Text structure and creepy fun

My days are rolling together lately, and I feel as if I am saying hello to a long lost friend as I type. I have thought of sitting down to post often in these last few hectic days, and I have even been asked by my hubby if I was going to do my "bloggy thing." It just wasn't meant to be last week for me to share as much as I would have liked, but here I am, finally a quiet moment to be as bloggy as I wish! :)


Let me start with a perfectly creepy seasonal read! Our read aloud at the moment is a quick Native American folktale that I have sneaked in before our next reading unit, and it is one of my all time faves...and no, I don't want to hear about how much I repeat that statement... this REALLY is a FAVORITE! Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac is a reluctant reader transformer! I can promise you that every year I have read this, I have pulled a boy or two (or three) into the magic of reading! Without fail, I have boys looking for more written by Mr. Bruchac. The fact that this title has a strong female lead is not a conversation that I skip with some of my girlie girls either. I have just one more thing to share about this completely awesome and unforgettable folktale. I secretly love that the first chapter creeps out my kiddos. Now, please don't jump to conclusions and think that I am into frightening small children (usually ;). No matter how many ohs and ahs and oh-my-goshes and hows ~ they never, EVER want me to stop. One of these days I am going to record my kiddos as I read this first chapter so that everyone can see their expressions, but more than anything so that everyone can hear and share in all the shouts of NO as I close the first chapter. That is why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE reading to my kiddos! 

In between all of our great reading and writing, we have had some fun activities roll our way. It was Fire Safety Week, and our local fire department does an awesome job of teaching our kiddos. Now anyone that knows me knows just how much I begrudgingly give up instructional time, but as much as I hate to loose my time with them, this has always been a great experience for my students. 

 

  

Do you remember how I went on and on about how much I love our figurative language study? Our next focus of text structure is pretty close to that. We are about to spend some time drowning in great picture books! Picture book after picture book after picture book! We will step lightly into the study of text structure by looking at fictional picture books, but we will wrap it up with a look at nonfiction text structures and how they compare and contrast. The most important part will be looking at just how understanding the structure of what we are reading will help us understand exactly what the author is trying to share.

  

Our first look at text structure is one most students are quite familiar with. We look at the linear flow of a story; a movement that takes the story from beginning to end. These books will also help us look back at our "Story Mountain" and look at the elements of plot. 

First of all, it is hard to go wrong with a Bunting Book. There are just so many things I can say that I love about Ms. Eve Bunting. In The Wednesday Surprise we enjoy a sweet surprise that many students find moving. Great look at linear movement in a story and one that we will definitely revisit when we talk about surprise endings.

Another Bunting that I absolutely love is The Memory String. Again, I am starting simple and looking at the linear movement of a story from beginning to end and how the plot of the story progresses throughout. This is also a great share because of all the connections that many students have with it; lots of great reading strategies can be modeled and discussed with this one.

This next one is a masterfully illustrated story based on true events. Gabi Swiatkkowska moves Ms. Schaefer's story (told through the hawk's point of view) so beautifully. Every time I read this, the illustrations pull me right back into the hawk's treacherous journey and rescue, and the photograph and author's note at the end are right up my alley. You know I always love a good author's note! Again, we are looking at the movement from beginning to end without it necessarily being a narrative story  written in first person.

As we step lightly into our look at different structures, I am again focusing on something the kids are familiar with. When we look at circular studies, I will not have to spend to much time as most students are very comfortable with this type of structure. The great and time saving part is that we will be looking back and books we have already shared, My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Grey and The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant!

 

The next circle story that I will share is another Bunting beauty and absolutely perfect for this time of year! One of my favorite things about Eve Bunting is her choice of such diverse illustrators. One of my colleagues pointed out how completely different most of her books are and not because of her writing style but rather how the illustrators carry her stories. Night of the Gargoyles is illustrated by David Wiesner. Can I say another of my favorites and you still respect me, LOL? He is a master at his craft, and I have been known to purchase a book simply because it has his name on it. I cannot wait to share this fun and lyrical circle story! 

Alright, one last text structure for the night. We will be looking closely at cause/effect with another amazing (dare I say favorite?) illustrator, Steven Kellogg. Both The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble and The Day the Goose Got Loose by Reeve Lindbergh are picture perfect displays of cause and effect. Chaos ensues in both books, and kiddos giggle as we share how many times the effects multiply and yet become the next cause and each continue to build upon the other. So fun and silly! 

 

I just have to share one more amusing little seasonal read. I can't even tell you just what it is about Pumpkin Town! by Katie McKy that I love so much, but nonetheless, I love it! It could be Pablo Bernasconi's whimsical illustrations or the open-ended loop ending. You just know when we look at loop endings to help us with our own conclusions, this will be a revisit for sure! 

Well friends, the hour grows late and this bloggy girl is growing tired. I have one last thing to share. Sarah, Katie Byrd and I ran - no... walked in very close proximity to complete strangers that I now feel bonded to in some strange way - another 5K this weekend. It was my first time to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I have to say that this was the most moving and rewarding 5K I have done yet. I had a blast with both these girls, and boy was I worn out when we were done. Something about navigating through the massive crowds, and finding pockets, as we called them, to jog here and there. Whew, that would be one of the reasons I did not blog Saturday or Sunday as I tried to recover, but all the same, I CANNOT wait until next year! 

Just look at all those people!

Katie Byrd and myself ~ yes we had enough time to stop
and click a pic as we were in a standstill...think it had
something to do with firetrucks and firefighters...hmmm

 Happy reading my friends....

Friday fun and the boys of fall

What a busy week we have had! I cannot believe just how quickly time has flown by this year. Is it a sign of getting older that the years are speeding up? With this sweet group of kiddos, I wish I could find a pause button. We rolled picture day, book fair, Grandparent's Day celebrations, homecoming, and early out into one mad rush of a week! 

That now leaves me one very tired teacher this Friday evening, and this is my first post of the school week. I cannot say how many times this week that I have thought, oh I need to remember to blog that or don't forget to mention that. Yet, life decided that family, my own kiddos, and football needed attention; couldn't ask for better distractions though :) With an away football game that is just a little too "away" for this mama to make, I have found my first quiet moment to post some of the fun things we worked on in class this week!

I really wanted to share the sweet pics above of my kiddos dancing to "Gummy Bear" during our morning meetings this week. It was an instant hit and so darn cute to watch! Below is a very small clip of them. I will try to get more on here later.

As much fun as we tried to squeeze in this week, we did even more work! Planning, planning, and more planning! We have really discussed all the things that make an amazing narrative (we have sure read a lot of them), and we decided to be as thoughtful in our planning as possible. We are thinking small, but writing big as we narrow down our topic! Even after narrowing it down to one precise moment in time, we have tried to plan ahead in using some of the great techniques of our favorite writers. These first plan sheets we use are a bit much, and not something that I will always expect us to use in our writing. This heavy planning early on will help us form some habits and expectations in our own writing.

 

I know I posted this previously, but here is a pic of the story I am using for my narrative. The kiddos were asking about it, so I thought I would add it again. If you would like to see the original post, click here.

One very MAD Katie rescuing a puppy
 that someone threw off the cliff...
she was off the cliff, in the air before 
the puppy came out of the water.

After a lesson on writing leads, we finally started drafting! Woohoo... we are on our way to a published masterpiece!

We are still working like crazy on those
complex sentences!

We are having fun with our story Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White. As we have read, we have looked at character and story elements, but you know me; I had to throw some great picture books in to help pull it all together.

Feathers and Fools by Mem Fox is one of my absolute favorites to teach rise in action, climax, and falling action. This is an amazingly illustrated story that is very moving and without fail brings out tons of conversation in my room. This is also a very easy discussion of theme - acceptance! I love how the end shows that looking at what we have in common rather than our differences can mean so much! Mem Fox does an amazing job of bringing that message home to kids in a way that jumps right out at them. LOVE this story!

Keeping in mind story elements, we have also really looked character traits, and just how much a character can move your story. When comparing and contrasting characters, my faithful standby is Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. Manyara and Nyasha are two beautiful sisters, but both are about as different as can be. Students easily identify the contrasting traits of these characters, and it is such a beautiful read.

Looking at setting, I shared this sad and moving narrative. Working Cotton by Sherley Anne Williams is remarkably illustrated by Carole Byard. I share this story to remind my students that the images of a story and the dialect and behavior of its characters are all impacted by the setting which is not just place but time as well!  

Our focus in reading this week became our guide
in helping us plan and organize our own narratives!

 Lots of great work happening around our room this week....

  

Have I mentioned how proud I am of my hardworking group? :)

Just for fun we read a couple of my favorites for this time of year. Here is another David Catrow beauty! Lu and the Swamp Ghost by James Carville. My book came with a CD narrated by Mr. Carville, but honestly most of the time I cannot bring myself to use it because that would mean giving up a chance to read to my kiddos. Besides, it is so fun to try and bring out that deep down southern girl. There are a plethora of things I could teach with this, but seems like I focus on the fun of it mostly. We giggle at the illustrations and make predictions as to just who the ghost may be. After we have our fun, I do manage to go back a discuss the theme of this story, kindess and loyalty.

Now this next favorite...well, I try to start out reading it for fun, but I must say that Tony Johnson paints such a brilliant picture with words, we often slow down, really breath in, and savor the text. When I have fourth graders oohing and ahhing at how well written something is, then you know it is noticeable! How many times is it acceptable for me to say "I LOVE this story" in one post? LOL...I don't think I could go one Halloween without sharing this, and the timing of it is perfect in that students are finding all kinds of figurative language in this fun little read, The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe.

  

That is almost it for now. I will have more to share Sunday after I do a little planning. We are gearing up for a fun time at 4H Camp, and I know the kids are so excited!

I have just a few videos to share. The first is one of my kiddos singing along with Uncle Kracker's, Smile. They have really enjoyed learning about simile with his song. The second is something I have had stuck in my head since going to Joshua's game last night. I do love the boys of fall! Kenny Chesney tells such a memorable story with his song - just had to share. Makes me think of my boys! 

Last but not least, I am linking up with Kelly and her blog, Teaching Fourth, for Fun Friday! We try to have fun everyday, but this week, I think "Gummy Bear" was a blast and a brain break all rolled into one! Be sure to click on her link above to see what other fun things teachers are doing.

Happy Reading!