~Fabulous Word Choice~

We are working on the writing process by making "All About Me" books.  I found a fun, unique book to read to the kids before revising word choices called The Boy Who Cried Fabulous by Leslea Newman.

The story follows a boy who overuses the word "fabulous" because he is so amazed by the world around him.  Everything is so fabulous that he must comment on the fabulous-ness of it!  His attention to the beauty of the world causes him to dilly-dally, so his parents ban him from using the word again.  The boy must be creative in his word choice after this, which leaves the reader with many good alternative adjectives, mostly synonyms for "fabulous".

The book led to conversations about overused words and a brainstorm of better words to use.  When I sent the kids out to revise their word choice, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  So many changed to using words that were fun to read, and I have seen an evolution in their Daily 5 writing since!

Litter in the Neighborhood

While the kids were at PE, I taped garbage to the roads of our neighborhood.  When they came back, it was snack time, and I went about my business as usual.  One her shouted out in disbelief, causing everyone to freeze.  She then shrieked, "There is garbage in our neighborhood!"  All the kids then looked at me for my reaction.  I acted as if I was shocked with the news, and a little aggravated by the idea that our neighborhood looked so dirty.  I told them to drop what they were doing and come to the rug, because this was a serious issue we had to resolve.  The kids came up with many reasons why littering was wrong, discussed how seeing the litter made them feel, and thought of ways to both clean up litter, and prevent it from happening again in the future.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today was Dr. Seuss' birthday, which called for an all day celebration!  The kids entered the room this morning with the task to color a cat in the hat striped hat, which was then transformed into a hat for them to wear by recess time.  Middle schoolers came in and read Horton Hears a Who and Oh! The Places You'll Go.  We then watched the Dr. Seuss Brain Pop, and after recess, I read The Lorax.  I am so proud of how many Learning Targets I was able to tie into all of the Lorax activities.  We talked about narration, cause and effect, needs vs. wants, and ecosystems.  Any free time was spent with the kids working on a Lorax activity book.  I sent the new environmentalists home with sunflower seeds, and they were all so excited to plant them!