Nonfiction Text Features Continued

This week we continued looking at different nonfiction text features. Each day, Monday through Thursday, we talked about a different feature, found it in some nonfiction books, then made a page for our text features books. We looked at the glossary, table of contents, index, and charts and graphs.

Then, on Friday we put all our knowledge to use in a fun assessment. We looked up an animal we already knew a lot about (pigs - so the kids wouldn't have to hold too much new knowlege in their heads and could focus on the task at hand) on Pebblego.com. After we read about pigs to refresh our memories, each student had to create a nonfiction paragraph about pigs that included some of our text features. I asked each student to include: a heading, a picture with at least 4 labels, a caption for the picture, 3-5 sentences about pigs, 2 or more bold words, and a glossary. This assessment really showed me who understood what each of the text features meant. 

Nonfiction Text Features

This week we started to look at the different text features that make nonfiction books special. Over the next 2 weeks we will be looking at one text feature each day and learning the importance of it. Everyone started out making the cover for their books:

On Monday we learned about headings. We read some nonfiction books and looked for examples of headings in the text. Then, we added this page to our text feature book:

On Tuesday, we talked about the importance of labels in nonfiction text. We read some books and looked for different examples. Then we added the next page to our book:

On Wednesday, we looked at captions in nonfiction text. We talked about how they are different than labels, and looked for examples in our daily reading.

On Thursday, we talked about a feature we are pretty familiar with: maps! We looked for examples in our nonfiction books, then added a page to our text feature book:

We ended the week by talking about bold words in the text. We found some examples in our daily reading and added this page to our book:

Next week we are going to continue looking at different features of nonfiction text to finish up our books then we are going to start learning how we can use all these important text features to help us research and find information.



More on Nonfiction Texts

On Tuesday, we discussed making predictions in nonfiction text. The students created the first half of a t-chart, working in pairs, and wrote down some of their predictions based off of the pictures in a nonfiction text. On Wednesday, they worked together to confirm their predictions. We talked about how to read the text to see if your prediction was right. Students finished off their t-chart by writing the facts they learned next to each of their predictions. Everyone was surprised to see that some of their predictions were spot on, and some of them were great ideas but still were not exactly what the page was telling them about.

On Thursday, we talked about what happens in your brain when you learn something new. We read a nonfiction book about giraffes and we made a list of all the things our brain told us when we heard something that was new and interesting:

Everyone got REALLY into this activity! When they heard new information eveyone was calling out "wow! amazing! gross! oh my gosh!" etc to show what their brain was thinking.

To finish off the week we talked about how to use sticky notes to document your new learning. We discussed the importance of this and everyone realized that it would be much easier to remember the things you learn if you use a sticky note to mark it than to have to go back and read the whole book again to find the information. Students worked in pairs again to read a nonfiction text and each group used sticky notes to document their new learning. At the end of the morning everyone got a chance to share one interesting fact they learned by using their sticky notes.

Next week we are going to be taking a close look at the different text features found in nonfiction books.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Making Predictions in Nonfiction Text

This week we are continuing our unit on nonfiction. Today we talked about the benefits of a picture walk when reading a nonfiction text. Everyone already knew that when you take a picture walk in a fiction book you are predicting what you think will happen in the story. Today we learned that when you take a picture walk in a nonfiction book you are predicting what you think you will learn about. We talked about how this can help you as a reader to gain meaning from the text when you start to read.

As a class, we looked through a nonfiction book about elephants and wrote down our predictions for each picture. It was neat to see the different ideas each student had. We talked about how as long as you make an educated guess, there is not just one right answer.

Next, students were paired up and had to make predictions about a different nonfiction book together. They did an awesome job working in pairs and discussing what they thought they would learn about!

Tomorrow we are going to go back and read the text to try to confirm our predictions!

Easter Egg Fun

We finished off our week with a little Easter egg fun. Yesterday we started this project, and today we finished it up. Each student was asked to use cut pieces of paper to design their own unique egg.

Then, they were asked to be creative and think of what kind of creature might hatch from that egg. Oh my goodness the creativity was flowing!! I wish I could share all of these with you, they are just that awesome. After students got their creative juices flowing by illustrating their creature, they were asked to write a few sentences describing it and telling some things about it. Here is one great example:

Remember, there is no school tomorrow! Hope everyone enjoys their long weekend. :)

Nonfiction Unit

This week we are starting a unit on nonfiction and research.  To get things started we created a circle map as a class containing the different things we knew about nonfiction texts. After we had exhausted all our knowledge, we read a nonfiction book called From Egg to Chicken. I told the class to pay close attention to any nonfiction text features they might notice as I read. After reading, we used a red marker to add some of our knew thinking about nonfiction texts. As you can see, our book gave us a lot of new information. We plan to read another nonfiction book tomorrow and hopefully can add even more new learning to our circle map.

Fairy Tales: Cinderella

Today we finished off our fairy tale unit. I am so sad the week is over because I LOVE fairy tales and there are so many more good ones we did not have time to read!

Today was all about royalty in fairy tales! We started off the morning making our very own crowns and tiaras. We had a crowning ceremony and each student was presented with their crown to wear. We discussed waht it means to be royalty, and how you have to set a good example and be a good leader. We all agreed that as long as you were wearing your crown, today you would be referred to by your prince and princess name. We had a ball with this! Plus, it really promoted good behavior. Double win!

We read the story Cinderella, then looked at each of the elements to see if it qualified as a fairy tale. It did!

hahaha oh my gosh please ignore the fact that I spelled prince wrong! We were in a bit of a rush so everyone could get started working on our daily project. oops!

Next, everyone set to work writing their own original fairy tale starring themself as a prince or princess. Their work turned out so cute!
 

Fairy Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk

We continued our unit on fairy tales today by reading Jack and the Beanstalk. After reading, we looked at our chart to see if this story would qualify as a fairy tale. We had a great discussion of good vs bad characters once again. Some of my friends felt that Jack was a good character because he was trying to help his mom and make her happy. Others felt that he was a bad character because he was stealing things that didn't belong to him. In the end the class decided he was in fact a "bad guy"and that only the mom and the man selling beans were the "good guys". The reasoning was that those two characters did not trick anyone, nor were they mean or doing bad things. Everyone agreed that Jack was naughty, but not necessarily all bad, so they asked me to write that he was "kind of a bad guy".

To retell this story we focusing on the different story elements. Each student created a small beanstalk and wrote about the different elements on each of the leaves (It's hard to see since it's done in pencil, sorry!):

For writing today, we started by reading a mixed up version of this fairy tale. We read a Texas style fairy tale that I just love: Wynetta and the Cornsalk.  Everyone LOVED the "country voices" that were used in the story! We briefly looked over our chart and determined that this was also in fact a fairy tale, even though it was a bit mixed up. We made a connection to this story in the form of a class book. Each student drew themselves climbing the beanstalk and wrote about what they would be willing to climb the beanstalk to get.

Fairy Tales: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Today we read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. After reading we took a look at our fairy tail elements chart to see if this book fit our definition of a fairy tale. We had a great discussion about good vs bad characters in this story. Some of our friends thought that Goldilocks should be the good character since she was the main character, but many of them argued that she was actually very naughty, and therefore the bad character. After much debate, the class decided that Goldilocks was indeed the "bad guy" of the story, and the 3 bears were the "good guys".

Next, everyone made a little bear book to retell the story using the words first, next, then, and last. We can never get enough practice with this skill!

Fairy Tales: The Three Little Pigs

Today we continued our unit on fairy tales by reading The Three Little Pigs. Everyone loved this story because they could use the pig and wolf voices and help read aloud! After reading the book we looked at our chart to see if the story would qualify as a fairy tale based off of the characteristics:

Then we practiced retelling the story using beginning, middle, and end with this cute chain of pink pigs:

For writing today, we read a mixed up version of this fairy tale. We read The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark. After reading, we talked about how an author goes about making a mixed up fairy tale. Each student was then asked to brainstorm ideas for their very own mixed up version of this fairy tale. Goodness do we have some creative friends in this class!

Over the next week we are going to work on turning our ideas into our very own published versions of this fairy tale!

Fairy Tales: Little Red Riding Hood

This week we are learning about Fairy Tales! We started off the unit by discussing what makes a fairy tale special and what elements to look for in a story to determine if it is a fairy tale or not.

(sorry about the glare, I had this chart laminated)

Next, we read our first fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood! After reading we filled out this chart to see which of the fairy tale elements were in the story. We determined that Little Red Riding Hood is in fact a fairy tale because it contains each of the 7 elements.

After that each student was able to create their own finger puppet play to practice retelling the story to their friends and family. We used paper bags to create the scenery: one side for the forest, the other side for the grandmother's bedroom.

Finally, everyone created these cute little finger puppets. Some of my friends were disappointed that there was not a finger puppet for the hunter in the story, so using scrap paper they created their own!

These should have come home yesterday in each student's folder. Ask your child to retell and act out the story for you tonight!

Saint Patrick's Day

On Friday, we talked a little bit about Saint Patrick's Day in class since we will still be on spring break when the holiday rolls around. We started out by watching a short video from United Streaming on the history of the holiday. Then, we pulled up pebblego.com to do some research. We reviewed some of the facts we learned, then each student put together this cute little leprechaun craft and wrote three facts they learned about the holiday.

For writing, we talked about one of the symbols of the holiday: the shamrock (also known as a clover). We talked about how most of them have 3 leaves, but when you find one with four leaves it is lucky! We created these cute 4 leaf clovers and wrote about something that makes each one of us lucky.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe spring break! Enjoy the time at home and I'll see everyone in a week! :)

Open House - Texas!

A BIG thank you to everyone who made it out for open house on Thursday! Your kids worked incredibly hard to get everything ready for you, so I was happy to see so many of you take the time out of your day to let them show off their great work!

In case you were not able to make it, here's a peek at what you missed: