Poetry Friday: Dig Dig Digging
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Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo (Author) and Alex Ayliffe (Illustrator) is a collection of short poems about machinery.
Diggers are good at dig, dig, digging,
scooping up the earth, and lifting and tipping.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own short poems. What will they write about? Use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to brainstorm possible topics.
Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: After students select a topic, ask them to use the Observation Chart graphic organizer to make list of words to use in their poem.
This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Brimstone Soup.
Take the Picture Book Poetry Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Max’s Bunny Business
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In Max’s Bunny Business by Rosemary Wells, Max goes into business because his sister Ruby does.
Louise brought over the lemons.
Ruby got out the card table and umbrella.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own “sales” story. What do they want to buy? What can they sell to raise money? Use the Sequence Chart graphic organizer to plan the story.
Sentence Fluency Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to read their sentences aloud into a tape recorder. When they play it back do the words flow, or do they need to rewrite?
Take the Easy Reader Workshop. for inservice clock hours.
Christopher Counting
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In Christopher Counting by Valeri Gorbachev, Christopher learns how to count at school…
Christopher Rabbit loved the idea of counting.
“I can count everything,” he said after school was over.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary: Ask students to use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to make list of things they can count.
Organization Mini-lesson
Primary: Ask students to write their own counting book. On each page they can count something different.
Use the TAKS Writing Secrets Classroom Writing Workshop with your fourth graders.
Ducks Don’t Wear Socks
In Ducks Don’t Wear Socks by John Nedwidek (Author) and Lee White (Illustrator), Emily meets a duck who tries to make her laugh.
“Duck,” asked Emily. “What are you wearing?”
“Socks!” yelled Duck.
“Ducks don’t wear socks,” replied Emily, quite seriously.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own funny story. What jokes can they tell to make someone laugh? Use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to think of ideas for jokes.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: When people talk to one another, the dialogue has quotation marks. Ask students to check their stories to make sure they added quotation marks to the dialogue.
Take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Nonfiction Monday Round-up
Welcome to the Nonfiction Monday Round-up!
Here’s what the kidlitosphere is reading this week…
1. Picture Book of the Day (Farmer George Plants a Nation)
2. Kit Lit Kit (Thanksgiving)
3. Tricia (Boys of Steel)
4. A Patchwork of Books (Gone Fishing)
5. msmac
6. Scratching Log (See Inside An Aztec Town)
7. Wendie’s Wanderings (Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards)
8. Write for a Reader(The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby)
9. Easy to Read (Make a Turkey)
Nonfiction Monday: Farmer George Plants a Nation
In Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas (Author) and Layne Johnson (Illustrator), we see George at work on his farm…
George Washington dug his hand into the tilled earth and let the hard, dry clay crumble through his fingers.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: This book is filled with quotes from George Washington’s letter and diaries. Ask students to write about what they did yesterday in their writing journal.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to check their punctuation. Does each sentence end with a period, a question mark or an exclamation mark?
Take the Young Nonfiction Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Steel Town
Steel Town by Jonah Winter (Author) and Terry Widener (Illustrator) covers a day in a steel town…
At dawn, the workers get out of bed.
and take the stairs down Goat Hill Path
down to their jobs at the iron and steel mills.
Organization Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own “beginning to end” school story. Have them begin with waking up to go to school and end with arriving home after school. Use the Sequence Chart graphic organizer to plan.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to check their punctuation. Does each sentence end with a period, a question mark or an exclamation mark?
This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Yat-Yee Chong.
Take the Picture Book Poetry Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Amadi’s Snowman
I first saw Amadi’s Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-Lot (Author) and Dimitrea Tokunbo (Illustrator) in the manuscript stage when Katia was living in Nigeria. (This is why I love teaching online. I can work with writers all over the world!)
No sooner did she turn her back than Amadi darted into the bushes. He knew his numbers well. Why did his mother insist that he learn to read words?
Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write about a shopping trip they took. What did they see? Use the Observation Chart graphic organizer to remember details.
Voice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to think about how they want to write their story. Do they want to write about what they saw using the “I” voice (first person point-of-view)? Or do they want to write as if someone else were telling the story (third person point-of-view)?
Take the Picture Book Characters Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Sam is NOT A Loser
Sam is NOT A Loser by Thierry Robberecht (Author) and Philippe Goossens (Illustrator) begins..
I’m Sam.
I love to play games.
But I don’t like to lose–like I did tonight.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write about a game they play. Will they win or lose the game? Use the Sequence Chart graphic organizer to remember what happened during the game.
Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to use the Cluster Word Web 3 graphic organizer to brainstorm details about the game they can add to their story.
Use the TAKS Writing Secrets Classroom Writing Workshop with your fourth graders.
Angel Girl
In honor of Veterans Day, a war story.
Angel Girl by Laurie Friedman (Author) and Ofra Amit (Illustrator) begins with a boy being taken to a concentration camp during World War II.
“Women, children to the right. Men to the left.”
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own story about helping someone in need. Use the Story Map 3 graphic organizer to remember what happened.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary: When people talk to one another, the dialogue has quotation marks. Ask students to check their stories to make sure they added quotation marks to the dialogue.
Take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop for inservice clock hours.
