New unit in writing and a suggested App In writing we are now working on persuasive/opinion writing. We have made a list of "Issues" that matter to students in our class. Some hot topics (that they came up with...not me!) are broken pencils, poaching, pollution, admission to the Georgia Aquarium costing too much, wanting a roller coaster or carousel on the playground, and other classes talking too loud in the hall outside our room. We are learning that when you write your opinion it has to be supported by reasons. This week some students have written me letters trying to persuade me to get a pie in my face (along with lots of other Decatur teachers) on Friday night at the Tour deCatur EXPO (at Ebster gym at 6pm). They had some pretty convincing arguments, so I might just do it :) Last week we tasted green eggs in honor of Dr. Seuss and the students wrote about whether or not they liked them, supported by reasons...only one person was not a fan! I can't recall if I have shared this in the past, so forgive me if you've heard it before... If you would like to help encourage writing at home and are interested in the App we used to publish books on the iPads (which you saw at our Celebration of Learning), it's called Book Creator. It is very easy for kids to navigate...except that it autocorrects, so phonetic spelling can be a little tricky. If you have an iPad at home, this would be a great App to add to encourage creative writing with your child. I highly recommend it! U.S. SYMBOL PROJECTS I tried something new this year to teach the students about U.S. symbols...I let them teach each other, and the results were amazing! Each child chose a symbol (U.S. flag, Statue of Liberty, bald eagle, White House, Washington Monument, or Lincoln Memorial) and could either choose to work independently or with a partner. Then they used a website (a simple one!) to research their symbols and take notes to record the facts they learned. Each student/group got to choose how to present their information. Some made costumes, others made posters, one group wrote a song, one built the Washington Monument, and someone else made a video! We have practiced being a good audience as we've listened to these awesome presentations over the last week. Ask your child to tell you more if you haven't heard about this already.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWelcome to my classroom website. Archives
April 2016
Categories |