Week of November 9, 2009

Each week for our kindergarten lessons we usually have a combination of fiction and non-fiction. This past week the students were encouraged to choose a non-fiction book to check out of the library. They were amazed at all the different subjects there were! This week our lesson is going to be all non-fiction just to try to help them grasp the scope of topics. We'll read Sea Horses by Lola Schaefer, Ohio by Christine Taylor-Butler, Being Active by Mari Schuh and because we strive to be topical, Thanksgiving by David F. Marx.

In first grade we'll meet author and illustrator Marc Brown, creator of Arthur. We'll watch a short video segment of Marc Brown explaining what it takes to be an author and illustrator, how he gets his ideas and what he hides in his illustrations. We'll then take a look at his biography and read Arthur's Nose, the first book that Marc Brown wrote.

'Tis the season to talk about germs!! In Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger we will learn how we get germs and how they travel through our bodies and from person to person. We'll also review what we can do to stay healthy. And then for fun we'll read Farm Flu written by Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Nadie Bernard Westcott.

In the third grade classrooms the students have been studying Native Americans. Anytime that we can tie into the classroom curriclum, that's a positive. We will be looking at several Native American legends. These are multi-tiered lessons because it allows us first to define a legend and then to revisit our cataloging system in the library and where we would find legends and fables in our non-fiction collection. This week I will read Sootface:  An Ojibwa Cinderella Story by Robert San Souci and illustrated by Daniel San Souci.

The fourth graders have done a terrific job learning how to navigate the world atlas! We will review the atlas later in the year, but we're going to put it to rest for a while. They've worked hard so this week they will get a bit of a break and read the book The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller. We'll also watch a short video This Land is Your Land sung by Arlo Guthrie. This is followed by a biographical section about Woody Guthrie who wrote the song This Land is Your Land, narrated by his daughter Kathy Jakobsen.