Animals in a School??

A few days ago we read, My School is a Zoo, by Stu Smith. This is always one of my favorites to start the year off. The kids listen to this zany story about zoo animals invading a school while I can teach a very important reading skill at the same time....Mental Images! A mental image is what the reader pictures in their mind as they listen to or read the words the author wrote. Why is this important? It is one of the first strategies we teach our young readers in order to build comprehension....which is understanding what they are reading. It is like a movie playing in their head. If they lose track of the meaning, the movie pauses and they need to go back and reread. After the book, the kids choose one of their favorite phrases to picture in their minds. They illustrate it and write what they were imagining. A special favorite from the book is...."The principal was gnawing on a bone!" The pictures the kids draw for this one are priceless.

We also read Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes, our featured author! We used this book as a learning experience from Lily. She is not very patient in class, gets her special purple purse taken away, and draws a mean picture of her teacher. I sure hope I taught  them to treat me well! Just kidding....we discussed how we can always make tomorrow better. Lily's quote after her terrible day was, “Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better." The kids brainstormed ways to make each day better and we made a window of stars. 

 

We have also been spending a lot of time thinking about our hopes for first grade. The kids have spent several days talking about their dreams for the future and what we need to do in first grade to help them achieve them. We have a special presentation coming soon for you!!

See you soon:)