He likes to hide his characters in his books.
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Todd Parr
I like Todd Parr becuse he uses randum colrs. And I em bad at thinkging of colrs. And I think that he is a good dood. So by.
David Shannon
David mas vre god bs. He mas david bus.
David makes very good books. He makes David books.
David makes very good books. He makes David books.
David Shannon
DAVID SHANNON PS CIS IN TIMOT. I LC HS BS.
David Shannon puts kids in timeout. I like his books.
Leo Lionni
HE LIX TO MAK HES KRTR AZ A MOS. HE IS FUNNE.
He likes to make his characters as a mouse. He is funny.
Mo Willems
Mo willems mc pejn book. Mo willems mc the pen nes a baf.
Mo Willems makes pigeon books. Mo Willems makes The Pigeon Needs a Bath.
Eric Carle
Eric Carle yowziz tis you papr and thick black marekrs.
Eric Carle uses tissue paper and thick black markers.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Upcoming blog entries
In the next few days there will be 18 entries into this blog. Each of these entries were written and created by a Junior Explorer. The pictures taken, words used, and even the typing was done 100% by the children. Check this blog entry that goes into detail here.
The only job I had was the organizer. I also made small notes at the bottom of each blog to "translate" some of the sentences.
Each child worked very hard and thoughtfully about their authors. One of the exciting moments after they finalize everything is to push the "publish" button. Now anyone in the whole entire world can see their work!
The only job I had was the organizer. I also made small notes at the bottom of each blog to "translate" some of the sentences.
Each child worked very hard and thoughtfully about their authors. One of the exciting moments after they finalize everything is to push the "publish" button. Now anyone in the whole entire world can see their work!
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Author studies
I am sure most of you are aware of the authors we have been studying. For weeks and weeks we have been focusing on 6 authors and learning their styles. We've been discussing questions like, Why did this author choose these words? What do they like to write about? Why do you think they made this book? What do you learn from the illustrations?
The children were somewhat aware that I communicate what projects they do with families, but I really spent time talking about the blog. I showed them entries from the start of the school year and showcased the words I chose to type and the pictures I chose to add. I let them know that I wanted them to get a chance to do some blog entries.
The children gained a lot of knowledge, so it is time to share! I sat down with each student and asked them which author they would like to write about. From there, they wrote down their first draft. They then looked back and edited what they needed to by adding spaces, changing letters, and writing more.
The children were somewhat aware that I communicate what projects they do with families, but I really spent time talking about the blog. I showed them entries from the start of the school year and showcased the words I chose to type and the pictures I chose to add. I let them know that I wanted them to get a chance to do some blog entries.
The children gained a lot of knowledge, so it is time to share! I sat down with each student and asked them which author they would like to write about. From there, they wrote down their first draft. They then looked back and edited what they needed to by adding spaces, changing letters, and writing more.
 |
| Using David Shannon books as a guide, this student formed their ideas on their author. |
Once the children were satisfied with their work (I did not edit anything for them) I explained the typing process. The children needed to know how to space, where the punctuation was, and how to capitalize. For those children working on the idea of proper capitalization, we talked about it.
Here we started typing. The next step is to decide which photographs or illustrations will support all the students' writing.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Force and Motion Reflection
In February I introduced the words "force" and "motion" to the children. I asked them what they thought those words meant, what they were related to, and phrases about them. I wrote down their initial ideas with the explanation that we would revisit those ideas after our unit. It is all explained here.
Yes, some of those ideas true and some are false. But, learning becomes more meaningful when children can come to an understanding on their own instead of me lecturing about it.
We experimented, read books, and gained new understandings of those words as time went on. When we completed everything we went back to the old notes like I said we would at the start. It was time to weed out the wrong ideas.
One by one we took a look at each post-it note. As a class we read it, discussed it, and gave our opinions. As a child raised their hand and gave their opinion, they also gave an argument. Why did they think it was false? What was their proof? We came to a conclusion as a class, making sure we were all on board with the decision. This led to a few debates.
Here are some of the thoughts that were discussed. Italicized sentences are the children's words:
In the beginning of this process, I had to spend time talking about the difference between Star Wars and thinking of force as a scientist. This was one of those "force is magic" ideas that the children quickly realized at the end was false. Force is not moving. Force is a push or a pull. A force can happen without you touching (like wind or gravity), but not all the time.
At first there was a debate. Getting older and older means you are moving. You grow and grow and moving is motion. I tried to break it down like a definition. Motion means you get older and older? If another teacher came into the classroom and asked the kids what motion meant, and they said it means getting older and older, would that be right? No!
This post-it we argued it could be both. The class was split. It's true because you need a strong muscle to pull something heavy. It's false because you can push or pull something light. We got to a point and decided that the way this was worded could be false or true. Force happens when you try to move something heavy. But force is not always trying to move something heavy.
The children got really good at arguing their points by these last two ideas. This is another example of knowing what it the post-it was "trying to say," but not being 100% correct. These ideas could be argued. The water is wiggling the fishing line. It's pushing it. That's a force. I went back to the idea of a definition. If the principal came into the classroom and asked what a force was and the students gave the as an answer, would they be right? Would the principal think I was doing a good job teaching? Force is a push or a pull. Not a wiggling fishing line.
We argued (respectfully) over this one for a while. When you play and do stuff with your family, you move. You can try to sit still, but you're still moving. You blink your eyes. Your heart pumps. You can try to be really really still, but you can't. So we established that existing is moving. Moving is motion. Having a family means you will be moving somehow. But if we were a dictionary, what would we say about motion? Motion is movement. Is having fun and a family the definition of motion? I get what they're trying to say, but motion is moving, and that's not right.
This was reflecting. To be able to argue a point as to why something is false or true shows great understanding. To go back and remember how confident we were in these first thoughts shows the children how and what they have learned. The children laughed at thinking about how the first two post-its were so wrong. It was unanimous- false! Misconception! Wrong! Make a big X! But a few weeks ago the class thought it was right.
My role in all of this was to help guide discussion. I did not correct anyone's words. I was there to support thinking as well, because as some of the children verbalized- it was hard to put their thinking into words. It was a child's idea to use a check, and X, or both. Everyone agreed. I was the facilitator and posed questions to the group, but I did not make the final decisions. They certainly are scientists!
Yes, some of those ideas true and some are false. But, learning becomes more meaningful when children can come to an understanding on their own instead of me lecturing about it.
We experimented, read books, and gained new understandings of those words as time went on. When we completed everything we went back to the old notes like I said we would at the start. It was time to weed out the wrong ideas.
One by one we took a look at each post-it note. As a class we read it, discussed it, and gave our opinions. As a child raised their hand and gave their opinion, they also gave an argument. Why did they think it was false? What was their proof? We came to a conclusion as a class, making sure we were all on board with the decision. This led to a few debates.
Here are some of the thoughts that were discussed. Italicized sentences are the children's words:
In the beginning of this process, I had to spend time talking about the difference between Star Wars and thinking of force as a scientist. This was one of those "force is magic" ideas that the children quickly realized at the end was false. Force is not moving. Force is a push or a pull. A force can happen without you touching (like wind or gravity), but not all the time.
At first there was a debate. Getting older and older means you are moving. You grow and grow and moving is motion. I tried to break it down like a definition. Motion means you get older and older? If another teacher came into the classroom and asked the kids what motion meant, and they said it means getting older and older, would that be right? No!
This post-it we argued it could be both. The class was split. It's true because you need a strong muscle to pull something heavy. It's false because you can push or pull something light. We got to a point and decided that the way this was worded could be false or true. Force happens when you try to move something heavy. But force is not always trying to move something heavy.
The children got really good at arguing their points by these last two ideas. This is another example of knowing what it the post-it was "trying to say," but not being 100% correct. These ideas could be argued. The water is wiggling the fishing line. It's pushing it. That's a force. I went back to the idea of a definition. If the principal came into the classroom and asked what a force was and the students gave the as an answer, would they be right? Would the principal think I was doing a good job teaching? Force is a push or a pull. Not a wiggling fishing line.
We argued (respectfully) over this one for a while. When you play and do stuff with your family, you move. You can try to sit still, but you're still moving. You blink your eyes. Your heart pumps. You can try to be really really still, but you can't. So we established that existing is moving. Moving is motion. Having a family means you will be moving somehow. But if we were a dictionary, what would we say about motion? Motion is movement. Is having fun and a family the definition of motion? I get what they're trying to say, but motion is moving, and that's not right.
This was reflecting. To be able to argue a point as to why something is false or true shows great understanding. To go back and remember how confident we were in these first thoughts shows the children how and what they have learned. The children laughed at thinking about how the first two post-its were so wrong. It was unanimous- false! Misconception! Wrong! Make a big X! But a few weeks ago the class thought it was right.
My role in all of this was to help guide discussion. I did not correct anyone's words. I was there to support thinking as well, because as some of the children verbalized- it was hard to put their thinking into words. It was a child's idea to use a check, and X, or both. Everyone agreed. I was the facilitator and posed questions to the group, but I did not make the final decisions. They certainly are scientists!
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