Southwest Media

Summer Reading (and other Fun Activities)

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:39:44 -0400

Summer Reading (and other Fun Activities):

I’m a bit late in saying this, but Summer is finally here!

I know you’ve been riding your bikes, enjoying a local pool, and sleeping late. Don’t forget about reading this summer. You may get tired of hearing it, but it is super important that you spend some time each day reading a book, magazine, newspaper, or other reading materials. Southwest has some suggestions on our Summer Reading Page. It’s a special Rocket Ship web Launch page to get your on your way to some good books!

We’ll see you back at Southwest in August for our Open House and for your next Learning Adventure!

Kindergarteners Eat Eric Carle’s...

Mon, 16 May 2011 18:46:40 -0400

Kindergarteners Eat Eric Carle’s “Pancakes”

I’m working my way back to blogging about our spring library adventures. During March Kindergarten students read Eric Carle books. They acted out House for Hermit Crab, watched a video of Eric Carle’s painting and collage process, made Seahorse tissue paper characters, wrote their own “Mister Seahorse” sequel, and made pancakes!

We followed the recipe in Mr. Carle’s “Pancakes! Pancakes!” book and used Bisquick instead of flour. Most of the students even tried the pancakes with strawberry jam! Yum!

Second Graders Research Sports Students are working pairs and...

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:35:46 -0400

Second Graders Research Sports

Students are working pairs and trios to follow the Super 3 Research Process in a simple way. They read for information about a sport of their choice and have criteria for sharing information on a poster. This is the “Plan” step. The step shown in the poster is the “Do” step when they use what they have learned to draw a picture. (Next week we will be writing facts on the posters). When they are finished, students will “Review” their work. They will talk about what went well and what they could have changed in either the process or the product to do a better job.

Book Fair Success! Thanks to everyone for supporting the book...

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:44:16 -0400

Book Fair Success!

Thanks to everyone for supporting the book fair last week! I’m pleased to say that we exceeded our funding goals for the spring fair. We will have $600 to purchase the nominees for the 2012 North Carolina Childrens Book Award and $250 to buy new headphones for the computer lab. The extra will go into the library account for general supplies.

The photos above are from our Potato Character Contest. I’m thrilled with how creative their designs were! I am going to send them home before they turn from a literature-art project into a science project. A few potatoes are getting a bit sprouty! Thanks to our ‘secret’ judges, Mrs. Eckard and Ms Williamson, who made the hard choice in deciding which potatoes won coupons to the book fair. I look forward to seeing what your creative minds come up with for the contest next year!

Book Fair is Coming! Join the Reading Carnival from March...

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:59:47 -0500

Book Fair is Coming! Join the Reading Carnival from March 7th-11th in the library. We are selling books to raise money to buy new library books and to purchase headphones for the computer lab.

You may shop from 8-3:30 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. On Thursday students have a half day and the fair will be open until noon. Join us for Science Night on Tuesday from 6-7. Students will be displaying science projects, the Science Center is providing hands-on centers from their Inquiry Festival, and we will be serving pizza!

Lemonade Stand

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:47:00 -0500

Lemonade Stand:

Fifth Graders need to practice using spreadsheets before going to middle school. To generate data we can use in Excel, students played the game Lemonade Stand. Each student has 15 game days to make decisions related to economics. Their partner records data in the Excel spreadsheet, and then the roles switch. Playing the game will certainly be the highlight of the unit, but the ultimate goal is to build knowledge related to formatting and using a spreadsheet. We had some game pros in the 5th grade, so you might want to test your business sense and give Lemonade Stand a try. Currently the record for a full game is a profit of $55. Try it at home and see how you do!

PowerPoint Narration Second graders have been studying weather...

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:37:00 -0500

PowerPoint Narration

Second graders have been studying weather and landforms in the context of learning about another country. They have used the Super 3 steps to do their research and are at the final point of their multimedia presentation, which is to add the narration. In the past, this has been a tedious recording process done with individual groups. This year we have acquired a few Digital Voice Recorders. Each group took turns recording the narration for their slide on a single track. It is an easy step to add these sound files to their project. We can’t wait to have ‘movie day’ and watch all of the 2nd grade projects!

Jack and the Beanstalk Kindergarten students have been reading...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:02:00 -0500

Jack and the Beanstalk

Kindergarten students have been reading fairy tales during January. This week we are finishing our unit by creating puppets students can take home. Each student got 6 character puppets from the story to color and assemble. We talked about how real people usually don’t have hair the same color as their shirt and pants. Developmentally, some students still like using all the same color on a picture, but some students decided to try different colors. Doing a craft as a whole class is always very exciting in Kindergarten! I hope students enjoy retelling the adventure of Jack and the Giant at home with their families.

PebbleGo Second Graders are learning about different countries...

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:13:38 -0500

PebbleGo

Second Graders are learning about different countries around the world. The goal is to connect knowledge they are learning in social studies about geography concepts. In the computer lab, we took the time to use PebbleGo, an online database. PebbleGo has many features and topics. The teachers love it because it includes articles about hundreds of animals, weather, landforms, seasons, and space. The students love it because it reads aloud, is colorful, has videos and sound clips. You can access PebbleGo at home, but you do need the password. Students might remember it, but if they don’t, you can ask their teacher or me.

In the next two weeks, second graders will be creating powerpoints about their assigned country. We couldn’t do it without great books and websites like PebbleGo!

Potential Caldecott Winners All Second Graders and a few...

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:16:00 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Potential Caldecott Winners

All Second Graders and a few First Graders learned about the Caldecott Medal. This award is given each year to one book for expert illustrations in childrens’ literature. We looked at 12 books that have wonderful illustrations in different styles. Students worked in pairs to write a short booktalk about their book to explain why it should win the Caldecott Medal. You can see the rest of our videos here.

In doing this project, students practiced the Super 3 Research Model: Plan, Do and Review. They planned their project, wrote a script, video recorded it, and will watch their videos in the computer lab.

The Caldecott Medal Winner will be announced on Monday January 10th from ALA’s Midwinter meeting in San Diego. We’re excited to find out if any of our students predicted the winner!

Kindergarten Fairy Tales During January, we are learning...

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:20:00 -0500

First Little Pig

Second Little Pig

Third Little...Elephant

Kindergarten Fairy Tales

During January, we are learning several fairy tales. Classrooms take a week or two for this topic, so I take the 3-4 classes I have with students to read additional stories. I read different stories to different classes depending on student interests. This week I’ve read The Princess and the Pea and Three Little Pigs. In one class we tried to act out the story. As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time! There’s the pig who knew the lines of the Big Bad Wolf, the Pirate Pig, and the Elephant. I think the Elephant must have had a very strong house to hide from the Big Bad Wolf! This class is very creative and they like to explore. Sometimes I can’t keep up and it’s fabulous to watch their fun learning their world!

We’re going to continue our adventures in Fairy Tales in the next few weeks with the Frog Prince and Jack and the Beanstalk. Students will be bringing home puppets at the end of the month so that you can hear Jack and the Beanstalk too!

New Year=New Opportunities

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:47:52 -0500

Here we are! Headed into January!

I’m really excited by all of the units and projects that are planned at Southwest this month. Kindergarten is exploring some of our favorite cultural stories: Fairy Tales. In library we’ll be reading the Princess and the Pea, Frog Prince, and Jack and the Beanstalk. It’s important for students to know fairy tales because they are part of our cultural literacy. Just think about Shrek and how much we understand about the movie because we know many fairy tales!

First Grade is reading Nominees from the North Carolina Children’s Book Award list. Students will be voting in March for their favorite book!

Second Grade goes Around the World this month with research projects about different countries. Each group of three students will read a book about one country, answer questions with a research guide, and then create a PowerPoint to share what they learn.

Third Grade is going to examine some Mighty Moments from our past. Exploring historical events such as the Moon Landing, the polio vaccine, and Rosa Parks on the bus allows them to see how we have changed and improved as a country. Student groups will be creating a Trading Card to share what they learned.

Fourth Grade is exploring the Tall Tale genre. They will know the characteristics of the genre and these stories well by the end of the month. As well as reading Tall Tales, students will be creating a Tall Tale character of their own. They will illustrate their character and then write an exaggerated tale about the character. We will post these for a Gallery Walk in the library at the end of the month.

Fifth Grade has a Wax Museum in April. It seems like a long time from now, but January is when students start thinking seriously about which person they want to portray at the event. During January in library we’ll focus on skills and prep work that will help get this process underway.

Won’t this be an exciting month! I look forward to every opportunity to work with your students, classes and groups at Southwest. Bring on 2011—we’re ready!

Third Grade is completing their Fairy Tale Raps this week!...

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:25:00 -0500

Third Grade is completing their Fairy Tale Raps this week! You can find some of them online at the Southwest Media website (3rd grade page) and individual classroom web pages.

With this project students have practiced the research process: identifying a task, taking steps to complete the task with available resources, and reviewing the product. They have gained a deeper understanding of the fairy tale genre by retelling tales, practice communication skills by working in teams, written a fairy tale retell in rhyme or with rhythm, and honed musical skills. So much in just a few short December weeks!

Third Grade Fairy Tale Planning Third Grade students are...

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:29:00 -0500

Third Grade Fairy Tale Planning

Third Grade students are writing Fairy Tale Raps in December. In these pictures students are drawing their storyboard to retell their assigned story. This will help them write the plot of the story in sequence. We had great fun today working on this project and students were really productive getting their storyboards started!

Animals in Winter: Writing the Plan Kindergarten students...

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:25:00 -0500

Animals in Winter: Writing the Plan

Kindergarten students are beginning a 3-week research unit to learn about Animals in Winter. We are using our new Super 3 Research Guide for Early Learners to organize our research process. In this lesson, students learned the Super 3 song about Plan, Do, Review, which are the three research steps we use at Southwest in grades K-3.

Good research begins with a good question. We drew pictures to show “What do animals do in winter?” We will be using resources next week to find answers to our question.

First Grade Shows What they Learned First Graders have been...

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 08:48:04 -0500

First Grade Shows What they Learned

First Graders have been reading information books about careers and community helpers all month. For each topic, we have made a chart to organize our information based on what we want to know:

-What tasks are done in the job?

-What tools are needed?

-What clothing is worn?

After each class organized what we learned about each job, students created a poster to show what they know.

PreK Visits the Library Each week I visit our two PreK...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 08:38:00 -0500

PreK Visits the Library

Each week I visit our two PreK classes for story time. We have a good time reading a book that goes along with the learning theme in the classroom. Students enjoy challenging me to remember their names because I’ve let them know that I want to know their names, but do still have some trouble remembering. This is something I’ve been working extra hard at this year. This week students in Mrs. Lail’s class were learning about books and the library so the class had a ‘field trip’ to visit me for storytime. We encouraged the students to choose books for their classroom from the shelves. They had a good time and were really excited to sit down and read right away.

Choosing “Just Right Books” Thanks to these 2nd...

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:23:58 -0500

Choosing “Just Right Books”

Thanks to these 2nd graders in Texas for these great reminders about choosing books that are good to read! You can choose great books too by remembering IPICK:

I: I choose, not you!

P: Purpose, why am I reading?

I: Interest, do I like it?

C: Comprehend, do I understand?

K: Know, do I know most of the words?

The Little Scarecrow Boy Kindergarteners are reading a variety...

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:40:00 -0500

The Little Scarecrow Boy

Kindergarteners are reading a variety of fiction and nonfiction with a Scarecrow theme this month. After reading The Little Scarecrow Boy we took turns retelling the story. These six brave Scarecrows are making their scariest faces to scare away the crows!

Two Bobbies Second graders are learning about the books on the...

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:46:00 -0500

Two Bobbies

Second graders are learning about the books on the Nominee list for the North Carolina Childrens’ Book Award. We will read as many of the 14 books as we can before voting in March. Students may checkout any of these books to read with their families. Students are the only ones who vote on the one winner—an amazing opportunity. The authors and illustrator of Two Bobbies won in 2010. It was my privilege to meet and share dinner and a conversation with these wonderful ladies. Students now have autographed copies to check out from the library! I can’t wait to see which book joins Two Bobbies as the 2011 winner.