Kindergarten classes have been reading about Olivia and her antics. Of course she never gets worn out and she hates napping. We also discovered her favorite color is red, she loves ballet, and tries her best to imitate the masterpiece at the museum.... on her wall at home..."time out"...So far we have read Olivia, Olivia forms a band, and Olivia saves the circus.
First Graders were introduced to the wonderful author and illustrator Tomie DePaola. We began by reading a small biography about his life. We learned his favorite holiday is Christmas, he loves to cook, and he began early in his career by designing Christmas cards. We followed up with a book he wrote and illustrated titled Tom. Tom was Tomie's grandfather who owned a grocery store where he worked as a butcher. Tomie plays a trick on his best friend in the book. It's hilarious until he finds himself in the principal's office.
Second graders learned that true people are behind the animated movies produced by Walt Disney. Bill Peet worked with Walt Disney for more than 27 years where he served as head animator. He has worked on Song of the South, 101 Dalmations, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo...just to name a few. We followed up with a story titled Big Bad Bruce, which was written and illustrated by Bill Peet. Big Bad Bruce was hilarious!
Third Grade found Wilma Unlimited to be inspirational! Not only was she stricken with polio and told she would never walk again, but she overcame her illness and became the fastest women in the world...in 1960. Wilma's life growing up was unbelieveable.... What an exciting book. Our biography section is really being explored.
Fourth grade is beginning to finish Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl. We have found that Danny really does have an exciting life even though he lives in a small caravan with his father that owns a gas station. Of course, Roald Dahl is a master storyteller....we will follow up with the video I was lucky enough to find which was only released in the UK.
Fifth grade students are learning about key words and are using google this week to look up questions relating to fine arts. This supports assignments which are ongoing in the classroom. We are learning to be efficient and evaluating web sites in the process.
