Inaugural Rooster Games

Thanks to all of the students who read RI Children's Book Award books and participated in the first annual Rooster Games, a test of their knowledge of plots, characters, settings, and illustrations. Here are some photos from the night: 

Teams rotated through 5 stations

Our first two arrivals

Serious team photo

Silly team photo

First station: settings. Photo by Michelle Blanchette.

Click this link to see the second station ... can you identify the books?

Third station: characters. Photo by Michelle Blanchette

Fourth station: Matching objects to books ... anyone want the rat? I have it!

Last station: Debating trivia answers

Decision made!

Next question!

Thanks to siblings who came along to support the team!

Guide Word Rags to Riches

Before second graders start using the dictionary, they need to know how to use guide words. So they've been practicing via an online game. So far, the highest score in Mrs. Ingall's class was 32,000, hit by A.F. Can you beat his score?

See how well you know your alphabet by taking this quiz.

Common Core Standard addressed: RI.2.5 - Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.

Room 9 Illustrates the Importance of Primary Sources

In 5th and 6th grade, we've been talking about first-hand, or primary, sources, and the importance of eyewitness accounts and original documents in research. The students saw how a message can be distorted as it passes through different interpretations by playing a couple of games. First, we did "Telephone" with kid-created sentences like "My cheerios are stale, but I still eat them." and "I threw up because I went to the candy store for breakfast."

Then, we did a written version:

• Step 1: Write an adjective and a noun at the top of a piece of paper. Pass it to the left.
• Step 2: Draw an illustration of the adjective and noun that your neighbor just handed to you.
• Step 3: Fold down the paper so that only your drawing is showing. Pass it to the left.
• Step 4: Write an adjective and noun to describe the drawing that your neighbor just handed to you.
• Step 5: Fold down the paper so that only your words are showing. Pass it to the left.

And so on.

Here are some of the results:

Small fish > Swimming turtle

Fat lamp > Giant dog

Fluffy person > Nice boy

Spotty cheetah > Demented cat

Small mouse > Flying Christmas reindeer

Running bunny > Hairy monkey

Note: Here is a PDF of the template you can use to play at home. You can also buy a version of this game called Telestrations.

Taking Turns in K

kidscanpress.com

Starting kindergarten can be overwhelming ... so many rules! To go over some of them, we read The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and Mike Lowery. In the book, Mom doesn't do too well with meeting expectations: she shouts out answers, doesn't clean up after snack, and tries to cut in line! Very embarrassing, as the narrator tells her.

After reviewing what Mom could have done better, the students practiced taking turns.

First, they lined up to take their turn at the computer playing an animal sounds game. You can click here to play it at home.

Then they played a Dr. Seuss memory match game. I was so impressed by how patient both the AM and PM kids were while waiting for their turn. Great job, kindergartners!