Workshops, Folktales, Fabulous Volunteers

By Anonymous -
This week I continued to work with third grade classes in their Readers' and Writers' Workshops. They have been reading nonfiction books about animals and identifying the main ideas and supporting details. Then they developed tables of contents and began writing chapters for their own animal books. It has been amazing to see the thoughtfulness with which these scholars are approaching their nonfiction books. I have ordered dozens more animal titles for the library to support the third graders' research...with interesting topics like komodo dragons, I know these books will be a hit with scholars all over the school!






Second graders have been continuing with a unit on folktales. At the end of each of these stories from around the world the scholars have been answering the questions "What can you tell about the climate and geography of the country where this folktale is from?" They have become adept at looking for evidence like plants, clothing, mountains, and rivers in the texts and illustrations. We have shared folktales from Japan, India, Wales, and today's book from Liberia: Head, Body, Legs by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret Lippert.



And, just like every week, many fabulous volunteers came to help in the library with checkouts, creating displays, putting books away, and reading with students. These parents and community members donate over 20 hours per week of their time to help our scholars become better readers. Thank you volunteers! And if you are interested in volunteering, please contact me -- I would love to hear from you!




Have a wonderful weekend -- Mrs. Redford


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