In honor of Earth Day, students wrote stories about something on our planet they would save. We started the lesson by reading The Lorax together. We talked about the Onceler who came along and destroyed the Truffula trees and how that lead to a series of different impacts to the animals and the landscape of where they lived. After the story was over, the students made connections to understand it better. Students chose text-self and text-world connections to relate things they were familiar with. They connected the Truffala trees to our own trees and how they are cut down to build factories, stores, houses, etc. The Truffala tree factory in the story created a lot of pollution and made it hard for the "Bar-ba-loots" to breathe. Students related this to the amount of pollution that is produced in our world every day by giant factories, trucks, cars, etc. The Lorax stood up for the Truffala trees and now it was the students turn to stand up for something on their planet. They each chose something they wanted to save and had to explain why they would save it and how. Some examples students wrote about were rain forests, animals, birds, oceans, and trees.
During Lent, students throughout the school were each given a purple cross to write something they are giving up, or working on this Lenten season. To make sure students understood why we do the things we do during Lent and what it stands for, we made a Lent foldable where we were able to have a group discussion sharing things we knew about Lent. Our foldable consisted of 4 sections: What is Lent?, Important days during Lent, What is different?, and Lenten symbols. This was a great way to start off the season of Lent and really helped the students get an idea of what goes on and why.
Students showed off their creative sides while making snowflake Haiku's. They were given some background on what Haiku poems are, where they originated, and what they consisted of. Then, students were instructed to make a snowflake and write a Haiku about snowflakes. The students really seem to enjoy writing poems. This activity also kicked off their 'Poem Books' which you will see a little later down the line :)
We have been working a lot with sequencing lately; So, students made sequence snowmen. Students first had a to fill out a graphic organizer using the transition words first, then, next, and last. After they were finished they used a snowman outline to write their steps in the shape of the snowman's body. Then, they dressed them up and decorated their backgrounds!
I am a little late uploading these... but here is out last writing assignment! The students wrote an opinion essay on what they like to eat instead of turkey on Thanksgiving. Opinion essays were introduced and we discussed how to write them. This was a struggle for them at first. They had just got finished writing a persuasive essay and kept trying to persuade in their Thanksgiving essays. Students had to focus on giving their opinion rather than persuading someone to think the same. They started off by creating a bubble map graphic organizer to gather all their thoughts. They first picked a food they love, then had to come up with reasons why they loved it. Then, they picked three of their best reasons and wrote an essay with them. These were also in a 5-paragraph format. They just loooove 5-paragraph essays!
Their other October writing assignment was a Werewolf story. All the students had to go off of was a picture of a werewolf. The rest was up to them! We also took a different approach to this writing. This time, we did peer editing. The students were paired and were put in charge of editing each other's papers. Each student received a check list to go through while reading their partner's story. At the bottom of the checklist students were to write one thing they enjoyed about their story, one question they might have had, and one suggestion. I was a little apprehensive about doing peer editing so soon, but i was actually surprised with the results. I think the students enjoyed reading their peers' stories and being editors for a change. If i learned anything from this writing assignment, it was that you have some extremely creative kids!
For Halloween, students did two writing assignments. The big one was our first 5 paragraph essay. The students had to design a haunted house and then write a persuasive essay trying to get someone to buy it from them. We started by making a rough design of our haunted houses. Then, students were given a graphic organizer and were asked to brainstorm reasons why someone would want to buy their house. Next, students narrowed it down to three main reasons and began writing their essays. I was very impressed with how well the students' essays turned out. We went over attention grabbers, topic sentences, concluding paragraphs, and transition words. The students did a very nice job. I can also see them carrying these skills over into their writing responses in-class. I have definitely noticed an improvement in their overall writing skills!
The month of October was 3rd grade's job to decorate the cabinet in the hallway. Miss Korte and I decided to decorate it with the students' writing. Nativity was doing a school wide writing prompt over why we love Nativity Catholic School. The students worked very hard brainstorming ideas and putting their ideas into a three paragraph essay. We then hung them on the walls and inside the cabinet for the school to see! Mrs. Bianchini was very impressed. She even asked us to make her copies!
For Grandparent's Day, students wrote a diamante poem. They had to come up with nouns and adjectives that described their grandparents and themselves. We discussed what nouns and adjectives were, then we came up with different examples of nouns and adjectives. After brainstorming ideas, we created a mock diamante poem together on the board. Then, students were asked to make one about their grandparents. After our poems were finished, the students made their own cats to stick their poems to because all of our grandparents are the "cat's meow". They were then hung in the hallway for students to share with their grandparents when they visited.
A couple of weeks ago, the students and I talked briefly about the events that happened on September 11th. We talked about the many firefighters, police officers, and soldiers that risked their lives that day to save people. We discussed what a 'hero' was. What does a hero do? What makes someone a hero? What are some traits a hero possesses?
Then, students were given a bubble map to jot down some ideas. We then related what a hero was to the many people called to act on September 11th. The students then picked either firefighters, police officers, or soldiers to write a thank you letter to. We shared how not only did these people risk their lives on September 11th, but they do every day they go to work. The letters turned out extremely well, and we used them to form a giant flag display in the hallway for everyone to see.
Then, students were given a bubble map to jot down some ideas. We then related what a hero was to the many people called to act on September 11th. The students then picked either firefighters, police officers, or soldiers to write a thank you letter to. We shared how not only did these people risk their lives on September 11th, but they do every day they go to work. The letters turned out extremely well, and we used them to form a giant flag display in the hallway for everyone to see.