About carriegelson

Elementary teacher passionate about all things literacy.

Owls all around

Posted on October 26, 2012 by carriegelson

Busy little artists in Division 5 have continued to work hard to fill our room with gorgeous owl art to inspire us all to be wise and thoughtful!

This project was inspired by The Snowy Owl Art Project on the amazing art blog Deep Space Sparkle. We benefited from the wonderful photos and step by step instructions! This blog is fantastic for art ideas! We used different background colours to capture the feeling of fall nights and amazing late afternoon skies that happen as we move from fall to winter.

Step by step, went like this:

1. We painted our background either orange or yellow and then added white paint spatter and drops to represent a blustery sky

2. We added the body of the owl (a circle for the head, a big filled in U for the body, wings and ears) We then let the paint dry overnight.

3. Our next art class was all about adding the finishing touches. Basically transforming some white blobs on a background into fantastically personable owls! First students added a branch for the owl to stand on, big eyes and a beak. Then they switched to fine brushes and outlined all of their original shapes in black paint.

4. With black paint, students added legs, pupils, branch details and feathers for the owls (using little “u” strokes)

Finished projects are wonderful! You can’t help but feel joyful with these owls looking at you.

Our bulletin boards are now full of owls perched on branches watching us!

These owls join our other owls in the classroom (follow this link) . As we grow wiser each day, we appreciate the wisdom that surrounds us!

Monday October 22nd, 2012

Posted on October 22, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Join in with Jen and Kellee’s meme and share what you are reading from picture books to young adult reads. Always an opportunity to learn about new titles!

I had huge amounts of picture book love this week! A large part of that was having tickets to go see Jon Klassen at Vancouver Kid’s Books. Wow! Such an interesting and engaging presentation. Jon is charming and then some.

And . . . it gets better. I was able to take my class to the Vancouver Writer’s Festival to see Sheree Fitch and Kyo Maclear. Their event was called High and Low and All Around. All of these author and author/illustrators impressed me to no end. (Sheree Fitch can recite her poems at super sonic speed. She is spellbinding!) I was inspired to continue sharing the love of literature, the beauty of the written word, the magic of the clever illustration, and the images of joy via the wonder of picture books. One of my favourite moments was when Kyo Maclear talked about how she loves reading and one of my students whispered intently to me, “She’s just like you!” Phew! Six weeks in and I’ve conveyed my love of books. So many weeks still ahead to pass this love on to each child in my room! 🙂

So because this post is all about picture book gushing, I thought I would try to place these books loosely into categories to bring some kind of organization to this post . . . that way you can just locate a section you are interested in!

First up: Art and more:

This is Not my Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen Love this book. Doesn’t hurt that I got to hear it first read and explained by Jon Klassen himself all the while holding my signed copy in my bag! But I would have loved it anyway. I love the dark pages, the horizontal format, the mood conveyed by the eyes and all of the inferring this book begs you to do. The crab in this book is a fantastic supporting character. (He gets a starring role at the top of this post!) I find Klassen quietly brilliant.

Virginia Wolf written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Kyo read this book to us in the presentation at the Writer’s Festival and when I returned to class, I read it aloud to the children again. They were completely delighted by the story and Arsenault’s stunning illustrations. As soon as it was quiet reading time, this book disappeared to be read again independently. A fantastic title about a dark mood, a hopeful sibling, the magic of imagination and the lightness when sadness lifts. This book can be read again and again and the reader will continue to discover new things.

I read this book last year to my Reading group and they adored it.

In the Wild is written by David Elliot and illustrated (gorgeous woodcuts) by Holly Meade Poems written by Elliot are lifted off the page by Meade’s striking and powerful woodcuts. My wish list now includes On the Farm a previous collaboration by these two.

A few books in the Rhyme and Repetition category:

A Gold Star for Zog written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Alex Sheffler This was our first BLG book of the year and we loved the language, the plot and the bright illustrations. Zog may not be the best at every task at Dragon School but he helps someone else find her way. For that, I think we can call him heroic.

Toot Toot Zoom written by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Matthew Cordell This is a likeable little story about the search for friends. Many adventures and lots of delightful traffic noise fill the pages as Pierre the fox travels to the other side of the mountain.

Books full of humour:

The Younger Brother’s Survival Guide by Lisa Kopelke Supposedly, this book was written by “Matt” Kopelke’s younger brother who entertains the reader by his step by step guide on how to terrorize and torment your older sister (who remains all the while older and more clever).

Please is a good word to say written by Barbara Joose and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas I’ve read some reviews of this book that claim it is a simple, too cutesy book about manners. I found it quite wonderful really. It is definitely a child’s voice that comes through loud and clear as when and how to use polite phrases and expressions are explained. It is hardly simple to understand the proper placement of please so that it sounds polite and gracious vs. whiny and annoying. I can see this book making kids really think about how best to use manners and that it would prompt many conversations.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas. I first heard about this book from my principal because her five year old daughter was raving about a hilarious book that her teacher had read to her and was insisting that they had to have this very book a.s.a.p. I am always intrigued by book passion so had kept this title in the “be on the lookout for” compartment of my brain. I found it this week at the public library and now see why this little kindergartener was so enthused about it. It is hilarious! Bright and colourful illustrations and a funny little plot. Oh beware the vacuum if you are a dust bunny! The bonus: it also lets the readers practice rhyming! What could be better? I want this book for my buddy reading bin! It is perfect for reading to our little kindergarten buddies.

And also this category: Nature

Mossy by Jan Brett. I have always loved Jan Brett. My children were fed Jan Brett books about as often as mashed carrots in their early years. Always her illustrations are exquisite. Most of the time her stories are good. Sometimes just okay. Sometimes great. This book falls into the great category. It examines a beautifully unique little creature and the human tendency to want to “have” that beauty at the expense of the happiness of the creature. In this case, Mossy is captured and placed in a museum until a young girl senses her unhappiness. Reminds me of the wonderful Melvin and the Boy by Lauren Castillo. In fact, I think I am going to read both books this week with my reading group and do some inspired writing.

That’s not a Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey. This book has many things in it that made it a quick favourite for me: an intergenerational relationship, a theme of nature and gardening and beautiful imaginative language and imagery. A perfect book to inspire looking at nature in creative ways and I can’t wait to share it with my students. It also heads into my school bag this week.

I am also smack dab in the middle of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and must finish it by Friday as it is requested and I can’t renew it at the library! Wish there was more time because I am really enjoying the story. Determined to squeeze in some late night or early morning reading sessions.

What are you reading? Please share!

Did you know that . . . ?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by carriegelson

This week when we looked at non-fiction text, I wanted my reading group to think about pieces of information that they deemed important as either new information or information that should be shared. We used a series of insect books from Capstone Press as these little books have gorgeous photographs and simple, meaningful information. I wanted the focus to be on the conversation, not on reading long sections of text.

Students worked in partners and took turns reading a page of information. I encouraged students to also talk about what they noticed or wondered about in the photographs. I was pleased to see students referring to the text as they had these conversations, often rereading for clarity.

The task was then to each choose two pieces of information to share and draw about on a recording sheet. Some partners focussed on the same facts, others chose very different things. All the while, they were chattering about what they were thinking about what they saw and read.

Students referred to a chart of sentence starts that we had brainstormed together to help organize their thinking:

I found out that . . .
I discovered . . .
I just learned . . .
Did you know that . . . ?

Having a “Did you know . . ?” phrase honoured those students who did not find out anything new when they read the text. Students also used this phrase because they liked the excitement it generated.

The children studied the photographs carefully and added details to their own pictures to convey things that they were noticing. We have been talking a lot about “reading the pictures” as much as “reading the words” on a page.

What I love about the picture below is the tiny label “close up padern”

What learning and experiences happened today? Students had the opportunity to:

explore a piece of non-fiction text
determine importance
distinguish between new information and facts already known
read aloud and listen to a peer read aloud
talk about information and photographs
share their learning in a picture and writing

A Gold Star for Zog

Posted on October 19, 2012 by carriegelson

Our BLG readers have started for the 2012/2013 year! Our first reader was Maria and she brought in the entertaining A Gold Star for Zog written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

This story is about a dragon named Zog who is determined to win a gold star at Dragon School for mastering the lessons that Madam Dragon teaches. Unfortunately, he is quite accident prone and he wins more bumps and bruises than stars for stellar achievement. Luckily for Zog, a young girl shows up after every injury and tends to him – bandaging, soothing and healing.

Like many Donaldson stories, this one is full of rhyme and repetition. We caught onto this very quickly. Many of my reading group members grew quite excited about this fact and tried to whisper to me subtly “It’s got repetition! The text rhymes!” (We had just had a lesson where we explored our rhyme and repetition bin in class.)

Students had quite a bit to say as Maria read and recounted all of Zog’s injuries.

“It’s worse luck. Then, good luck when she helps him.”

“Everytime, each page he always gets hurt.”

“Oh! Oh! I hope he will still be able to fly!”

This story takes place over time and so the reader must pay careful attention to how the illustrator shows the passing of years. Some students missed the text clues “In Year Two. . .” “A year went by and in Year Three. . .” but they saw differences in the pictures. Many of them commented that both dragon and girl were getting older and taller as we moved through the book.

Maria was a very patient reader and paused for all of the comments and questions, including one very sincere inquiry, “Did you make this book?” 🙂

When it is revealed that the girl is actually a princess, we were pretty excited!

“She’s actually a princess? I didn’t know!”

“She helps all of the dragons! She is a hero!”

“She doesn’t need that prince to rescue her! She’s smart!”

We were all quite excited about how this book ended. Yes, Zog got a gold star but our princess got a starring role in the life she wants to live. This is a fantastic message!

Into the bins we go . . .

Posted on October 18, 2012 by carriegelson

With this goal in mind – read often and from a wide variety of sources, we are spending time each week exploring different reading bins in the classroom. My reading group is keen to explore and share picture books. This week we explored our Rhyme and Repetition bin using this format: 1. Explore the bin 2. Spend time reading some self-selected titles 3. Talk about what we noticed 4. Write a reflection

I brought out this bin and students predicted that many of these titles would have rhyming parts and selections of text that repeated (the title of the bin made this prediction a pretty easy one :-)) I read a few pages of a few books to model exactly that. We identified how often ending words rhymed and that sentence structure or specific phrases repeat. Students then helped me spread the books out on the carpet and every child spent fifteen minutes reading a variety of titles from this set of books.

We then gathered back at the carpet and shared what we had noticed focusing on this question:

Our list definitely included the rhyming and the repeating but students started with the fun aspect of the stories pointing out that they were often silly, farfetched and funny. It was clear that the word play brought a lightness to the books. One student even commented that the authors would have to work very hard to make all the words work together.

I then asked students to take just five minutes and write their own reflections about the books they read from this bin. This student was a big fan of these titles! He writes: “I noticed that they (meaning the authors) were worked very hard, They are the best in the world. They are very funny.”

Today during independent reading, some students returned to this bin. It’s all in exposing students to new titles and genres to broaden their reading choices. Each week, I plan to introduce a different bin of books and follow a similar process. It’s a great opportunity to work on our reading stamina and increase our knowledge of book choices.

Graffiti . . . again?

Posted on October 16, 2012 by carriegelson

Our morning began with a surprise and it was not a happy one. I brought the students out to see what I saw when I walked to school this morning. A community mural has been further vandalized.

Seriously? More graffiti? This is beyond not okay. By 9:15 a.m. our class was standing outside on the sidewalk a block from our school looking at MORE graffiti on the beautiful mural at Out to Lunch Catering.

Last week we went to look at the graffiti and wrote about our feelings and sadness. (Read that post here) Imagine how upset we were to see more graffiti on the wall today. The mural is almost unrecognizable. Gracie expresses what many of us felt in her writing today:

Many kids were asking why someone would spray paint over art? Why wouldn’t they spray paint on a blank wall? Even though that would still be disrespectful . . . It was the graffiti on a mural that really hit us hard.

We came back to school and wrote. Kids were keen to express their feelings and outrage. The usual “how do you spell . . . ?” requests were less. Everyone wanted to get their thoughts down. Violet shared: “They used spray paint again. Don’t draw over it. Because it was beautiful the way it was. I don’t like it.”

Kala was really angry and her writing shows it. She wrote this completely independently: “I don’t like it. That hurt my feelings. Please don’t do it again. How will you think if we did that to you? You are dumb. Why did I say that? Because it was mean.”

I heard from Out to Lunch that beginning today, there will be an attempt to clean up the graffiti. A solvent will be used to strip the spray paint from the mural. But there are no guarantees that the mural won’t be smudged. We are crossing all of our little fingers that it works and that nothing is damaged.

Those same fingers attached to the hands we were wringing today at the disrespectful few who decided it was okay to deface a beautiful community mural. To the graffiti “painters” our message is this (quoting from another student’s writing): “You are so not cool.“

Monday October 15th, 2012

Posted on October 15, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Link up and share your week’s reading from picture books to young adult reads on Jen and Kellee’s meme. I always find my TBR piles grow and grow as I sift through all of the fabulous titles shared!

This week I was able to share some favourite picture books for the first time as read alouds and I also read many titles new to me.

I shared The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers with our primary SR (Social Responsibility) gathering this week (3 classes together). We often read books to the children that spark discussion about all kinds of topics that fall under the social/emotional umbrella. I chose this book because of its message about daring to be yourself and not always having to be the same as everyone else around you. It also reminds us that we do not need to be afraid of those “rule breakers” who aren’t worried about being unique and standing out. The students were very intrigued with the funny little Hueys and they loved learning that a sweater to us is a jumper to someone in another part of the world. Loved it so much that every time I said “the bright orange jumper” they joined in so that we were a little chorus! This book has BIG time LITTLE kid appeal.

I also read one of my favourite books to my class this week: Hunwick’s Egg by Mem Fox and illustrated by Pamela Lofts. One of my students showed me a treasure he had found – a stone shaped jut like an egg. “It’s really just a rock,” he told me in a whisper. “But maybe kind of magic because it seems like an egg.” Well . . . I hardly need an excuse to say “There’s a book for that!” But in this case . . . my , my, my . . . there sure is a book! Hunwick’s Egg is an absolute treasure about a little bandicoot named Hunwick who finds out that his special egg is actually just a stone but loves it deeply still. Although his egg never hatched, it provided him with companionship, faith and an important secret. Egg or stone, this was his friend. It was such a pleasure to share a favourite title with a new group of children. And then when we got to pass the stone around that had been shared with me. Well . . . sometimes magic happens during a day for just a few moments and this was one of those moments.

I also found a number of wonderful new to me picture books at the library this week:

The Potato People by Pamela Allen This book is about a Grandma and grandson who make creatures out of potatoes. As time passes, the potato creatures begin to wither and sprout. Grandma buries them in her garden and wow . . . Lots of learning about how potatoes are grown! I also love the bond between Grandma and grandson and that they sing the potato song: “One potato, Two potato, Three Potato, Four.” I recited this poem as a child and sang it twenty years ago when I was teaching children in Slovakia! A little nostalgic moment 🙂

Don’t Worry Douglas by David Melling A sweet little story about Douglas the loveable bear who learns that telling the truth is most important when asking for help to solve a problem.

You are a Lion and other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo I shared this book with my seven year old niece and she instantly got down on the floor and tried out all of the poses, giggling all the while. A very fun, interactive book that introduces yoga poses to young children.The page layout is ideal: a two page spread with instructions: “Sit with feet together. Hold on to toes. Legs flap! You are a . . . ” Flip the page and find out: “. . . Butterfly” Would be perfect for a rainy day story time when everyone needs some movement!

One for All – All for One written by Brigitte Weninger and illustrated by Eve Tharlet. The illustrations are delightful – very endearing little animals. A story about being courageous, identifying inner strength and relying on the strength of friendship.

Can Hens give Milk? by Joan Betty Stuchner and Joe Weissmann This book is a hilarious exploration of the question . . . Can hens give milk? It logically approaches how to have hens start giving milk. The only problem is the premise to begin with is completely without logic! It goes something like this:

I see cows giving milk. Cows graze on grass. If chickens were fed grass, they would produce milk! Let’s give our chickens grass to eat!

This story is about Tova and her family who live in the town of Chelm (a mythical village, populated, according to Jewish folklore by fools!) Cannot wait to share this with my class and see how they respond!

I also just finished Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. A wonderful suspenseful middle grade read: part mystery, part fantasy, part intrigue . . . And it seems this title will be the first in a series. Since I am reading my daughter’s copy, I think I see some future book gifts ahead! She is a big Jessica Day George fan and now I understand why! The most interesting thing about this book for me? The fact that the castle itself was a main character! Next book up? The Raven Boys! I just picked it up from the library!

What do we wonder?

Posted on October 13, 2012 by carriegelson

On Thursdays, our Grade 2 reading group is beginning to work with non-fiction texts. There is much to teach about how to interact with non-fiction text so that students best understand all of the text features. But generating excitement and the thrill of wondering and discovering new facts is an essential piece of our learning as well. Over the last few weeks we have been picture walking books and sharing all of the things we wonder.

These Pebble Plus books published by Capstone are fantastic for this picture walking exercise as they feature full colour photographs of animals in their habitats along with simple text to share together. I have the African Animals series and the Animals and Their Homes series and found both through Scholastic.

The great thing about Thursdays is that my partner teacher, Ms. Hibbert is in the room for the morning in a Resource Teacher role so we are able to work with small groups and can encourage lots of sharing and discussion.

Day 1: On the first day, we split our group into two groups and had them picture walk a book with us and generate questions about the photographs. We used a book about bears and a book about rabbits as key texts. As the students asked questions, we charted them and pointed out when one question led to another or was an extension of another question so that students could think about how to extend their thinking and how their questions connected to someone else’s questions. After 15 minutes, we switched groups and the second group’s task was to look at the questions that had already been charted and as they looked through the text, to try and extend questions or wonder about things that had yet to be asked.

We then looked at both charts as a whole group and highlighted key question words (Who? Why? Could? Do? Is? etc.). We also talked about what questions were on both lists. A popular one? “How can you tell if it is a boy or a girl?” (although one group used the terms male and female so we helped each other extend the vocabulary being used :-))

Day 2: After reviewing and charting question words, we put the students into partners and had each group choose a book about an African animal. Students then studied the photographs in the books and charted their own questions. We circulated and challenged students to extend their thinking wherever possible.

Working with a partner allowed for a lot of great discussion. Often the partners stopped and shared what they thought an answer might be. There were disagreements, connections to background knowledge and lots of encouragement. (And charting on big chart paper with felts was pretty cool!)

We then had students display their books and charts and partners “travelled along” the display looking at the questions that other groups asked.

Day 3: On this day, students chose their own books and worked independently creating a wonder web. We reminded students to tap into their curiousity and study the pictures carefully. If they finished early, they went back and read the text and/or shared their questions with a peer. One little voice carried book and paper to a table muttering, “Just me . . . I wonder how many questions I will wonder?”

Here is Heman‘s wonder web about bees:

Sam asked some great questions about giraffes.

We have a long road down the non-fiction path ahead of us this year. But students are pretty excited that non-fiction titles can help us with all of those unanswered questions and even inspire more!

How do you generate excitement over non-fiction titles in your primary classroom? Please share!

Graffiti

Posted on October 10, 2012 by carriegelson

A favourite part of my day is walking to work. A favourite part of that walk is when I am a block away from my school and I walk between two huge murals. Beautiful pieces that celebrate our school, neighbourhood and community. Today I was devastated to see that one mural (on the side of Out to Lunch Catering) was covered in graffiti. Waves of white spray paint and large figures like this (below) covered what is usually a gorgeous, lush Vancouver scene.

Since this is my “borrowed community” in the sense of where I work, not where I live, I decided to make sure those who lived in this community were aware. I brought my class out to look at it in the afternoon. It is literally a half block from the school. We walk by it on the way to skating. Many children walk by it on their way to and from school. We are a school that just got a mural we are very proud of. This matters to us. So education for us today was in our classroom. For a little part of the day, our classroom was the sidewalk.

There were many questions. That’s what kids do best! Why did they do that? How will it get off? Will the police come? Did the owners of the building cry? Are they mad? Can it be fixed? Why did “those people” want to be mean? Some students were pretty passionate about it and instantly thought about how upset our mural artist would have felt if this happened to the mural at our school. Some kids were equally fascinated by the rocks that lined the building. Which was another great on the spot lesson on being respectful to space, including outdoor space that wasn’t ours and that was meant for all to enjoy. Teachable moments are everywhere! And students provide them if you can’t find any!!

We then had a discussion abut how students felt looking at it. Many shared: frustrated, sad, mad, aggressive (when I asked about this one, the child elaborated that it made him want to yell at the people who had painted on the mural) and disappointed.

We spent a few more minutes talking about how graffiti typically gets off buildings. More children shared their outrage and confusion and we walked back to school and wrote for ten minutes. Most children chose to include what they saw and how it made them feel. A few simple sentences to convey how they were thinking and feeling and making sense of this. Many drew a picture at the top and then scribbled over it. Like graffiti, scribbles over art.

One little guy wrote that his heart broke into pieces when he saw it. Kind of how I felt. A yucky feeling. Kids just call it – this was not nice, a mean act.

This writing below says: They spray paint on the mural and I am mad and they heart my feelings. Hurt is spelled heart. It is all kind of intertwined.

We are fortunate to go to school in an area surrounded by beautiful murals. Today we talked about how it feels when our art got scribbled on. Not good.

Wisdom all around us

Posted on October 8, 2012 by carriegelson

Our art project this week was all about owls! We have decided to fill our classroom with gorgeous owl art so that wise old owls can perch up on our bulletin boards and look down at us learning and growing wiser each day! Kind of a wisdom every where you look scenario!

I got the idea for this art project on the wonderful art blog Deep Space Sparkle in a post that highlighted a number of owl inspired art projects.

We completed this project over two art classes. Day one was drawing and painting and day two colouring a backdrop and adding our owls to our night time scene. Step by step directions follow:

Step 1: Everyone drew an owl on light coloured construction paper after we did a guided drawing lesson about how owls look (think about the tucked in wings, the large eyes, the talons, etc)