Week of Jan. 13 - Jan. 17, 2020

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY

Preschool students love puppets and moving around, so this week's story was tons of fun! We read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback, based on the old American folk poem.  Its a cumulative tale with repeated rhymes and phrases, and even has a moral (Never swallow a horse).  Students enjoyed putting all the animals in her mouth when we reached that part of the story.  

KINDERGARTNERS COMPARE FICTION AND NONFICTION

The Scaredy Squirrel picture book series by Melanie Watt is hugely popular. What’s not to like about a squirrel who is afraid of just about everything–most of all germs, tarantulas and killer bees!  So when Scaredy Squirrel has a disastrous day and falls out of his tree (after being all worked up about seeing a killer bee), he makes a brilliant discovery. Instead of falling down into a bush of poison ivy (another fear!), he realizes he is a flying squirrel and he simply glides to the next tree.  How exciting!

After reading Scaredy Squirrel I read a nonfiction book about flying squirrels.  We learned all kinds of facts about flying squirrels, and saw some cool features like a glossary, diagram and a map.  We compared the photos in each book–the picture book had cartoonish drawings and the nonfiction book had photographs.  Also, we learned that  flying squirrels were nocturnal (even though Scaredy Squirrel would go to bed every night at 8:00 pm).

More information about Scaredy Squirrel series can be found at http://www.scaredysquirrel.com.

RUBIK'S CUBE MOSAICS

Classes have been plugging away at our Rubik's Cube heart mosaic, and we finished our first one! Mrs. Ferullo's class really turned on the jets Thursday and completed it.  Not to be outdone by the third graders, 4th grade whipped up a flower mosaic in just one day!

CELEBRATING MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

I wanted to make sure that students understood why we have Monday off from school (NOT just a day to sleep in!). In 4th grade classes we read I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer from the Ordinary People Change the World series. Cartoon photos and engaging text talk about Martin from his childhood to his great moments organizing peaceful protests and marches.  The book  stresses how important it was to Martin that protests be nonviolent, and how his parents told him that "it's better to have more love in your life than more hate." We brainstormed character traits to describe this hero, and they came up with some fantastic and fitting ones such as determined, perseverant, peaceful, bold, and smart.

So many great books have been written to honor and celebrate one of America's most amazing and influential figures.  Here are two more:

March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World was written by Martin's sister, Christine King Farris.  This book focused on The March on Washington where about a quarter of a million people gathered from all over the country to Washington, D.C. in 1963, because they wanted a change.  It was here that Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the nation's most well known addresses.   The pride that Christine felt for Martin as a person and as a civil rights leader was apparent, and it was interesting to hear about his life from a family member's perspective.

The True Book series is one of my favorite nonfiction series to read aloud.  It has well researched, engaging text, as well as many photographs and sidebars of additional interesting information.  Martin Luther King Jr. spans Martin's entire life, from his childhood in Atlanta, his college years (he started at age 15!), through his involvement in so many civil rights protests, sit-ins, marches, and boycotts.  It described how Mahatma Gandhi's peaceful methods of resistance were a major influence on how King thought change should be achieved.  The book also touches upon Dr. King's assassination, and how tens of thousands of mourners gathered outside his father's church in Atlanta to pay their respects.