Well, friends…
We have had oodles of Pirate-y fun! The children are absolutely wonderful and I am thrilled to be working with such a great group! ๐
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We made pirate glyphs this week and they turned out great! This idea came from Mrs. Jump’s Class. We also read this book:
The students really liked talking about all of the good things that words were used for. Since it was the first week, I thought I’d scaffold the learning by scribing the students’ thoughts. Surprisingly enough, many of them wanted to write their own words and use inventive spelling. I was pretty pleased with our first book!
Along these same lines…I decided to create a short three day lesson on a book I’ve read to my students almost every year. Yelly Kelly is a book about a boy named Kelly who yells about everything…no matter how big or how small. It’s a modern take on the boy who cried wolf. It’s a great story for little ones because it really helps students to see that everything can not always be about them. In my class, I read the book interactively with ‘Tumblebooks’. Now, if you don’t know about Tumblebooks, lots of libraries have them for free. You just have to search for ‘free tumble books’ and you’ll find them. Most of the books have an interactive comprehension game and quiz. Paying subscribers can even get formal lesson plans to go with the books.
My lesson for Yelly Kelly looked something like this:
Day 1: Read the story for fun. Read it again and stop to ask comprehension questions.
For example: Where in the text does it say why Kelly yelled all the time?
Why does Father tell the family that they are not to answer Kelly when he yells? What clues in the text helped you to think of this answer?
Create an anchor chart with ‘What the author says’ and ‘I think’. Have the students tell you what they were thinking at certain parts of the story. Remind them that we learn lessons by experiencing conflict or watching a character go through it in a story.
Day 2: Read the story again. Discuss the word ‘moral’. Explain to the children that they can learn lessons from books they read. Ask them to discuss what ways they learn lessons themselves and tie that to what they are learning from Kelly’s situation. Have the students tell you what they think the lesson of the story is and why.
Day 3: Create a mindfulness jar with students. All you’ll need is a bit of glitter, a mason jar with a cover and some water. Discuss with the students that the glitter is like their thoughts when they are stressed, angry or upset. Allow them to make connections to times when they feel that way. Shake the jar and allow them to see the glitter moving around. Point out that it is harder to see clearly through the glitter when our thoughts are swirling in that way. Remind them that this is normal and happens even to adults! Rest the jar on the table and ask the students to discuss what is happening. Point out that when they are calm for a bit, their thoughts will settle and they will see more clearly. Breathing deeply can help to bring you to a place of calm. (Karen Young, 2017) Work on breathing in and out with students.
If you’re feeling super ambitious, you can have each learner make their own to take home and discuss with a parent. Baby Food Jars work work well. I would suggest a bit of glue to seal it. ๐
I have the lessons from Yelly Kelly along with a few others in this pack that I posted on TPT! ๐ You can find it HERE.
Curriculum Night: I got with one of the girls on my team to compile some materials for the curriculum night packet for the parents. This is what we included…
1. End of the Year Awards list–Now, you’d think that wouldn’t be important at the first part of the year, but at our school, awards are a huge deal. Some of them are cumulative from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade. We set high goals for the kids and they really respond! ๐
2.) Volunteer Information Sheet – This was just to get an idea of what parents were interested in doing with the children. It also gave us the name of folks willing to volunteer so that we could send their names to the office for pre-approval.
3.) Why 20 minutes of reading a day is important. – Here’s a great video that you can share with your parents! It really does the ‘math’ on why kids need to be reading 20 minutes per day!
4.) How to help your student with reading- Many parents want to know how to help their students with reading at home. The most natural thing to say when student struggles to read something is…sound it out.
Here are two free resources that you can download from TPT to use with students who are in primary or intermediate! ๐ Enjoy! ๐
