Month: December 2013

Kindergarten and First Grade. We will read  The Night Before Christmas                                   and discuss the feeling of gift giving. We will discuss the term ” Random Acts of Kindness” RAKS.  Students will decorate a RAK bookmark ,   with a Christmas theme.I will keep them and then share them with other students from the school. This is available for free by Cara Gingras, at Teachers pay teachers. If there is time, students will work on Christmas Websites.

Second grade and Third grade– Students will make Cootie Catchers with a Christmas theme. They will have time to take Reading Counts quizzes too. These are a free download at Rundes Room from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Fourth and Fifth Grade–  Students will perform in a DramaCircleChristmasTheme Students love these drama circles by Rundes room at Teachers Pay Teachers.  This will be a new one for them.

All grades will be doing their second quarter assessment this week. We will combine it with their understanding of text from each of the Holiday books listed below. 

Fifth grade-  

4th grade- 

This is my very very favorite Holiday Read aloud.  Brings a tear each time.  I like to read along and ask students to guess where the boy and his mother are living.  After we have read the story students will write to the prompt ” What two things would you want to have as a reminder of Christmas, if you were the character in this book?” Explain your answer.

Third Grade–

By the end of the week, I am sure I will be doing this as an oral retelling. I want students to remember how they felt as a younger child when they pretended and used their imaginations to bring their toys to life. After the read aloud, students will write to this prompt ” Describe a toy and a time when you used your imagination to bring a toy to life”

2nd grade- 

As we continue our author study of Eric Kimmel’s “Hershel” books, we will read The Magic Dreidls also by Eric Kimmel.  Students will respond to a writing prompt ” How are the goblins in these two stories different and how are they alike?’

1st grade-

During this read aloud of Christmas Cookies, Bite Sized Holiday Lessons, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, we will look closely at how the author designed each page to look similar, and how the illustrator has placed the pictures in a like manner.  We will also explore new words and vocabulary.  After the read aloud,. students will respond to a writing prompt ” Thankful means” and illustrate underneath in the style of our book.

Kindergarten- 

We will read Bear Stays Up by Karma Wilson.  Bear’s friends are determined to keep Bear awake for Christmas! Students will chant with me in unison as we repeat, ” But the Bear Stays up”. We will also study new vocabulary- Tradition, snuggled, lair, Badger, hoist, tromp, plod, mint tea, fruitcake, stoop, droop, doze, bustles, toil, glorious, glee, quilt. We will compare today’s text to the text of last week.

Traditions: 

We will  talk about Christmas traditions  starting with the tradition of gift giving. We will talk about traditions our family already has.

We will ask these questions: Do you usually go to the same Grandparents house for Christmas? What are other traditions you have at your house for Christmas?

We will create a bear lair by covering our library table with a sheet. Here we will pretend we are bear.

Assessment: Students will Draw a picture from their favorite part of the book.

Fourth and Fifth Grade 

This week we will be visiting three books about the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor.  First we will read from the first few pages of Attack On Pearl Harbor by Shelly Tanaka.  We will read about  the Japanese perspective on the attack as well as read from eyewitness accounts as residents re-create the dramatic moments of the attack.  We will then read from the popular I Survived series, The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis.

All of the I Survived books are works of historical fiction.  We will talk about the main events and places being real but the characters are from the author’s imagination.

Third Grade–

This month we will be reading from author Eric Kimmel and his” Hershel” books.  This week  it’s the Caldecott silver-medal award winner,  Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.   I begin by reading notes from Eric Kimmel found on the back page of the book.  He explains Hanukkah through its history and vocabulary. This same information will be helpful as we read more of his Hanukkah tales this month. Vocab + Hanukkah, Dreidel, Menorah, Potato Latkes, Goblin, Synagogue, Rabbi

Second Grade-  

I will be reading from the novel When Santa Fell to Earth, by Cornelia Funke. We will attempt to rescue Christmas!

First Grade- 

Caralyn Buehner has written a very special series about Snowmen. This week we will ask ” Just what do Snowmen do when we are asleep?”. Students will look for hidden pictures and recall text to self connections and as the month progresses, text to text.

Kindergarten- 

We will be exploring Karma Wilson’s “Bear” books this month, beginning with Bear Feels Sick. We will be talking about text to self connections as we read. Students will also be practicing their computer log in numbers this week and will work on Starfall’s new holiday activities.