule if you are collaborating with the teachers. 

On the second day, after groups found the theme of each story, students had to compare the themes of all 4 stories. This led to a discussion of the events that were happening during the time period that this book was published. We had some very thoughtful discussions. 

TLA Recap

The TLA annual conference always refreshes me. I love being around other library professionals, authors, and book lovers. The love of literacy is contagious at this conference!

This year, I had the privilege of attending with two of my library BFF's.

     

Characters of Color 

The first session I went to was lead by Louie T. McClain of Melanin Origins. He spoke about the importance of children being able to see themselves in books. His message was really eye opening about how black history does not have to be about slavery and struggle, especially at the young age. It made me really think about my collection, and if I have characters of color represented, not just in books about civil rights movement and slavery. I really appreciated his message about being age appropriate and how young children need to see their race portrayed in a happy, appealing manner. 

Speed Dating the Bluebonnets 

This was my first time to be a part of the Speed Dating the Bluebonnets. It was amazing being able to meet the authors and illustrators of the Bluebonnet lists. If I could change one thing, I would like to have more activity ideas to use the books with the students, but I especially enjoyed listening to the author talk about how they got their idea for the book and how the illustrator created the illustrations. 

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a fabulous book!

Angela Cervantes, author of ME, FRIDA, AND THE SECRET OF THE PEACOCK RING, was super nice! 

AND, she let me wear the peacock ring!! 

The illustrator of THE BOO-BOOS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD talked about adding his family to several of the illustrations. 

Confessions of a School Librarian

This was probably one of my favorite sessions, and by some of my favorite library leaders. It was a fun, fast paced session where the presenters and audience members played "Never Have I Ever". It truly made you assess your library practices, and if they are in the best interest of the students. Sometimes, we get so caught up in protecting the books, we don't always do what is best for our students. 

• Have you ever forced kinder to check out from an assigned shelf or table all year long?
• Kept a child from getting a book because they owe a fine?
• Dressed unprofessionally?

We've all been there! Be aware of your strengths AND weaknesses, and surround yourself with people that will help you grow. 

I Survived! 

This year, I was honored to have been chosen to present two of my passions to TLA attendees. My first session was over using Google Apps with Little Learners. Then my second session was over being an instructional partner. Both went very well, and I had several attendees asking questions afterwards. It gave me ideas on what to present next year as well. 

Meeting the Authors 

Don't get me wrong, I love learning from all the other amazing presenters, but I also truly love going to the vendor floor! Particularly the author area!! Meeting the authors and getting the books signed for the students is the highlight of my week. The students love to see the pictures of me getting to meet the authors, especially if it is one of their favorites! 

Game Changer

Another favorite session was by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp. If you have not read any of their books or follow their blogs, YOU SHOULD! They are huge advocates for children reading and having librarians in their schools. I recently purchased their book GAME CHANGER, so I was extremely excited to be in this session with them. 

Now it is back to my regular schedule. I missed my students like crazy, but I've learned so much during my week away. Now it is time to reflect on the school year, along with my new learnings, and begin to plan for next school year. 

Shapes in Kinder with Google

If you have been following my blog, you are aware of my Chromebook Academy that the teachers and I teach every year to kinder and first graders. If not, you can read more about it on this previous post.

Kindergarten had started their math unit over shapes.  I had seen an idea on twitter by @MLTumlty where she used the book TRIANGLE by Mac Barnett and had the students sort shapes in a google slide. I loved the idea, and had to try with my students! 

Barnett, Mac. TRIANGLE. illustraed by Jon Klassen. Candlewick Press, 2017.

After reading the book, students logged onto their Chromebooks and then to Google Classroom. They are getting so good at logging in!!! 

We did a quick review over how to open an assignment and how to click and drag, then they got started. They had tons of fun! 

You can get a copy of this activity here. 

It is always nice to be able to incorporate technology into our lessons, and collaborate with the teachers. As an instructional partner, I was able to bring math to life in the library. Students need to be able to learn many different ways: hands on, written, visual, and technology. Putting our heads together, the teachers and I were able to come up with a lesson that students were engaged in and will remember. 

Read Across America Recap

Read Across America is one of my favorite weeks of the entire school year! This year our school wide theme for the week was "Make the World a Better Place". Each day we had fun dress days, guest readers, and fun activites! 

A retired assistant superintendent came to read GREEN EGGS AND HAM to our students. He talked about reading this book to his granddaugter every night that she came to visit. Then he told us about how his granddaughter is now in college. 

Mr. Washington reads GREEN EGGS AND HAM

We had two firefighter crews from the Garland firestation visit our students. They read to us and talked to us about their jobs. They told the students that even though their job is a physical job, they have to use math, reading, and writing every day.

Garland Firefighters read to students. 

Garland firefighters 

Two of our amazing school board members came to read with our students this week as well. Mrs. Griffin even dressed as the Cat in the Hat for the students. It was lots of fun. Both school board members talked to the students about their roles as school board members, and discussed how reading helped them be successful in their jobs, personal lives, and get elected as board members. 

Mrs. Griffin dresses up and reads to our students. 

Mr. Selders came to visit, read, and take pictures. 

One of our parents came to read to several classes. She read FOX IN SOCKS, which was her daughters' favorite when they were really little. She also wore her crazy socks just like our students.

Parent reads to students. 

Crazy socks day! 

One of the best parts of this week was the bench that was donated to our school by a nearby retirement home. The bench was built and painted by the residents of the retirement home, and now the bench has a forever home in our library. Isn't that AMAZING!! 

We had several other activities going that week. Their was a Seuss trivia on the announcements each morning with prizes for the winning classes. The students voted on their favorite Seuss book, and the winner was THE LORAX this year. 

Kindergarten Engineers

Last week in the Hillside library our kindergarten academy scholars were researchers and engineers. Kindergarten is in the middle of our NonFiction unit where students learn the difference between fiction and nonfiction. They also learn how the nonfiction, or dewey, section is organized in the library. My youngest students are not limited to a certain shelf like many other libraries have, but instead learn to make good choices about the right book for them. They learn to use the entire library.

This past week, we went further into our unit and learned how to extract information from nonfiction books. We started with penguins. I mean, who doesn't love penguins?! I read a nonfiction book, and students took turns telling me facts to add to our chart. 

After reading the book and taking down facts, we discussed interesting facts about penguins. The students mostly found the fact that penguins slide on their belly most interesting. I set out different materials at each table, and asked the students to come up with a slide for the penguin. A slide that the penguin could slide on his belly into the water. 

Each table has a different set of materials. I received these materials from a grant recently. 

The penguins are just images I printed out, then taped to a block. The kindergarteners had so much fun sliding their penguins down their slides. 

Text Structure with 4th Grade

Informational text structure is one of my favorite lessons to teach. There are so many activities that you can have students to in order to learn about informational text structure.

What are text structures?

Text structure is the way that an author organizes the information in a book. Is the author comparing two topics, describing a topic, etc... The message that the author is trying to get across goes hand in hand with the text structure the author is using.

• Description
• Sequence
• Compare/Contrast
• Problem/Solution
• Cause/Effect

Students have heard these words over and over throughout the school years, but have been asked to identify the sequence or identify the problem/solution, for example. Today, we took it farther and asked students to identify the way the author is organizing the information. 

Lesson

First, the teacher had been going over one text structure a day for the past week. The lesson in the library started as a review. I used these free images created by Deb Hansen to create a slide show for students. You can get these posters on TPT for free. 

I hung the text structure posters around the library, similar to 4 corner, but we had 5 corners. Each table group received a paragraph and had to decide which text structure the author was using. Once the group decided on a text structure, they moved to their corner with the matching poster. 

Once everyone was in their place, about 3 - 4 minutes, groups had the opportunity to read their paragraph while the rest of the class agreed or disagreed with their decision. Students had to say "I agree because..." or "I disagree because.... I think the author uses this text structure..." 

Students observed that all the paragraphs I gave the groups had something to do with ice cream. So, then it was their turn. Students chose their own topic, then wrote a paragraph using each text structure. I placed a Google Slides template in their Google Classroom, then they started writing. After writing students were given the option to add pictures. 

Hour of Code Week

My first love is BOOKS and READING, but my second is technology, coding, and computer science. I always have a blast teaching students the aspects of coding and watching them problem solve. 

This year, I decided to focus on robots for Hour of Code week, so every grade level had a challenge using the Ozobots. 

5th Grade

5th grade had my favorite challenge of the week! We use ozoblockly.com to program our Ozobots. If you have Ozobot robots and have never used Ozoblockly, you should really check it out! Each group was given an Ozobot, and logged into the website. Using the program, students were given the challenge to choreograph a dance for their Ozobot to dance to Feliz Navidad. 

They had a blast, and there was a lot of collaboration and problem solving going on. The students learned that the Ozobot would not blink colors and move at the same time, so they had to create loops within their program. Lots of learning going on this day! 

4th Grade 

With the fourth graders, I integrated Geography into our coding lesson. Each student recieved a map of the world, then students labeled the continents. It was a great review of the 7 continents. They drew their code to have OzoClause 😊 to visit all the countries. We added some flying tricks in as well. 

2nd and 3rd Grade

For the second and third grade class, we had a Grinch challenge. Students had to fill in the codes for Ozobot, or OzoClause to visit the houses and avoid the Grinch. We also had to be sure to code the robot to stop for milk and cookies. 

Kinder and 1st Grades

This is the first time the kinders used the Ozobot, so we did simply line codes. They had so much fun making their Ozobot move from one end to the other. Then we made the Ozobot go slow, then fast. The giggles in the room were contagious!

Most of the first graders had used the Ozobots the previous year, so we had a more complex activity. First graders had to use turn left or turn right codes to get the robot to the dog. We had fun, made some mistakes, and learned together. 

The Hour of Code is always one of my favorite weeks, even though the students on my campus code most the year. This week is a fun week where I get to see everyone in the library and learn coding.