Rosanne Parry Visits 5th Grade. Learn more her books and her visit
If you're a Mo Willems and Yo-Yo Ma fan like me, check out The Yo Yo Mo Show!
I hope you enjoy lots of books this summer!
But please don't eat them!
For all grades:
Connecting activity: Make a list of 10 words that start with your favorite letter of the alphabet. Or make your own page in an unexpected alphabet book like this one.
For all grades:
Connecting activity: Write or draw about what are you proud of learning this year.
Primary & 1st graders:
Connecting activity: Write your own short story for any letter of the alphabet.
Connecting activities:
Write a postcard or letter to a friend or family member.
Draw a picture of what you see blooming around your house.
Plant something in your home or yard.
Do something kind for someone else
Connecting activities:
Read or listen to stories about Cuba on Epic, such as "Dream Drum Girl," "Marina, the Beautiful Cockroach," or "Let's Explore Cuba!"
Think about a time you've had to come up with a creative solution to a problem.
Listen to or watch "Rosie Revere, Engineer" on Epic. How are Rosie Revere and her aunt like the boy and his father in "All the Way to Havana"?
Connecting activities:
Read "A Family is a family is a family" on Epic. What is special about your family?
Listen to this recording of "Drawn Together." What are ways that you connect with a grandparent or other relative?
We've all been enjoying some wonderful connections to nature, but we're also missing our time together in the library. I had to get more books to share with you, so I recorded this read-aloud while I was at the library. I hope you enjoy it.
If the illustrations in this picture book inspire you to make your own egg painting, or if you'd like to share a connection to this story, you can share your response in our BY Google Album.
Enjoy this story of friendship, community-building, and caring for the earth.
Would you like to make your own watercolor painting of an ocean scene? If the illustrations in this picture book inspire you, you can share your art in our BY Google Album.
Listen to this story. Then make a list of some of your favorite wild words.
Go on a word hunt and draw what you find. Post your word list in our BY Google Album so that others can go on a word hunt with your list!
Some of Ms. Lora's favorite wild words that you might find right now are: rhododendron, iris, damsel fly, lazuli bunting, poppy, camas, and cascade.
And here's a link to more online reading resources!
If you like, draw a picture of your hideout or an island you'd like to visit and share it with Ms. Lora on our Google Album.
Wild Ideas introduces some fascinating concepts about the creative ways animals solve problems. In each of these podcasts, author Elin Kelsey delves a bit deeper into one idea from the book and explores the science behind it:
1. EVEN KILLER WHALES NEED ADVICE FROM THEIR MOMS
2. THE SPOTTED HYENA’S RECIPE FOR TEAMWORK
3. ORANGUTANS ENGINEER PLACES TO THINK
Share your responses to the new BY Google Album!
Whales creating bubble nets are mentioned in the book, and in the back of the book is a link to the above video. Check it out!
4. OCTOPUSES MAKE-BELIEVE THEIR WAY OUT OF A JAM
5. SEA OTTERS COULD TEACH SHOP CLASS
6. PIGEONS PROCRASTINATE TOO!
7. DUNG BEETLES STEER BY THE MILKY WAY
Optional Connecting Activities:
Make a drawing or diorama of an animal that inspires you.
Look in Epic or National Geographic Kids for books about the animals mentioned in this book.
Read more about Spain on Epic! Take a virtual trip to Spain and see some of Gaudí's buildings using Google Maps. Here's a video that shows you how to do this.
Cultures all over the world have stories to explain why things are the way they are. Could you imagine your own story to explain something in the natural world such as how the sun came to be in the sky or why an animal looks the way it does?
Read "All Around the World: Zimbabwe" on Epic. Explore other countries in the "All Around the World" series. If you were going to retell a story and set it in a different place, where would you set it? Why? How would the story change?
Then learn more about Russia on Epic! There you will find both non-fiction books about Russia as well as other Russian folk tales.
What have you planted lately? Could you create your own tale about something in growing in the garden? Share in words, a video, or a drawing!
Who is someone who helps you to be brave?
Can you make them a thank you card?
Could you retell a fairytale in 3-5 sentences or 3-5 pictures?
Read more fairytales and poems on Epic!
What is a gift someone in your family has given you? What's something you've done for someone else?
Connecting activity: What sounds of spring are you hearing? Could you write a poem or song, or make a drawing, of a sign of spring? Listen to this recording Ms. Lora made. Can you tell what birds are making this song? If you like, upload your response to our Google Album.
Connecting activity: Make a watercolor painting of something you see outside your window. Or write or draw about a time some bit of outside came inside your house!
Use this video to help you find books about animals and insects at National Geographic Kids. Search for whatever interests you!
Bear misses his hat. What do you miss right now? Plus, meet Nanners, the grumpy goat, who uses his imagination to help him when he's grumpy.
A powerful story of imagination
What does your hat look like? Draw a picture and upload it to our Google Album.
Hint: It connects to one of these stories!
If you enjoyed this story, feel free to view other read alouds like this one on https://www.storylineonline.net/
April 17, 2020
For Primary (and anyone else who'd like to listen!)
Share your learning with me by posting a picture or video in our Google Album.
After listening to this story, go to Epic to enjoy folk tales from around the world!
April 16, 2020 Kindergarten (and anyone else who would like to listen!)
Enjoy 2 alphabet books.
Suggested activities:
Go on an alphabet hunt in your home or in your neighborhood. Can you find something that starts with each letter of the alphabet? Or pick a letter and see how many things you can find that start with that letter?
Pick letter (or as many as you like) and make an illustration for that letter. If you do three letters a week between now and the end of the school year, you'll have your own alphabet book!
Have you ever thought about how many people it takes to help us get all the things we need to make a simple cookie?
This book reminds us that we are all connected.
Suggested activities:
Cook something with your family and talk about where all the supplies come from.
Make a thank you card for someone who has helped you.
Can you think of something you're grateful for every letter of the alphabet?
Monday, April 13, 2020
In the class meetings I have visited, I have met so many cats (and dogs, and stuffies, and even turtles!). I thought it would be fun to share some favorite cat stories. Feathers for Lunch and Six Dinner Sid were previously posted for PreK but could be enjoyed by all ages. First graders have been enjoying books by Patricia Polacco, and For the Love of Autumn, is a book she wrote about a very special cat that I think students from kindergarten on up could enjoy.
First graders (and any other listeners), if you would like to share a response with Ms. Lora, here is a FlipGrid prompt with some questions I have for you! Click on the FlipGrid link again in a day or two and I'll do my best to respond to your video! And meet Ms. Lora's cat in the video below the read-alouds!
A love story brought about by a cat.
Suitable for Kindergarten and up
It's National Poetry Month. How about a poem and a rhyming story about cats?
Suitable for PreK and up
A mischevious cat who looks a lot like Ms. Lora's cat Spooky
Suitable for PreK and up