Kindergarten Kangaroo Puppet Shows

As part of our continents unit, kindergarteners explored Australia by reading fiction and nonfiction books about kangaroos and other Australian animals. They created a paper bag puppet in art and gathered facts about kangaroos in library. As a final presentation, they performed a puppet show with kangaroo facts and a song. See below for a sample. Click on the links below to see puppet shows by classroom:
Miss Martin's kangaroo puppet shows
Mrs. Ream's kangaroo puppet shows
Miss Wayland's kangaroo puppet shows

Who Would Win?

Jerry Pallotta, children's book author, is coming to our school during our Reading Week in April. In preparation for his visit, I introduced students in K-5 to some of his books. By far, the most popular set were the Who Would Win books. In this series, Jerry chooses two animals that are similarly matched, gives facts about each animal, and creates a fight scene at the end to tell who would win if the two animals met. Students in grades K-5 loved this format. As we went through different facts, students were thinking about how different body parts would give an advantage to that animal in a fight. Younger students as well as old were thinking critically - comparing, synthesizing, and drawing conclusions. At the end of the fight scenarios, students who guessed correctly cheered wildly. I love them all but my top three read-alouds were the Lion vs. Tiger, Whale vs. Giant Squid, and Scorpion vs. Tarantula. The facts in these three were straightforward, easy to compare and the fight scenarios were filled with suspense and dramatic endings. If you are ever in need of a nonfiction book for one school, one book initiatives, the Who Would Win books are surely winners. They also cover the Informational Text Common Core Standards for grades K-5. We can't wait for Jerry's visit!

Research Roundup!

What's happening in March in our library? Research! As part of our school-wide continents theme, each grade level is using books and online sources to research "around the world" subjects.

Kindergarten

We explored one animal from each continent using a fiction and nonfiction book as well as a short video clip to see how the animals look and act. Currently, we are on Australia and learned from a Discovery Education video that kangaroos can't move backwards.

Grade 1

After reading Throw Your Tooth From the Roof: Tooth Traditions from around the World, students will fill in a a Tooth Passport with information about tooth traditions from different continents.

Grade 2

We read several folktales from around the world: The Empty Pot, The Hatseller and the Monkeys, and my favorite American folktale, Wiley and the Hairy Man. Second graders will soon be performing reader's theater of The Calabash Kids and also do research on Tanzania where the story originates.

Grade 3

Third graders are using our library books and biography.com to gather information about famous people in North America for their puppet shows.

Grade 4

Fourth graders listened to the book My Librarian is a Camel and will use the online database CultureGrams to research "Life as a Kid" in different countries and compare it with life as a kid in the United States.

Grade 5

Fifth graders are exploring the book What the World Eats and online database CultureGrams to find out about food from other countries and compare it with the food they eat.