Bill Buczinsky!
This week we were so lucky to have author/poet Bill Buczinsky visit Harrison School! Bill visited our school for two days of assemblies and writer's workshops. Bill incorporates music, magic, and student participation into his presentations and Harrison students had so much fun learning about the power of poetry from him.
We learned that Poets Play with patterns and that poems need contrast "No conflict, no story".
Bill's stay concluded with an evening Family Poetry Night where Harrison students were the stars of the show by sharing their poetry.
You can learn more about Bill Buczinsky here.
All Power to the Poets!!!
Here's what we worked on in the library this week!
5th Grade:
We began creating blackout poetry using old, discarded books:
Can't wait to see their finished projects!
4th Grade:
We finished our inquiry circle research about environmental problems. Next week we'll create our presentations!
3rd Grade:
We finished writing our book talks. Next week we'll record ourselves!
2nd Grade:
We used PebbleGo to research dinosaurs.
1st Grade:
We read If I Built a Car. Then, students designed their own creative cars!
Junior High Makerspace Explore Class:
We started exploring Lego Mindstorms.
Lots of great reading and projects happening in the library!!
Kindergarten
We discussed what we know about ducks and then read two fun stories. First we read Duck at the Door and talked about fiction and nonfiction. Students predicted that Duck at the Door would be fiction because "Ducks don't use doors!". Then we read Duck! Rabbit!. In this interesting book, one of the narrators thinks that the animal on the cover is a duck and the other narrator thinks it is a rabbit. Both narrators try to persuade each other of their opinion. After reading the book, students wrote about what they thought the animal was.
1st Grade
In first grade, we read two books involving foxes and trick endings!
Our students predicted that the fox would eat the pig and the duck in these books based on what we knew about these animals. However, both books have surprise endings!
2nd Grade
We read the book When Dinosaurs Came With Everything. In this book, it's a special day and all of the kids get free dinosaurs to take home as pets. At first, mom is not happy. However, in the end she learns that the dinosaur pets might not be so bad after all.
We are using this book to spark an inquiry project in 2nd grade! Students started working in pairs to research a different dinosaur. Then, each pair will tell reasons why their dinosaur would make a good pet and reasons why their dinosaur would not make such a good pet. Looking forward to seeing what our students discover with this fun project!
Grades 3, 4, and 5
Students in these grades are working on ongoing projects. Third graders are writing book talks that they will record in a few weeks. Fourth grade students continue to research environment issues in their inquiry circles. Finally, students in fifth grade continue to work on creating their book trailers.
Can't wait to see all of their finished projects!
Happy Reading!
Voting Week!
Monarch Award
This week ALL of our students in grades K-3 voted for their favorite Monarch Award book. There were so many great books on the 2018 Monarch Award list and it was hard for some of our students to choose a favorite!
After briefly reviewing the books on the list, students were each given a voting "ticket" to place in the box next to their favorite book.
It was a close vote but the Harrison School winner was Sam and Dave Dig a Hole! The runner-up was One Day in the Eucalyptus Eucalyptus Tree and Red: A Crayon Story came in third.
We can't wait to find out which book will win for the entire state!
Buestem Award
The Bluestem Award is for students in grades 3-5. For this award, students must read 4 or more of the books in order to vote. We had many students qualify this year and we had a voting party for those who qualified. At our party, students voted, ate snacks, and played a Kahoot game.
The Harrison School winner was Roller Girl followed closely by The Wild Robot and Save Me a Seat.
4th and 5th Grade
Also this week, our 4th grade students have been working in groups to research different environmental issues and our 5th grade students continue to work on creating their book trailers. Stay tuned to see their finished projects!
Happy Reading!
Celebrating Seuss!
March 2nd is Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss's birthday! This is a day to put a spotlight on reading and celebrate reading with others around the country.
Favorite Dr. Seuss Books
Some of our students shared their favorite Dr. Seuss books with other students across the country. Here is a link to the Flipgrid with video responses from our students and many other students:
https://flipgrid.com/b9004a.
Pictures of students sharing:
PBIS Celebration
Many of our students in grades 3-5 chose to visit our library makerspace for their 2nd trimester PBIS celebration. Legos, drawing, crafting, Bloxels, Sphero, Osmo, and green screen were some of the activities that students chose to do. Love all of the creativity, critical thinking, and collaborating that took place during this fun PBIS activity!
Next week we will be voting for our favorite Monarch and Bluestem Award books.
Happy Reading!
