What Do You Call Your Grandmother?

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Before reading book number 1 in the Global Read Aloud Lauren Castillo book study, we talked about this question. I asked students in grades 1 and 2, “What do you call your grandmother?” Because we have students from countries all over the world, the answers were varied.

The names  Grammie, Grammy, Grandma, Nana,  Gram, and Grannie were some of the common American nicknames students suggested.

Then we asked students who speak other languages what they call their grandmother and we had some of these answers. Grandmere – French, Oma – German, Nonna – Italian, Sobo – Japanese, Lola – Tagalog, Abuela – Spain/Mexico/Peru, South Korean – Halmoni, Russian – Babushka, Portuguese – Avo, and India – Awa.

We learned that in Chinese, you say one name for the mother of your mother, and a different name for the mother of your father. Thanks to one of our parents, we learned what the name looks like in Chinese characters. We even Tweeted it out on our CRReads library Twitter account.

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Nana in the City is book one in our six week Lauren Castillo author study. Lauren was chosen as the featured author/illustrator in the 2016 Global Read Aloud program. This project started October 3rd and will run for approximately 6 weeks.

The idea behind it is very simple; teachers around the world read the same book aloud to their students and then use technology to share the reading experience with these other classrooms. It is a free project and it fits perfectly into the standards we have to cover.

Our school is one of the red markers hovering over Washington.  Each week we will be reading one of the selected picture books and then connecting with other classrooms around the world via Twitter,Padlet and this blog. Students will get an authentic global experience by talking about books with other librarians and students. Our library Twitter account is @CRidgeLibrary  We only tweet with other classrooms and libraries on this account.

We also played at BreakoutEDU game at the end of the author study. Here are some photos from our librarians playing the game.

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Have you ever played a BreakoutEDU game? Are you participating in the Global Read Aloud this year?

 

 

 

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Fair is Not Equal

 Pre-"WHOOSH!" lukexmartin via Compfight

As I scanned the room, I could see that every hand was in the air. I had asked my students to raise their hand if they had ever said or heard someone else say, “That’s Not Fair!” No surprises to my eyes, or to a parent volunteer in the room who said, “I hear it everyday at my house”. What is fair or not fair, was the topic of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s book for week 3 for the author study in The Global Read Aloud.

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In this very amusing book, the characters whine about the unfairness of not having something another character has. The koala bear is unhappy about always being on the bottom tree-limb bunk, a child is angry because he can’t have a pet giraffe, a girl is sad because she has to wear glasses and the pig is angry because the bird took all the wings. The babies are crying because nothing is the same. Every situation is unfair, unfair, unfair.
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Or, is it?

Krouse’s book is the perfect introduction about the definition of fairness vs. equality. Is fairness when everyone has the same thing? Is it good when we are always treated equally?

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We talked about the definition of equal means that everyone gets exactly the same thing. For example, everyone get a fork to use to eat their food, or everyone gets a bandaide for their cut. These examples work until we think about the people who use chopsticks to eat and they have been given a fork to use. Is it fair or equal that the utensil they received is exactly like everyone else’s when what they really need is a pair of chopsticks?

Fairness on the other hand is when everyone gets what they need in order to be successful.

This definition is not easy to understand at first. In class, I used the example of eyeglasses to illustrate the concept. I wear glasses to see and in every class, there was at least one or two students who also need glasses. We need glasses. If we don’t have glasses, we can’t see.  Then I posed the question, “Would it be fair or equal, if every student in class was told that they also had to wear glasses because I wear them?” We talked about their answers and they began to understand the difference.

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Then I handed out a bandaid to each student. I asked them to point to a part on their body where they have been cut in the past and needed a bandage. We pretended to put the bandage on that part of their body to illustrate that it was fair for each person to put the bandaid on different parts of their bodies because it was where they needed it. However, then I asked them to put the bandage on the back of their hand in a place I decided what right. The students quickly understood that this situation was equal, but not fair because they couldn’t put the bandage where they needed it.

At the end of the lesson, I followed up with the sentence that I will always be fair in how I treat students, but it won’t always feel equal, and that’s okay. Next week, we will learn about punctuation marks with the book Exclamation Mark, and slip in a favorite Halloween book as well!

Next week is also a Global Read Aloud Random Acts of Kindness week. Amy Krouse Rosenthal wanted to contribute to events for GRA15 and came up with the idea. You can read more about it on the GRA blog post here. Amy has videos with kindness ideas you can try at home and at school. What kindness will you spread? If you are a student, make sure you talk to your family and have them part of the conversation. Please use the hashtag #GRAK15 to share your ideas and acts! Leave a comment and let me know how it goes!

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What do you see?

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For week 2 in the Global Read Aloud 2015 we read Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (illustrator). Is the illustration a duck or is it a rabbit? It really depends on your point of view and what you see. This funny picture book helps children understand that there are two sides to every story and sometimes we need to look at another point of view. Here’s a video with a short version of the book.

thX32D94U2After we read the book, we gathered data about how many of us saw a duck or a rabbit and the reasons why using evidence from the text of the book.

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Then the students colored their own paper if they thought it was a duck or a rabbit.

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We also tweeted with our friends in Klein, Texas as our classes tried to figure out if the drawings were ducks or rabbits. Because the intent of the Global Read Aloud project is to build connections around the country and globe, I have started a Cougar Ridge Twitter account. We talk about our lessons with other library classes. Follow us at @CRidgeLibrary
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With the third graders, we took it up a notch and studied some common optical illusion drawings. Sometimes it is not easy to see the two views of a drawing.

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In the drawing below there is an old man and a young man. I could not see the young man and it took numerous students coming forward to try to explain how to see the young man. To be truthful, I was ready to give up, but the students wouldn’t let me. Finally two students helped me break through my optical illusion block.  My cheer of “I see it!” made everyone laugh! Can you see both?
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I was thrilled when after our lesson students found the optical illusion books to check out! I would also like to thank Kelly at http://thefirstgradefairytales.blogspot.com for the Duck! Rabbit! lesson ideas posted on Pinterest. Next week we will be reading about what is fair in the book That’s Not Fair!

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Chop, Chop, Chop!

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How are you at using Chopsticks? We got some great practice last week after we read the book Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This book about how two chopsticks learn about independence  when one chopstick breaks his “stick” and then can’t do everything with his partner while he’s resting and healing. It’s a book about chopsticks, friendship, independence and learning new skills.

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Chopsticks is book one in our six week Amy Krouse Rosenthal author study. Amy was chosen as the featured author in the 2015 Global Read Aloud program. This project started October 5th and will run for approximately 6 weeks.  The idea behind it is very simple; teachers around the world read the same book aloud to their students and then use technology to share the reading experience with these other classrooms.  It is a free project and it fits perfectly into the standards we have to cover.

During the project, our class will be reading and connecting with students around the world who are reading the same book.  We will use technology tools such as Twitter and this blog to facilitate these connections and conversations.

The founder, Permille Ripp, a teacher in Wisconsin, started “GRA” in 2010 with one goal in mind: Connect the world with one book. Now it’s grown to over 500,000 children in 60+ countries around the world.  This project will allow for our students to use technology tools in a meaningful way, as well as learn about other cultures, all while listening to a fantastic read aloud.
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Our school is one of the red markers hovering over Washington. There is only 1 marker per state or country. Each week we will be reading one of the selected picture books and then connecting with other classrooms around the world via Twitter. Students will get an authentic global experience by talking about books with other librarians and students.

Speaking of connections – we have a new school Twitter account! This account is only for our library classroom use only. If you are a family member,  teacher or librarian with a designated library/classroom account, please follow us. Search for @CRidgeLibrary and you will see our #GRA15 updates live from our library.

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Families who would like to participate at home can also join the GRA movement. I highly suggest you visit the Global Read Aloud website. You will find the books chosen per grade level and connections you can make with the books and sometimes the authors.

Happy Reading!

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