Stories from the desert

Here is a link to a story from Highlights Magazine called Desert Doves by Marianne Mitchell.  It is a rebus story that uses pictures for words.

This story has music and is read to you. Enjoy!

We will be reading another book about the desert this week.

Vote for your favorite Seuss book, then watch our physics video!

Vote here for your favorite Dr. Seuss book.

Diversity Rocks! update

Yesterday’s diversity book was Sukey and the Mermaid.  Jordan is reporting about her choice.  Jacob N. chose The Good Luck Cat.  It is written by a Native American author.  We think that The Good Luck Cat could have really happened.  We also think that Sukey and the Mermaid is make-believe.  We have a slide show showing our Diversity Rocks! challenge poster and a few other happenings around the classroom.

Jacob N. reports: I chose The Good Luck Cat.  It was sad because of the cat’s tail getting hurt. And then the cat ran away. That is my favorite part in the book.  The name is The Good Luck Cat.

Jordan reports: Sukey and the Mermaid was good.  I liked it.  I liked the part when Sukey met the mermaid.

It’s Groundhog Day, Wonderful Ones!

We had our first Native American book choice in our Diversity Rocks! Challenge, The Mud Pony by Caron Lee Cohan.  This book was chosen by MacKenzie.  I think she picked it because she has horses and really likes them.

We also graphed our prediction about the groundhog’s shadow on the smartboard.  We visited several fun blogs today, had comments from readers from many places, and wrote back to several.  Have a look at Gail Gibbons’ informational text on Groundhog Day.

MacKenzie reports:  The Mud Pony was an interesting book.  I really really enjoyed it.  It was a good book.  When the boy was little his parents left him.  He started to notice it and went to the river and grabbed some mud and started to make the mud pony.  The mud pony came to life and he helped the boy.  The boy became a chief and the mud pony went back to Mother Nature.

Hi, Wonderful Ones!

Charli reports:  I picked The Other Side. I thought that The Other Side would be good and it was good!  A part of it was that the black girl made friends with a white . You should read this book.

Jacqueline Woodson has a very nice web site.  I hope you’ll visit it.  Our students very quickly placed the setting as in the time of young Martin Luther King, Jr.  We used an inference clue on the last page… we really thought that the fence that was going to be knocked down was the separation of blacks and whites.  The kids were glad to be able to say that MLK, Jr. helped to “knock this old fence down”.

We also read Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney.  This caused us to drum during reading, drum during math, well, you get the idea.  That was alright with me.  In fact, I started it!  Do you like musical books?  Tell us which ones are your favorites!  Here’s another cool percussion book from our Lookybook friends!

It’s a Wonderful Wednesday!

Jacob D. reports:  We read Shortcut. The reason I picked Shortcut is because we didn’t read it yet and because I like it.  I knew that they wouldn’t get killed by the train!  I get stuck by briars all the time.

Jacob chose Shortcut, but today I chose Bigmama’s.  Both autobiographical books are by Donald Crews, one of my favorite African American authors.  You just have to read Bigmama’s before Shortcut.  It details the setting in which Shortcut takes place.  I love the details of Bigmama’s yard.  It brings back memories of my grandfather’s old home place in Alto, La.  We had barnyard animals to explore, but there was the worm bed, the pond, the summer house, the barn, the pasture, and so much else to occupy our Sunday afternoons.  Wow, this book conjures up so many good memories of that place!    Thanks for the trip Donald Crews!

my grandfather’s farm in Alto, Louisiana

Icy Tuesday to my Wonderful Ones!

I hope you got to sleep in this morning!  Enjoy your day off, but don’t forget to read some books!  Wasn’t that silent e video fun yesterday?  “Silent e is a ninja, doesn’t make a peep”… according to this Electric Company video.  Watch and learn!

 It’s Jacob D.’s turn to choose a book and report in our blog, so stay tuned! 

Happy Chinese New Year!

It’s Chinese New Year!  We looked at sparklers, a Chinese dragon tissue box, little wooden dolls, Chinese paper cut-outs, incense, and chop sticks.  We found out that most of us were born in the year of the horse or the year of the snake.  Heather was the only one that was born in the year of the dragon.

For our Diversity Rocks! Challenge, We wanted to read some books by Asian American authors, so we read Crow Boy by Taro Yashima. We also read Lion Dancer by Kate Waters and Madeline Slovenz-Low to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Zan reports:  I picked Crow Boy because I thought it would be a good book. I liked the paintings too. There was some Chinese writing in it.

Hello Wonderful Ones!

Look what I found!  Our class accepts the challenge and is ready to accomplish the mission!  We will be sure to keep track in the classroom with a list on the wall, posting on the blog, and by adding to our Shelfari list.  We will enjoy classifying our books as much as we will continue to enjoy a diverse collection of literature.