Back in time

Another popular independent choice after literacy work this week has been to explore the props in our "old fashioned" dramatic play area.  With a little cardboard and paint we created a play area that looks much like the hearth in the Donald Hall's The Ox-Cart Man. The children can feel sheep's wool, shingles, a wooden bowl, bread loaf pans, a hand knit shawl and mittens - all items that were mentioned in the book!

Literacy Routines

       Each morning, after the children finish their two "have to's" they make choices according to the literacy choice chart.  Take a look at these two pictures of independent work with magnet letters.  In the first picture three kiddos are proudly displaying the alphabet and in the second two children have discovered the word "and" in both of their names!

Partner Reading!

Today was an important day in Readers Workshop.  We celebrated the progress we've made in "sounding like a teacher" when we read books using words and pictures.

200 years ago things were very different than they are today...

     Our current them of "Long Ago and Today" is sparking lots of great discussion.  We began thinking about how times have changed with the help of Virginia Lee Burton's classic, The Little House which depicts changes in transportation, communication, and life in the countryside through the perspective of a little house that remains the same as the world changes around her.  This led us to Donald Hall's The Ox-Cart Man which gave the children a closer view of how all the members of a family worked year round to make or grow almost all of what they needed.  Some members of the class thought they'd like to have lived the way the Ox-Cart Man's family did about 200 years ago while others thought, no- they liked things just the way they are now!  Despite the varying opinions, the whole class has enjoyed making candles, trying out some stitching samplers, playing with old fashioned props, and making butter.  Take a look!

Halloween, UNICEF, All-School Meeting and More...

As you know, our class presented at All-School Morning Meeting last Friday.  Together with our 5th grade buddies we put on a skit to show how easy and important it is to trick-or-treat for UNICEF.  We're hoping to break an Orchard School record this year with the funds that are collected.  Here are some pictures from the assembly, our Halloween party in the afternoon and math games with buddies in between.

Reader's Workshop- "Adding a Pinch of You"

Last week in Reader's Workshop I taught a lesson about how great readers often make a personal connection to a book- and they share that connection when they read the book to someone else. We talked about how sometimes, when you're reading, something in the book reminds you of something in your life. After the children had some time to look at a book on their own and place a sticky note on a page where they could "add a little pinch of you" (those were the words we used), they read their book to their partners and shared their personal connections. Here are pictures of two reading partners doing just that!  Can you tell that someone carved a pumpkin at home recently and someone's favorite color is orange like a tiger?