Here Comes Santa Claus

November flew by quickly!  My New York and Alabama family were here to visit for the week-long, Thanksgiving break.  We made some fun memories together, and I cooked the biggest meal of my life! After they left, we promptly put up our Christmas tree. :D

Before it snowballs into December, here's a catch-up of all that I've been up to at work this past month with my students:

Kindergarten has been reviewing and learning about plot elements: Character (who or what the story is about), Setting (where and when the story takes place), and Plot (the events in the story).  Then I showed them the Early Reader shelves in the "E" for Everybody section, to encourage them to get a book that they will definitely be able to read to themselves.

First grade has been practicing locating books in the "E" section by looking at the shelf labels and looking at the book spines.  It's a work-in-progress, and something we'll definitely be practicing again this year. ;)

Then 1st grade learned, quite excitedly, about using their Biblionasium account.  We explored all of the features, and then in the following lesson, we worked on getting started on the Caldecott Medal Challenge.

Additionally, 1st grade made some amazing Google slides by researching shark facts on PebbleGo. This was a book extension activity for Georgia Picture Book Nominee, Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating.

Second grade learned about author, Louis Sachar and his many book series.  Then they sniffed out some different scents in an extension activity for Georgia Picture Book Nominee, Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty.  They also practiced generating keywords for when they search online.

Third grade learned about myths, with a specific focus on Greek characters they might see allusions to in other stories.  They made their own fact card using resources on Britannica School.

Then 3rd learned about fables and folktales and read ones from different countries.  Those with some extra time, researched to see the connection between the origin of the story and the setting or characters within the story. Student pairs with a fable, tried to identify the morale of the fable.

Fourth grade has been working on their Digital Citizenship lessons, determining what is or isn't plagiarism and justifying their thinking on Nearpod.  They also practiced adding an MLA citation to their class' shark facts Google slideshow bibliography.  They even practiced putting their citations into ABC order.  I was very impressed by their work!

Fifth grade did a review of the difference between a primary and a secondary source, and practiced identifying the two types.  Their next lessons, they reviewed different reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, and atlas) and did some task cards to apply their information research skills.  They also practiced locating different citations to support their research.

Went to GaETC for the first time this year, and learned a little bit about a lot of things.  I've attached a link to my notes here, if you want to read more. In reflection, I think it's not the conference for me.  If given the chance, I would prefer to go back to the Georgia Conference on Children's Literature, as it is geared more toward media specialists. 

(Still thinking about going to this year's and just paying for it myself, since it's over spring break, and Kwame Alexander, Erin Entrada Kelly, and Ben Clanton will be there!)

Until next time!