Biographies of Poets

I came across some "old" scholastic posters that were in my closet about biographies of famous people.  To keep my theme of poetry for the week, I gave students a list of poets for them to research on the internet and create a poster about his/her life.  Students REALLY enjoyed this activity and were excited to report to one another about the information they found.  The most popular poet???  Maya Angelou!  Very proud so many students found interest in this wonderful lady's life.  :)

             Briley Finster: Maya Angelou

  Mason Green:  Maya Angelou, too!!

I love the Cardinals!!!

At a trip to Branson, I came across this "Best Seller".  Ok, not really a best seller, but it sure caught my eye!

I just couldn't resist......

Our Student of the Week last week was Briley Finster.  One of the pictures that he shared with us was a shot of him at 3-4 years old.  I couldn't resist posting "Cowboy Briley" on our classroom blog!!!  Yippe-yi-o-ki-yay!!!!

Extra Points on Science Tests!!!!

This was an awesome idea!!!!

Mason Green-He broke the ice for us.  No one would do it.  So Mason got up and sang "Radioactive".

Jacob Jones

Eliza Westmoreland

Gage Brugoto-doesn't he look like a future entertainer??? :)

Dezirae Carter

Halle Musick

Briley Finster

Jake Hutchison

Congratulations, Gage!!!

Congratulations to Gage Brugoto!!!  He got his first deer a few weekends ago!

Adverbs Avenue

I saw an idea on teacherspayteachers.com for adverbs and though I would try it in my classroom.  I have a classroom full of young artists and I knew they would be really interested in the project!  First, we discussed them and made an anchor chart.  I had adverbs on cardstock paper and we sorted them based on WHAT? WHEN? and HOW?, and then made up sentences using adverbs.  To end the lesson, the students worked in groups to create an avenue in the hallway.  Each group got a piece of chart paper, chose a sentence to illustrate, and created a scene to hang together with the other groups in the hallway.  Hence the title "Adverbs Avenue". It was awesome seeing their creativity go wild!

#www.teacherspayteachers.com

Last Friday's Book Jackets

As I graded last Friday's book jackets, I was very disappointed in the results.  I only had 3 100s, and a total of only 4 A's.  All students were given the rubric, it was projected onto the board, and I read and explained it before they started.  The part of the jacket they had the most trouble with was the connections.  This was what several students put down as connections:

"I like to draw."
"I have read a book about clocks."
"I have a dog."

I see this type of connection when I walk down the 1st grade hallway.  :(  A GOOD connection states what you are connected to and what part of the book it is that connects you.  For example, I had one student write down "I have a text-to-self connection to Diary of a Wimpy Kid because Greg has an older brother and so do I."  THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONNECTION (and sentence) THAT FOURTH GRADERS SHOULD BE WRITING!

All rubrics were sent home this afternoon.  Please take a minute to look at your child's grade to see what he/she missed.  These book jackets are fun for them and should be an easy grade.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

P.S.--The covers were fantastic!  I will NEVER complain about their artistic abilities!