Nonfiction Author's Celebration

What an EXCITING week we had in Writer's workshop. After weeks of hard work planning, teaching, writing, and revising, our chapter books are finally ready for publishing! In first grade a published book is one that you have worked particularly hard on. You've fixed and fancied independently and maybe with the help of a friend. You've read and re-read your piece so that it makes sense to others. It is a piece that you are extra proud of because you've worked on it long term and because it is extra special.

The kids were so excited to share their chapter books to each other during our celebration. We set up a "museum" and had the children rotate through exhibits. Each child chose 1 or 2 stories from each exhibit to read through and enjoy. This one was very special folks!!

The process.....

Fixing
These chapter books were quite a while in the making. Working with one topic on a long term piece helped children build their writing stamina. They were writing for longer periods of time and filling pages!  Once the children finished their chapters it was on to editing. First they edited independently with the use of our editing check list looking for grammar, punctuation, and best spelling. Then they got some help from an editing partner who looked at their piece with fresh eyes. The children learned about editing on the go...fixing things quickly as they noticed mistakes.

Fancying
They LOVE this part! They finally got to work on their covers! They picked their colored paper, added a title, by the author, and an illustration. After they fancied up their cover and any other pictures it was time to bind the books in anticipation for the celebration!

Author Celebration Time!

And finally...time to celebrate their hard work with a little celebration that showcases their final product. They carefully read each other's pieces, poured over each other's pictures, and gave each other complements on a job well done!!

Animals:

Sports:

Games:

People and Places:

Hobbies and Activities:

The Reception!

Hope you enjoyed being a part of our Author's Celebration! They can't wait to share these books with you in the near future!!

Curious Creatures

Yikes! This post was meant to go out last week. I can't believe I kept you all hanging....when such an EXCITING event happened at our school!! Curious creatures came!! We learned all about some very interesting furry, scaly, and prickly friends. Some were little, while others were BIG! We got to touch them, see them move, and ask all sorts of interesting questions. Not only is Curious Creatures one of the most exciting visits we have, but it completely enhances our current science unit; Organisms!

Over the next few weeks we will be learning about organisms and habitats. We will be making our very own fresh water and woodland habitats to host some curious creatures of our own! The kids just love this hands on unit. We'll start by learning about plants and seeds and observing changes as seeds grow. It may not be spring yet...but it will feel like it in here when all of the tiny  green sprouts emerge!

Hope you enjoy some snapshots from our Curious Creature adventure...

Hopefully these pictures will spark some great conversations about what we learned! Ask your child which animals they liked seeing or feeling best and why? Ask them if there was anything they found especially interesting? I for one LOVED the little hedgehog! His name was Snowball and he curled himself right up into a ball. Once he was comfortable, we got to see his cute little pink nose pop out!

Until next week....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Read Across America Week

Wow! What a fun week celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday and Memorial's LOVE of reading! The kids had a blast learning about Dr. Seuss, listening to community readers, wearing their silly socks, and meeting The Cat in the Hat at lunch!

Here is a little peak at what went on this week during Read Across America

Kick off Assembly
Dr. Bilsborough kicked off the week with an assembly where we learned some interesting facts about Dr. Seuss, read the reader's oath, and sang some songs. We had a special guest up at the Mic! Great job Corinne!!

Community Reader
We were thrilled to have Dr. Crowell in as our community reader. Some of you may know him from Medfield vet. He also happens to be Mrs. Crowell's husband! He shared a great story with the class about a lost pet and the vet who helped him!

We even got to see some of the x-rays from Dr. Crowell's practice!

Crazy Sock Day
We couldn't forget about Fox in Socks! So in honor of that book we had Crazy Sock Day! So much fun for the kiddos. We decided we'd take a "sock selfie" to kick start our day :)

First Grader's Reading
Reading is an essential part of our day. We practice Reading to Self or  Reading to Someone out of our good fit book boxes daily. We choose choice books to read aloud or with a friend off our classroom shelves during choice time. We listen to stories at the listening center and during read aloud. We read books and have great book talks at the reading table. We use the IPAD and the computer to get on Raz Kids or read other stories. We read fiction and non fiction, We read chapter books and picture books. We READ! READ! READ! because we want to be better readers and because we love our books!!