Digital Citizenship

In Pre-K, I read I Stink! By Kate and Jim McMullan. The book gave many clues for the students to guess who the character was.

In Kindergarten, we used the entire time learning and practicing how to use a shelf marker. This week was the first week that they were able to go to the shelves to check out books. They were so excited to be more like the “big” kids. Some were a little overwhelmed with all of the choices as well.

In First Grade, we discussed staying safe online and how to tell if a website was “good” or “bad”. We talked about what to look for and to determine if it was a green, yellow or red site.

In Second Grade, we talked about using keywords when doing an Internet search. Keywords are the important words in the questions we want to know about our topic. We did a little practicing by asking about guinea pigs.

In Third Grade, we discussed plagiarism, copyright, and the importance of giving credit where it belongs.

In Fourth Grade, we talked about how to cite a source and having a bibliography when doing a report or research project.

In Fifth Grade, we discussed three important aspects of digital citizenship. Safety and security, digital literacy and ethics and community. We will continue this lesson next week with a little activity.

Texas 2x2 and MLK

In Pre-K through Second grade, I read books from the Texas 2x2 list. Students must read at least five books from the list in order to vote for their favorite in April. I like to read a few of them to help them out a bit.

In Pre-K, I read Duck, Duck, Porcupine! By Salina Yoon.

In Kindergarten, I read Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins. They really loved learning about some of the different types of frogs. One class even went back to their classroom to write and draw about what they learned.

In First Grade, I read Hank’s Big Day: The Story of a Bug by Evan Kuhlman.

In Second Grade, I read I, Fly: The Buzz About Flies & How Awesome They Are by Bridget Heos.

In Third Grade, I read Martin Luther King, Jr. by Lucia Raatma. We also discussed the difference between a biography and an autobiography.

In Fourth Grade, I read Aesop’s Fables compiled by Michael Hague.

Due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, all but one of the Fifth Grade classes missed their library time, so we just did a check out only.

Week 19

This week was the first full week back from Winter Break. We had a lot going on across all of the grade levels. This week was also College Week and we had the Spelling Bee and Career Day as well.

Pre-K was learning about nursery rhymes so I read Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow.

Kindergarten was learning all about neighborhoods, so I read One Afternoon by Yumi Heo.

Both First and Second grade were studying government. First grade was learning about the president, so I read Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio.

Meanwhile, Second grade was learning about the mayor. I read LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail by Mark Teague.

Third and Fifth grades watched a PowerPoint presentation on primary and secondary sources. Afterward, they had a quiz. In Fourth grade, we discussed the difference between fact and opinion. I gave them several examples and they had to tell which one it was.