Reading Celebration and Sleepover

Friday was one exciting day! After we got off the ferry from our swimming lessons in Port McNeill we started our Reading Celebration.

Before lunch we read Wombat Stew and then got into groups and made sound effects to go along with different parts of the story. We also played Book Hangman on the Smartboard and read another chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (we’re almost done).

After lunch we made our own bookmarks, tried our hand at being an illustrator, and went shopping for new books to take home (Mrs. Watson collects books all year for the Reading Celebration). Next we wrote digital stories with the students in the Kindergarten/Grade1 class. Many of the students chose to buddy up with their younger siblings. We all wrote fantastic partner Storybirds. Up next we had a little time to finish up our bookmarks and shop for another book before our families arrived to read with us before going home to get ready for the evening. It was so nice to see parents, grandparents, and aunties spread out around the school reading!

We returned to school at 5:30 for our potluck supper, more reading fun, and the sleepover. Thank you to all the parents for the amazing food they made for our feast. It was absolutely delicious! After dinner we had the Reading with Expression Contest. Everyone did such an amazing job that we all won a special prize! Next we got into teams and played Harry Potter Jeopardy on the Smartboard. It was so much fun.

We finished the evening with a movie, popcorn and snacks before climbing into our tents to read before bed.

We’re already looking forward to next year!

We Love Daily 5!

The grade 2/3’s have worked very hard at building their stamina during Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone. Each of our rounds is now 20-25 minutes and the students are really enjoying choosing which Daily they want to do for each round.

This slide show shows how we spent our third round of Daily 5 today and the things we like best about learning this way.

More Daily 5 on PhotoPeach

Tomorrow we get to add another choice to our Daily 5 time… Listen to Reading!

Summer Fun: Week 5

Last week I finished reading two great books. The first was The Maze Of Bones which is the first book in the 39 Clues series. The second book I read was The Doll People. This is one of the books that one of the classes we Skyped with recommended. I really enjoyed both of these books and have the second book in each series on order at the library. What books have you read this summer?

This week’s Reading Rockets ideas: Become a publisher
• Make your own joke book. Collect jokes and riddles from your family and friends.
• Cut out pictures from an old magazine or catalog. Write a story about them.
• Create a rebus story (a story that uses pictures to represent words). Write a short story, and then substitute pictures (that you draw or cut out) for some of the words.
• Start a round-robin story. Write the beginning, then ask friends to add to it until it has an ending.

Click on the picture below to make plastic milk. There are all sorts of great experiments you can try at Joey Green’s Mad Scientist Experiments.

This week try a new game from Funschool.com. Add, subtract, and multiply numbers fast in Math Popper. The objective of the game is to pop the balloons with the correct answer before time runs out!

Click the link below to see a great video about chimps using tools!
http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/mammals-kids/chimp-tools-kids.html

Summer Fun: Week 4

I can’t believe how quickly the summer is flying by! I just got home from a great trip down island and now it is swimming lesson time for Brooklynn. A big thank you to Sophie for leaving a comment on the blog last week! I hope everyone is having lots of fun 🙂

This week’s Reading Rockets ideas: Enjoy the great outdoors
• Pick wildflowers and press them between the pages of a heavy book until the end of summer.
• Plan a backyard camping trip with a friend. List all the things you will need to survive.
• Plan a family ‘booknic’ at your favorite outdoor spot, such as the beach, a park, or the woods. Pack lunch and plenty to read.
• Collect shells at the beach or rocks along a trail. Use a nature guide to identify them.
• Find something small enough to put in your pocket. Write or tell a story about it.
• Look for shapes and designs in the clouds. Draw them.
• Word game! Make a list of words to describe fireworks.

Click on the picture below to make a yummy treat!

Click on the picture below to practice adding single-and-double-digit numbers together while shooting spaceships trying to invade Earth. Hurry before it’s too late and the aliens land!

Click the link below to see a great video about fishy disguises!
http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/fish-kids/fish-camouflage-kids.html