I knew I had something more to say...

After listening to the book "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate Di Camillo the students in Mrs. McGinnis' and Mrs. McKenna's classes wrote an "All About" book about their moms. In the story, the main character, who is being raised by her father, asks that her father tell her 10 things about her mother. The students were asked to interview family members to get information for their books. The books were titled "10 Things I Know About My Mother". Each book contained a dedication page, table of contents, 10 chapters, and a "Meet the Author" page. The children enjoyed writing, illustrating, and sharing their books. They especially enjoyed a chapter called "How To"... where they shared something their mothers taught them 
to do. Moms will enjoy the books forever!

~Irene McGinnis and Paula McKenna


This is a copy of the pre-writing interview sheet.

             

It took us a few weeks, but each student completed their book in time for Mother's Day! Here are some reactions reported by a few of my students. 

They were so proud of their books. Moms have told me that it was their best Mother's Day gift ever! 

Hello again,
We had so much fun making our "Silly Faces Spiders". It was another great idea that I found on Pinterest. They were asked to make their silliest faces! They were also asked what they would like Charlotte to write on her web? Please click on the Animoto video link below to view our latest video. I just love Animoto!

http://animoto.com/play/JEOwaH54VLaGMs2p3m06hg#

Hello again,

I pitched this great idea to my Art teacher Jean Norton-Ryan that I saw on Pinterest.
While reading Charlotte's Web in my class they are weaving her web in Art.
 What great collaboration! We are working on other ideas as well from Pinterest!
Stay tuned......

Jesse's Weaving

More Weaving

Niamh's Weaving

Ava's Weaving

Payton's Weaving

More Weaving

Keeley and Leo are weaving!

Henry's weaving

P.J."s Weaving

It's the 60th Year of Charlotte's Web!

Hello again,
My class started to read Charlotte's Web this week. They are quite excited! So last week I got a great idea. Well I thought it was a great idea. I decided to invite the children to bring in their e-readers with Charlotte's Web already loaded to read along with us. I have a paper copy available for each student as well. To my surprise...no one was able to purchase "Charlotte's Web" for their e-readers. I guess I was a little shocked. I assumed every book was available to download. So I'm on a quest to get someone to make Charlotte's Web available for e-readers. I tweeted Amazon Kindle,
Barnes and Noble Nook, Scholastic Books, and Harper Collins. Their responses were the same. At this time Charlotte's Web is not available. I can't help thinking what a great loss of revenue to these companies not to have such a classic book available as an e-reader. Maybe next next year? Please stayed tuned.

click on the link below to learn more about E.B. White the author of Charlotte's Web
http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=10499


One of my students received a Kindle for a Communion present last weekend. She brought it to school and a "When I Grow Up" by Kurt Zimmerman to our class. The students were so excited!

Ainslee is reading "When I Grow Up".

                                             
                                                Our first e- reader read aloud!

   

Hello again!

Have you ever thought of yourself as a Wild Animal? When my class visited Mrs. Nicolas' Technology class on Tuesday, May 1st, they got to answer that very question. Each student combined their human self with their animal self. Go onto the website listed below and give it a try. Please have fun looking at a few of the creations that are adorning our classroom.
 http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

Julianna

Ainslee

Henry

Kendyl

Niamh

Jesse

Hugo

Grace

Cameron

Ava

Melanie

Enjoy!