4th Grade Booktalks

"Have you ever had to be paired up with someone you can't stand?" - opening line to Big Nate Strikes Again booktalk by Michael.

Fourth graders finished up booktalks before the winter break. The purpose was to get classmates interested in reading their book. The main criteria was to creatively get the audience's attention, give the basic facts i.e. title, author, genre, character, setting, and plot, and make eye contact with the audience. Students did an excellent job of talking-up their books with a great variety of fiction, nonfiction, picture books, graphic novels, and chapter books from all genres.  We even had a pair of students memorize and sing the famous "Harry Potter in 99 seconds" as part of their talk. See below for the video by the original creators, Paint.

Autobiography Vokis

Students in Mrs. Gallagher's class have been learning about the autobiography and biography genres. We read four biographies in class to inspire students' own brief autobiography writing piece. We turned the autobiography into a Voki, an online tool that allows you to create custom talking avatars. See below to watch our Voki autobiographies.

Fourth Grade Booktalks

Fourth graders will be starting their book talks this week. Students need to pick a book that they have read and do an ad-like presentation to get the audience excited about the book. Criteria for the booktalks:
1. Did I get my audience's attention?
2. Did I give the facts?
3. Did I mention the story elements of my book?
4. Did I look and sound the part?
Last year, the book talk presentations were outstanding. Students got very excited both to present and watch the booktalks and I think they really did inspire each other both in their creative presentations and in encouraging each other to read. One of my favorite props last year was this Diary of a Wimpy kid television diorama. Stay tuned for this year's creations!

Thanksgiving, Puppets & Roosters

This week in Grade 5, we'll be reading Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet. This is a biography about Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who created the first  Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Not only is this book a great way to explore the history and technology involved in creating the giant-sized balloons, it is also the perfect precursor to our puppet research projects which will begin in January. On top of that, this book is on the 2013 Rhode Island Children's Book Award list which means it will be part of our annual Rooster Games event with Gordon School. We'll be discussing characters, setting, and important objects to get students thinking like a Rooster Game participant.

Biographies Galore

Mrs. Gallagher's students are studying the biography/autobiography genre. I've discovered some excellent read-alouds that have sparked student interest and will hopefully inspire students when they create their own Voki autobiography. My absolute favorite, was Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas. Charles Atlas was bullied for being small as a child so decided to get fit & strong in response to that. He was one of the main pioneers of the health and fitness programs that are so prevalent today. Another fun tidbit about this book… Mrs. Bagwell told us that her aunt lived right down the street from Charles Atlas in New York!

Other favorite read aloud biographies that we read:
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino
When I was Young in the Mountains  - autobiography by Cynthia Rylant
The Art Lesson - autobiography by Tomie dePaola

Now Recommending!

We have a new bulletin board in the library which features a guest recommender every couple of weeks. The featured guest will recommend a favorite book and write a sentence about why they like the book for the whole school to see. Our first official recommendation comes from Mrs. Leddy! She recommends Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr because she "likes the strength and spirit of Sadako." I agree that this is an excellent book which tells the story of a Japanese girl's fight against leukemia that resulted from radiation exposure to the Hiroshima atomic bomb. A great read for students in grades 3-5.

Welcome Back!

This year, library students at Myron J. Francis will be recommending books to their friends via book talks, My Destiny online catalog, during class, and via our "Now Recommending" bulletin board. Here is a "Welcome Back" bulletin board to get everyone excited about reading through their favorite characters. Making an appearance are the Fly Guy, Clementine, Judy Moody and her brother, Stink, Mo Willem's pigeon, Babymouse, David from No David, Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the very hungry caterpillar, Lily and her plastic purse, the dog from Molly Moon, Frog and Toad, and the Spiderwick Chronicle children.

Closeups of Welcome Back bulletin board

I Spy on VoiceThread

Students in a K-2 class read I Spy books and then created their own version of I Spy using toy objects and VoiceThread. They arranged their toys, wrote their script, and we recorded each student. Notice their self-portraits that display as they are saying their I Spy sentences.

State Animotos

Fourth graders created Animoto slideshows using information we gathered together from a state book series, Worldbook Online, and Factmonster. Most students created slides with their partners using facts gathered together but a few groups went above and beyond and used other sources to gather more information. View an example of a Florida Animoto below:

5th Grade Animal Slideshows

Fifth graders did research on animals and created slideshow presentations using Google Presentation. They gathered information from the Nature's Children book series, Worldbook Online, and searched for images through Creative Commons image search. Below is a slideshow 2 students created on toads.

Mother Goose in Kindergarten

Kindergarteners are finishing up a unit on nursery rhymes. We read different versions of classic nursery rhymes from books. Students then worked in pairs to read, memorize, and perform a rhyme at our Kindergarten Nursery Rhyme Recital. All students gave a great performance! To wrap it up, we will be watching Ray Harryhausen's Mother Goose video as well as a few nursery rhyme adaptations by Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street.

World Cultural Diversity Day

Today is World Cultural Diversity Day! First graders have been exploring cultural diversity for several weeks doing a project titled, "We Come From Everywhere" co-taught by Mrs. Gillis, our ELL teacher, and Mrs. MacDonald. Students researched their ancestry, found their countries' flags, and wrote about things they do differently in their culture to share with classmates. The flags show all of the countries represented in Mrs. MacDonald's first grade class.

Animal Research Slideshows Complete!

First graders have finished their animal research paper slide shows. They did a spectacular job gathering their information in pairs, creating illustrated paper slides, and recording their facts. Listen for their bibliographic citation at the end! View all of the slideshows on the student projects page.

Mock Caldecott

Second graders are taking part in a mock Caldecott award. We are reading the 2009 Caldecott medal winners, honor books, and one wild card that hasn't won an award. Medals are covered up so students don't know who the real winner is. Based on criteria that real Caldecott judges use, students must evaluate and vote on their favorite. After our class votes, I will reveal the actual Caldecott winner to see how students' votes compare. Books we are reading: How I Learned Geography, The House in the Night, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, and Tough Boris.

The Amazon in Google Street View

Mrs. Gallagher's students are exploring the seven continents through books, stories, video, and Google Maps Street View. Each week, we read a story, nonfiction book excerpt or video clip from one of the seven continents and then explore that area at the street level with Google Maps. So far we have visited the White House in North America, underground caves in Japan, a South African township, and this week we will go to the Amazon.

MyQuest Book Club

Third grade students are learning how to use the MyQuest book club. Students can organize books in our library catalog into the shelves, "Want to Read", "Have Read", and "Now Reading". They can also recommend books from our library to friends within the MyQuest book club system.

1st Grade Animal Research

First graders are embarking on our first research project in library class. We will be using the Blastoff Readers Level 1 series on animals to find our information. Students will work in pairs to find information about their animal, illustrate each piece of information, and present it with a video paper slide show. Stay tuned for video posts of their finished projects!

Destiny Quest Catalog

Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 have learned how to use the Destiny Quest online catalog to find books in our library. The catalog has an electronic record of all books, videos, and reference materials in the Myron J. Francis library. By typing in titles, authors, and key words, students can locate materials in our library and filter their results by genre, reading level, award status and much more!

Favortie Valentine Story Pick

My favorite read-aloud Valentine story this year is Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. Read the book or listen to it being read by Hector Elizondo on Storyline Online.

Teacher Super Hero Comics

Students in Mrs. Gallagher's class are writing teacher super hero comics. For inspiration, we read some of Louis Sachar's Wayside School stories, Ricky Ricotta and the Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey, and my favorite, Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute. Lunch Lady, written by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, is   goofy graphic novel series starring a lunch lady who uses high-tech kitchen gadgets to investigate and capture vilains in and around the school. Gadgets include spork-phone, milk cam, and taco-vision night goggles.

Listening to Owl Sounds

We read Owl Moon in kindergarten and then learned some basic facts about owls. Students watched a video of a baby Great Horned Owl up close and listened to their calling sounds. Listen below to hear what a Great Horned Owl sounds like.
Great Horned Owl calls

My Life in Dog Years - Highly Recommend!

I read My Life in Dog Years and was so moved by it that I wanted to get a dog even though I am petrified of them.  An autobiography by writer Gary Paulsen, each chapter talks about his life and times with a different dog. Cookie, in chapter, one saved his life by pulling him out of the ice. Josh, his border collie was more like a friend than a dog. The book is a gem and inspired me to give a book talk on it to 4th and 5th graders. To my delight, several students checked it out of the library!