Class Schedule

Wednesdays

1. Gifted and Able Learners Class for 2nd - 3nd graders

8:45 ­ 11:00 a.m

Students may bring a nutritious snack.

 

2. Gifted and Able Learners Class for 4th - 5th graders

11:25 a.m. ­ 1:40 p.m.

Students need to bring a bag lunch to school. We eat in our classroom .

 

January 31

Most students have completed illustrating and writing their original stories. A few students took home art materials to complete illustrations at home.

This week, Feburary 3rd, students will have a "Publication Party" . . . enjoying refreshments while they read aloud their stories. They will also fill out self-evaluations and watch a video produced by the author and illustrator of the Magic School Bus series in which they discuss how they collaborate to write their books.

I will make copies of students' stories so they will all have their own copies to take home next week.

February 3rd will also be the last week of this class. A new class and a new topic will begin on February 10th.

 

December 15

 

Using the handout, Original Book Project, Part 2 as a guide, students have been working on the rough (first) drafts of their stories. Students have been writing, reading aloud to the class, getting feedback, and revising. Some groups (and their stories) are further along than others. The hardest part for most was to create a plot that included an interesting "problem" the characters needed to work through. This had been a good learning experience.

 

Because this project is going so slowly, I have extended this term until the end of January.

 

I am hoping that at least some groups will be able to complete their rough draft this week.

 

I am requesting some help from parents who have a computer and, possibly, a scanner at home or at work:

 

1. One student in each group will take home their rough draft, type it on their home computer (spell check and grammar check!), then e-mail it to me either as an MS Word (PC or Mac) or Appleworks (Mac) attachment or within the body of the e-mail. Please do not format it with fancy fonts, bold or large size type. The formatting will only have to be undone when we put it into book form. If your child still struggles with typing, it's OK to help him or her with the typing.

 

2. When we return from the holidays, students will work on illustrations for their books. Again, I am requesting volunteers who have scanners at home or at work to please scan your children's illustrations, SAVE THEM AS JPG FILES ONLY and either e-mail or put them on a CD (not a floppy disk) and send it to me. Please save each picture to show both your child's name and the picture's order in the story (i.e. -- rachel1.jpg, rachel2.jpg, etc.).

 

IMPORTANT: If you send the scanned pictures as attachments, please save them as either 72 or 100 dpi resolution (not 300!). I am using a dial-up 56K modem at home, and if everyone sends me huge, 1MB files, it would virtually shut down my e-mail!

 

3. When I have your children's text and pictures, students will use them to create their book using PowerPoint. Each child will get a copy of their Powerpoint story on a CD to take home.

 

I hope you all have a happy holiday!

 

 

November 18

Students practiced "Showing" rather than "Telling" writing, in which the writer uses sensory details to create word pictures. They finished by writing a sensory poem about Buddy, a black lab mix puppy I just adopted from the Animal Shelter. The poem below is a collaborative poem (from both classes) comprised of at least one line from each student's poem. They chose their favorite lines to contribute to the collaborative poem. I think their writing is incredibly wonderful!!!

Next week, students will use showing writing as they begin the rough draft of their books: Original Book Project, Part 2.

Buddy

He looks like a black brownie with blue frosting,
a wiggely, sweet, dark chocolate candy bar,
a cloudy night with only the moon showing,
an old, furry grizzly bear in the New Hampshire woods,
a child's shadow peeled off and left in the street,
a walking black vampire bat,
the smoke of the Washington Pentagon in 2001.

He smells like damp playground earth,
a golden Delicious apple,
a ripe, red, sweet and tasty cherry,
a chocolate dog,
a juicy cheeseburger sizzling on the grill,
the sticky, honey-flavored sap of an oak tree,
sweet baby socks at naptime.

He tastes like warm, juicy caramel,
a warm-blooded white chocolate chip cookie,
melted chocolate ice-cream at Coldstone,
tall pine trees growing in a dark, scary, cold forest,
the frothy foam on a steamy cup of hot chocolate,
the worst meal on Fear Factor,
like laughter and joy.

He sounds like a loud train whistle on a railroad track beyond the lake,
a big, noisy crowd of adults dancing at a birthday party,
a wolf howling at the full moon,
like the universe has stopped and everyone is silent and at peace,
like whispers in the darkness,
and space air on the moon.

He feels like a fur ball, black and tiny,
a warm, cushy blanket on a cold winter night,
the soft, woolen blanket on my mother's king-size bed,
the smooth, soft silks of Asia,
a monarch butterfly's wings, and
like infinite love.

November 11

Students and parents enjoyed the trip to the FSU Museum of Fine Arts! They learned about artist Trevor Bell and abstract painting. They also wrote poetry that was inspired by one of the paintings in the exhibit.

 

Students are now working on the rough draft of their stories. Please see the on-line worksheet, Original Book Project, Part 2.

 

 

October 14

Students worked together to create a graphic organizer (AKA "cluster" or "map") of the story, "The Cows Are Going to Paris." Then they met with their groups to continue gathering background information for their own stories: natural history facts on their animal and information on the city their animal will visit. When they have enough background information, groups will work on a graphic organizer for their story. The project checklist, Original Book Project, Part I, is also on-line so they can continue working on their project at home. At the bottom of the checklist are links to great resources on the Internet.

 

We have only one computer in our classroom, so it is probably necessary for students to use their home or a public library computer to do research. Only fourth and fifth grade students get to work in the Computer Lab -- and for only 30 minutes -- because the Computer Lab is "booked up" the rest of the day.

 

If your child didn't bring his/her field trip money last Tuesday, please send it this week (please see "Oct. 7th update). We could use one or two more chaperones. Thanks!

 

* Birdsong Nature Center will have their annual Fall Open House next Sunday, October 26th. I will be there with all the St. Francis Wildlife animals.

 

October 7

Students met and learned about an eastern box turtle. Students met with their groups and continued working on their book project. The project checklist , Original Book Project, Part I, is also on-line so they can continue working on their project at home. At the bottom of the checklist are links to great resources on the Internet. I've asked students to try to complete the Character and Setting portions for next week so they can begin working on the plot. Several students exchanged phone numbers with other students in their group so they could collaborate at home. The 4th - 5th grade class spent some time in the computer lab researching information for their setting.

 

* Field Trip:

On Tuesday, November 4th, I will take both classes on a field trip to the FSU Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit is "Trevor Bell: A British Painter in America." Students will have a guided tour then choose the artwork which they like/inspires them the most and write a poem about it. All students will need to bring a bag lunch to school that day and leave it at school. We will all eat lunch together when we return from the trip.

 

I will need to collect money for the school bus. Please send a check for $2.00, made payable to Astoria Park Elementary School, or $2.00 cash with your child next Tuesday.

 

We will leave at 9:15 a.m. and return at 12:30 p.m. We need several parent charperones! If you can chaperone, please send me an e-mail or call Atoria Park and ask the to leave a message in my mailbox.

 

September 30

Students continued researching and began to work on the handout "Original Book Project, Part 1." Students can also work on this at home.

 

September 23

As practice for creating their own characters, students listened to a story, Sophie's Masterpiece, then envisioned the main character and wrote about her and drew pictures of her.

 

September 16

Students continued researching wild animals for characters in their books. 4th and 5th grade students also went to the media center to research cities for the settings of their books. Next class: "Developing a character."

 

September 9

I was stung by yellow-jackets and developed a severe allergic reaction. Therefore, I was unable to hold classes this week.

 

If they choose to, students can continue to work on their project at home or in the public library by finding, reading and printing (from Internet) or checking out (books) and taking notes on some more interesting information on a wild animal that they would like to be the main character of their book. If they do this, please have them take the information to school next Tuesday.

 

Students will have the option of choosing to work on this project alone or in a small group of two or three. Students who choose to work in a group, will form their own group based on similar interests and personal expertise (one student might be the illustrator and another the primary writer, etc.).

 

We have not begun learning about /working on story elements yet . . . character development, plot, setting, etc.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

September 2

Students spent time in class and in the Media Center researching wildlife for their books. They also met and learned about a permanently disabled screech owl from the St. Francis Wildlife Association.

 

August 26

After introducations and learning about the class, students looked through Zoobook magazines and books about wildlife to begin a list of 10 wild animals that they might be interested in studying and using as characters in their books.

 

Next week, students will complete this list, begin their research, then share their findings.

 

* If you have not already done so, please complete and send the Internet Access (and photo) permission form to our class next Wednesday. ALL students need this.

Cows Are Going to Paris class

Wildclassroom.net

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