Miraculous Journey of A Read Aloud

As a teacher, one of my favorite things to do is read stories. I can pull so much out of them when we have a shared reading experience. I also love that with a read aloud I can expose them to higher levels of books and questions. Plus, the bonus of having the shared experience of reading a book together is just so powerful. It unifies our class. When we get to the tough parts, we've got each other to lean on for emotional support. We just found a book powerful enough to do this in such an amazing and beautiful way.

We just finished reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. What a fabulous story! It had the kids hooked and begging for more. 

If you read it with your class, beware. It is not a happy, fluffy bunny story. It is a story about a journey. A hard journey, but... by the end of the book the kids were cheering! I just love when that happens.

We're going to be reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next...with a little twist.  

What books do you love to read with your students?

Rainbow Art

It is raining in California! Finally! Last week I saw a beautiful double rainbow and I felt inspired.  So I decided to do some art.

The students in my class are 7 and 8 years old. That means that the kids in my class have rarely experienced true rainy days due to the drought. So, with the fabled El Nino hitting, I decided to have a little fun with the rain.  (Better than complaining about Rainy Day Recess...though trust me...It has not been fun.)

I pulled out all the markers I had been hoarding storing and had the kids work with their seat partners to find a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, an purple one. They needed to find the ones that said "Washable" or the older ones that said nothing. The new ones say, "Ultra Washable." I found that those ones did not work as well for this project.

I gave them each a small piece of Water Color Paper. Our were 6 x 9in. They then colored a rainbow on the paper. My example look like this:

So all of theirs looked like this:

11 years and I always forget to have lots of different examples. Learn from my mistake and have a couple of examples that look different.

Have the kids put a lot of ink on the paper.

Then, we put them out in the rain. The kids thought I was nuts! Lucky, they are kind of used to it and don't question me too much when I'm crazy.

We waited about 5 minutes and then we went to get them. I told them they could tip them if they wished. Some asked to leave them out longer.

This is the end result. Painting with the rain is pretty awesome.

Then, I gave them choices. They could write a narrative, an opinion, or do some research on rainbows. The only requirement is that rainbows be highlighted somehow.

I love reading their creativity. One write about a rainbow that pukes all the colors that are in the world. One wrote about the Aurora Borealis  Get a copy of the rainbow writing paper here.

St. Patrick's Day Close Read Fun

Ah...green everywhere. And every time any little thing is out of place, the kids are quick to blame the leprechaun. And they spend all of recess hunting for a 4 leaf clover. There is lots of magic in it though. Second graders in our school have had 2 years of practice creating Leprechaun Traps in Kinder and 1st. In 2nd grade, we get to do something even more fun! A close read! Just kidding. But our district LOVES a close read, so we do them a lot. They help with reading skills and this one gives lots of fun information about St. Patrick's Day.

The kids do enjoy learning about the holiday and the traditions though. They get to work in a group, and highlight things green. I love this time of year when they monitor themselves and I can just keep pushing them deeper into learning. I love watching kids help and encourage each other don't you?

They also get to explore a traditional recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage. One of my students asked if that was what leprechauns like to eat. Another student responded, "Of course, why else would she make us learn about it?" Because we all need to know what leprechaun's like to eat.


We're also working some pretty cool art that will harness the power of rain to make it extra fun. Finger's crossed the weather participates this week and rains enough for us to finish it. I'll post about it soon!

Here's the Close Read we used if you're interested.

How do you celebrate in your class?

Biography Book Report Time

My students presented their biography book reports. Biographies are not my favorite genre to read myself, but I love how excited that kids get to read them.

I have a large stock of biography books that I keep on hand for this assignment and for the excitement that ensues after they find how cool it is to learn about another person's life. The kids get to pick ANYONE to read about...They get so excited to have so much choice.

This is all the stuff they get to take home! It has a written, oral and art component. All done at home. We've done extensive studies of Martin Luther King, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. The kids know how to read biographies and what to look for. They now get to do that same work, but at home. One of my clever students got so excited he said, "It's just like Martin Luther King, but we get to do it all alone. We are responsible for the work now." I just love when they get so excited about the gradual release of the cognitive load don't you?

There are directions and check lists and clear expectations with take home projects. It's the key to the success of the project. I try to not break it down too much because I want the kids to be creative in their work. I want them to take responsibility and learn how to get it all done on time. This is a great lesson to learn in second grade before the consequences are huge in the older grades.

The kids bring their projects in on the last Friday of the month. They present their report to the class in a quick 1-3 minute presentation of the person they studied. They can only use their notecard. This is their first oral report with proper oral report expectations. Well...it's the first on I don't help with at all.

After, they show the portrait they drew and everyone claps. Here are some of the portraits they've created:

I love hearing the "ooh" and "ahh" sounds when kids show their art work.

Do you do biography book reports? Give it a try! If you want to use the project we have made for our kiddos, you can find it here.