Fall is here!

Fall has arrived in the Ide library! Ms. Maier and Mrs. Schlagbaum (Miss Shawen) have been pulling all of the fall and Halloween stories for the children to enjoy! They can be found displayed throughout the library.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten students this week listened to the story The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. The students connected their prior knowledge of apples, pies, and trees to predict what the story would be about. Students knew that pies do not grow on trees, however apples do. This delightful story follows an apple tree throughout the seasons of growing. Soon the apples are ready to be picked and apple pie is to be made!

First Grade

First grade students listened to two stories this week. The first story The Little Orange House was acted out by Mrs. Schlagbaum. As the story was read a piece of paper was cut by the main character, a witch, into a house. The witch was searching for a house, when luck should have it a piece of paper fell at her feet. She folded the paper in half and cut a roof out of it. Then she made a crooked door (to fit her hat), a window (to let in light), and a small door for the ghost friend she makes at the end. When you open to see the inside of the house the children were delighted to find a surprise of a jack-o-lantern face!

The second story the first graders listened to reinforced sequencing skills. The story There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro had the same pattern as the books with similar titles (There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly). The students were asked to sequence the items in order at the end of the story and then to read the sentences they created with these objects. For example: The lady ate a goblin.

At centers first graders were able to retell the story of the witch and create their own pumpkins as well as play a sequencing game related to the Old lady story.

Second Grade

Second graders heard the story The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll. This adorable story was about two mice who fell in love with the same pumpkin. The mice, unknowingly, work as a team to grow the biggest pumpkin in the town. The first mouse, Clayton, would like to enter the pumpkin into a contest. The second mouse, Desmond, would like to carve the best jack-o-lantern ever! Once the mice find out they have been working together to grow the biggest pumpkin they make a deal to help each others dream come true. After the story the students worked on a storyboard. The storyboard helped the students lay out the order of the book in beginning, middle, and end. The students had to organize their thoughts through a simple layout of four boxes. The parts of the book were discussed as a whole group before the students went to the tables to complete their own storyboards. This is a technique they can use when writing their own creative writing story as well as a self checking technique to make sure they have at least three parts of a good story!

Below are samples of the student's work.