Thursday, November 14, 2013

Talking Turkey - Story Structure


This week we started talking about all things Thanksgiving!!  Pilgrims, Native Americans, and of course TURKEYS!!  My students love read alouds.  I start my Daily 5 time with a read aloud each day.  Today we read The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli. 
 In this book the Abigail Archer has a PERFECT family.  And of course the other little girls’ family IS NOT PERFECT.  At first she is sad because her family isn’t perfect but by the end she realized Thanksgiving is about having a loving family not what you eat or wear.

After we read the book the students completed this graphic organizer to practice recalling the Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution from the text.  They did such a good job.
 



If you are interested I have this graphic organizer and more like it for sale HERE!!


This week also using TONS of ideas from CaraCarroll’s thanksgiving pack: Let’s Give Thanks!! We are using these centers during literacy and math.  You can check it out HERE!!












Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Lonley Scarecrow - FREEBIE


Last week we finished the week by learning more about Fall and Scarecrows.  I read The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston.

This book is about a little scarecrow that is so lonely.  No one wants to be his friend because he looks so scary.  Until winter comes and he is covered in SNOW, then he is NO longer scary.  He isn’t a scarecrow…. he is a snowman.  Now the animals aren’t afraid of him and they want to be his friend.

After reading the story, we worked on recalling the scarecrows feeling and how those feelings changed throughout the story.  Common Core Standards:  RL 1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the sentences.  And RL 1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, settings, or events.
 


 You can snag this graphic organizer FREE!!


During word work this week we practice finding and writing words from the word wall.  You can find this activity here!


 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Scarecrows and Leaves - Recalling Details - FREEBIE


Last week we continued working on Recalling Details.  I started off by reading this cute little book about a Scarecrow that just isn’t scary.  In this book his friends help him scare away the crows. 


 
 We talked about the Main Idea of the story then we talked about some of the details from the story.  I decided to just record one detail and then the students had to recall the others. 
 

This graphic organizer is from my recalling details pack.  You can check it out HERE
 
 
 
 
Later in the week I read this book:

 

This is one of my favorites.  My students loved this book!!  I decided to make this graphic organizer to go with the book.  The students had to recall three details from the story.