On Friday our fourth graders participated in the first-ever Ashaway
School VIRTUAL Rooster Games! It took a lot of coordination and a great deal of help, but we managed to keep the tradition alive despite the challenges of distant learning!
Team Yellow, captained by Miss Bloom!
Team Red, captained by Mrs. Young!
As always, all of
the students who read at least five of the books on the list of nominees
for the Rhode Island Children's Book Award were invited to
participate in the games. The six teams (each a mix of boys and girls from both fourth grade classrooms) competed in a variety of games that were
based
on books from the list.
Team Green, captained by Miss Calnan!
Team Blue, captained by Mrs. Pelligrino!
Each team of students had a Team Captain (an adult who managed the schedule and facilitated the games). All of the adults and students started off in an "auditorium meet" and then each team entered their own, private meeting space to collaborate on each game. I was able to pop in and out of the private meeting rooms to observe and help out as needed. It was so much fun!!
Team Orange, captained by Mrs. Carrier!
Most of the rounds consisted of a Google Slide deck or Google Jamboard which allowed the team members to work together. These games included an Illustration Round (match illustrations to the books they came from), Object Round (identify which book a set of objects represent), Question Round, Character Quotes Round, and a First or Last Lines Round. All of the team captains reported that the students worked really well together as they collaborated on the games via Google Classroom and Google Meet!
Team Purple, captained by Mrs. Ornburn, works together on the Object Round. Look at those faces! I love how focused the students are in this picture!!
This year we didn't have to worry about teams overhearing answers being shouted out during the Charades Round because they were all working within their own Google Meet! In this game the students take turns acting out words for their teammates
to guess. Doing so earns the team a point, and then they can earn a
bonus point by identifying which book the word represents. This game is
always the one that most kids vote as their favorite. (Mine, too!)
The Charades Round is always a LOT of fun!!
In between each point-earning round, the students all got a movement break by participating in a scavenger hunt! The team captain read the title of a book on the list and then challenged the students to find an object in their home that related to the title. They had a limited amount of time to get back to their computer and show what they found, and I'm sure a lot of the students got their heart rates up! It was delightful to see the wide variety of objects they presented to share, and I was very impressed by the creativity they demonstrated!
"Something that holds water" to represent the book Bob
"A star" to represent the book Solar System
"Something summery" to represent the book The Season of Styx Malone
"A pup" to represent the book A Pup Called Trouble
"A donkey" to represent the book Saving Winslow
"A lightning bolt" to represent the book The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
After lunch we all met back up in the "Auditorium Meet" for the awarding of the Champion Reader medals. Then all of the students met back up in their private team meets to continue playing the games!
Our Champion Readers read ALL 20 books on the RICBA list!
Of course, at the end of our Rooster Games
we needed to declare a winner!
This year the accolades go to Team Purple!!
Congratulations, Team Purple!
There is no prize for being on the winning team. I emphasize to the students that they are all winners
by earning a spot on a team and getting to participate in all the fun.
Traditionally, our wonderful PTO provides the funds for all participants to
enjoy a pizza party at the end of the day so that all of the qualifiers win! Of course, this year a pizza party wasn't going to work, so instead I found fun "pizza prizes" for each participant: a pizza-scented bookmark and a pen shaped like a piece of pizza!
No one complained about missing out on the pizza party when they saw these prizes!
It was a really fun event, and it couldn't have happened without the
support of some really fantastic people! Many thanks go out to:
Our fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Ornburn and Mrs. Young, whose support of the RICBA program has always been enthusiastic!
Our additional team captains: Mrs. Carrier, Mrs. Pelligrino, Miss Calnan and Miss Bloom!
The Ashaway School P.T.O. for providing funds to purchase copies of the books as well as prizes for all participants!
Mrs. Ward, librarian at Hope Valley Elementary School, for her invaluable assistance during the day of the games!
Librarians Michelle Bressler (Metcalf Elementary School), Aimee Fontaine (Exeter Public Library), and Stephanie Barta (Louittit Library) as well as Metcalf Elementary School teachers Caitlin Laboissonniere (reading specialist) and Gina Kilday (math specialist). This remarkable team put together the Google Jamboard/Slide rounds that we used as well as the scavenger hunt list!
My fourth graders learned about perspective as part of our Two Bad Ants lesson. I love this book by Chris Van Allsburg! Not only is it a terrific story, but the illustrations are amazing!! I introduced the book by highlighting the remarkably different perspectives that he used when depicting the ants. Every page is a study in point of view; we see the ants from a huge variety of angles and from varying distances.
Click on the video below to see a small portion of the video I created for the students to introduce the concept of perspective:
After the students enjoyed the story, I challenged them to explore perspective by depicting an object of their choice from three different points of view. They had the option of taking pictures, drawing, or creating illustrations in Google Draw. I was delighted by their creativity and I'm excited to share some examples with you!
Click on any preview to enlarge!
Hailey's bear
Jude's controller
Abby's candles
Buse's pistachio
Keelyn's cat
Lucas's dinosaur
Orion's stuffie
Wyatt's magic 8 ball
While distance learning has certainly presented its challenges, I've been pleased with the ways in which it has allowed for expressions of creativity. If I had done this lesson in the library the students wouldn't have had access to their own object inspirations. I really loved seeing their worlds through their own eyes in this activity!
All set for the Reading Week Vocabulary Parade! What does a mouse have to do with persistence you ask? Read on to find out!
While looking through the teacher materials provided by Code.org I discovered a link to the video below. It was part of lesson to help students persevere when struggling with a difficult coding problem.
I love this video! I was completely enamored and I couldn't wait to show it to my students! As expected, all eyes were glued to the screen as they watched the mouse struggle to carry away the cracker, and when he finally succeeds they erupted into cheers! Every class, every time.
I decided that my year-long theme would be persistence. Students understood that when I said "Be the mouse!" I was encouraging them not to give up. I developed a unit on "growth mindset" for every grade in the school, and I was terrifically impressed with the response.
In kindergarten we read Mo Willem's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus andMark Pett's This is MY Book. Both books have characters who get very frustrated! We talked a lot about what frustration is, and I carried those discussions over into our time working with Bee-Bots in the classroom. I always carried my "frustration" and "persistence" vocabulary cards with me, and the students had plenty of opportunities to practice both! 😊
In first grade I encouraged the students to think about a time that they stuck to a
difficult task and succeeded. Then I invited them to complete the
sentence, "I showed persistence when I...." They came up with lots of
wonderful examples both from school and at home. Click here to read more about it and see examples of student work!
In second grade we enjoyed Mousetronaut, a story about a little mouse who travels into space and, with a lot of persistence, is able to save the day! We brainstormed ideas for what to do when getting frustrated while coding, and I put together a tip sheet with their ideas. They all got a copy to keep in the library folders. It was wonderful to see the students trying out some of strategies suggested by their peers! Click here to see the tip sheet!
In third grade the students were given quotes
about failure/success to discuss, then each student
selected a reflection sheet that matched the quote of their choice and
wrote down their thoughts about it. The following week the students
used their notes to record a Flipgrid video about success! Click here to read more about it and see examples of student videos!
In fourth grade we read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, watched a C.J. Luckey video called “The Power of Yet” (it's amazing, you should watch it!!) and did a number of activities to learn about the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.
I highlighted the theme through our library's first "book tasting" during Reading Week in March. I set up the library to look like a restaurant and each class rotated through to "sample" a variety of books in the hopes that they'd find something new to devour! I named the restaurant Chez Squeak in honor of my Be the Mouse theme. [Click here to read all about the book tasting!]
When I went shopping for table card holders, I found these adorable examples. Cute little mice!! I couldn't believe my luck!! When the book tasting was over, I gave them new homes on the library's shelves. Each is now on display with a growth mindset mini-poster. I mentioned at the beginning of class what I had done, and the students were very excited to look around the room to find all eight of them!
Little did I know as I was finding spots to place them that the school would be closed the following week (and then for the rest of the school year)! Suddenly the library was going to be empty, and we were all focused on planning how to stay connected with our students. Now the theme of persistence was front and center in all of our minds! I recorded this short video, mouse ears and all, to post at the beginning of my first lesson for every class. (I'm so glad I brought home the sash I made for the vocabulary parade!)
As I sit here at home writing this, I'll admit that it's very frustrating to not know exactly how long this is going to last or when I'll be able to see all the kids and grownups in my Ashaway family again. But I do know that ours is a remarkable community, one that I am terrifically grateful to be a part of. We can get through this, and the day will come that we will all be under the same roof again, learning and laughing together. Until that glorious day comes, please know that I am thinking about you and wishing with all of my heart for your health and happiness. And, as always, do remember to...
Of all the amazing activities we had during Reading Week, the one I am the most excited to share with you was our library's very first "Book Tasting"! The enthusiasm expressed by both students and staff will ensure that this will not be the last time I host this event!
Greeting each class at the door as they arrived for their "reservation"
As they came into the room, each student selected a seating card from the tray. This randomized which table each student would start at.
Each table had a variety of books for the students to "sample".
While some background "cafe" music created the right atmosphere, students browsed through their books.
I filled each place setting with books that I thought the kids would love to discover.
These are the books that often get overlooked in favor of the more popular picks that the kids already know about!
When students found a book they wanted to borrow they filled out a "Reservation Slip".
DING! Every time I rang the bell, the students would get up and move to the next table.
It was a fantastic day of students discovering and sharing some wonderful books!
So why was my restaurant named Chez Squeak? When I went shopping for table card holders, I found these adorable examples. They reminded me of my year-long theme "Be the Mouse", which means to be persistent. (I'll be writing a blog entry explaining the connection; stay tuned!)
At the end of the day I had piles and piles and piles of
books that the students had reserved. So, the following week I created
a notice that I could slip into their books during book look and
announced that they'd be allowed to take home EXTRA BOOKS! The
excitement shown by the students when I made that announcement was amazing!!
