Three of These Things with Grade 1 - Part 1

A big part of information literacy is being able to recognize patterns and to categorize facts, sources, etc. We're starting to work on these skills in first grade.

After the students figured out which one thing didn't belong in a collection of objects I had brought in, they each got a card with a colored shape and had to find at least one other person whose card was the same in one way:

Charting What Grade 2 Likes to Learn About

In second grade, we read Frank and Lucky Get Schooled, by Lynne Ray Perkins, for an overview of lots of different subjects you can be interested in and read about. Then we made a chart of the kids' favorite classroom subjects. There was a pretty clear winner!

Grade 3 Book Love

Before we had our first checkout last week, third graders shared some of their favorite titles to recommend to their fellow students and to let me know what we're missing. Copies of everything on the "Would Like to Get" list are welcome as donations!


Already in the library

• I Survived series
• Harry Potter series
• My Weird School (some)
• Smile / Sisters (RICBA nominee!)
• The Chocolate Touch
• Squish (some)
• Dork Diaries series
• How to Eat Fried Worms
• Goosebumps series
• One Fine Day
• Titanic books
• Tuesdays at the Castle
• Amelia Bedelia
• Babymouse (some)

Would like to get

• Dragons
• Liv and Maddie books
• Secret of the Mountain Dog
• Diary of an 8-bit Warrior
• Timmy Failure series
• Wednesdays at the Tower
• Thursdays with the Crown
• Fridays with the Wizards 

What Ms. Moore is Reading - September 2016

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and thought my students would like. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome!

Picture Books

In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?

Early Readers

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends.

In The Thank You Book!, Piggie wants to thank EVERYONE. But Gerald is worried Piggie will forget someone . . . someone important. 

Middle Grades

Warren the 13th is the lone bellhop, valet, waiter, groundskeeper, and errand boy of his family’s ancient hotel. It’s a strange, shadowy mansion full of crooked corridors and mysterious riddles—and it just might be home to a magical object known as the All-Seeing Eye. Can Warren decipher the clues and find the treasure before his sinister Aunt Annaconda (and a slew of greedy hotel guests) beats him to it?

Wren Baker has never felt brave a day in her life. She doesn't even know what she's afraid of, really. Only that if she raises her voice or leaves her mark or ventures too far from home, she'll risk falling flat on her face. But that all changes when Wren's cousin Silver walks into her life. Silver is totally fearless. Maybe that's why she's the most popular girl in the sixth grade. She dares Wren to take risks, to live out loud, to finally spread her wings. So when Silver decides to break all the rules, Wren is forced to make a choice: Is she in or is she out?

Ever since she was a baby, the words people use to describe Elyse have instantly appeared on her arms and legs. At first it was just "cute" and "adorable," but as she's gotten older and kids have gotten meaner, words like "loser" and "pathetic" appear. Now, at age twelve, she's starting middle school, and just when her friends who used to accept and protect her are drifting away, she receives an anonymous note saying "I know who you are, and I know what you're dealing with. I want to help." As Elyse works to solve the mystery of who is sending her these notes, she also finds new ways to accept who she is and to become her best self.

What would you do if every spark of electricity suddenly vanished, as if somebody had flipped a switch on the entire planet? Cars won't start, the heat shuts off, there's no water in your faucet, and your radio, TV, and flashlight go dark. Everyone in Charlie's small town is baffled. But as time passes, lawlessness erupts and takes an ugly turn. When the market and pharmacy are torched, Charlie realizes his mother will die without her medicine. So he dons skis and heads off alone, seeking the nearest hospital. After traveling fifty miles through brutal ice and snow, Charlie encounters a burned-out, looted city of terrified citizens. Will he be able to save his mom?

How Room 4 Will Have an Awesome Year

We want second grade to be AWESOME!!!! After watching this video from Kid President, Room 4 came up with a list of ways to make this year awesome in class, in library, and in general.

• Have a pet iguana.
• Listen to the teachers so they get happier.
• Make potions.
• Listen to the teachers' words.
• Be nice to everybody in the whole world.
• Be good.
• Make dioramas.
• Learn.

Room 1 Monsters

In first grade, we're starting the year with My Teacher is a Monster (No, I am Not!r ) by Peter Brown. In the book, Bobby thinks his teacher is a monster, until they get to know each other. 

We talked about monster behavior v. eagle behavior (e.g., running through the halls and screaming v. walking quietly and throwing things everywhere v. cleaning up after yourself). After checkout, the students drew themselves as monsters.