Harnessing the Halloween Energy!

Between the full moon and Halloween approaching, boy has there been energy in Grade 1!

Rather than let that energy get out of control, the boys and girls got to work on several creative Halloween projects! Here is a peek at our week!

Making Connections

We were introduced to the reading comprehension strategy called "making text to self connections". Simply put, students are encouraged to connect a personal experience they have had with something in the story. This helps children better understand the story.

This past week, we practiced making personal connections using several Halloween books!

 

• The Littlest Pumpkin is about a teeny tiny pumpkin that nobody picks from a pumpkin patch. We thought of a time we felt disappointed. 

• Where's My Mummy is about a little mummy who is lost and can't find his mama. What a scary feeling! 

• Creepy Carrots is about a rabbit who fears his favourite snack, carrots!

• Crankenstein is about all the things that can make a kid cranky!

Here are some of the personal connections the children made:

It Didn't Frighten Me Pattern Stories

After hearing the story It Didn't Frighten Me, the boys and girls got to work creating their own spooky pattern stories! 

Here is the criteria they followed:

The boys and girls worked over several days to complete their stories. 

Here are a few pages from these amazing books!

These spooky stories will come home today! Have a safe and spooky Halloween weekend!

Where's My Mummy activity from Deanna Jump's unit. 
The Littlest Pumpkin activity from Cara Carroll. 
Crankenstein activity from Falling Into First. 
Creepy Carrots inspired by Anita Bremmer. 

Connections poster from the Comprehension Strategy Poster collection made by A Year of Many Firsts.  

Pattern Stories: It Didn't Frighten Me!

With Halloween on the brain last week, we really enjoyed the pattern story It Didn't Frighten Me! The students enjoyed this story so much that we got right to work creating our own spooky pattern stories! 

Here is the criteria we followed for our illustrations:

The boys and girls worked over several days to complete their pattern stories. They are very creative authors!

Here are a few pages from these amazing books!

These spooky books will come home today! Enjoy!

You Can't Frighten Us!

We loved reading the pattern story It Didn't Frighten Me! The boys and girls were very excited to get to work creating their very own spooky stories! 

Here is the criteria they followed:

The students worked over several days to complete their stories.

The were sure to check our colouring criteria to ensure their illustrations were amazing!

Here are a few pages from these amazing books!

Students in Pre-K enjoyed hearing our stories, too! We were so excited to share our writing with them!

These spooky pattern books will be coming home with an assessment page tucked in the back. Happy reading!

It Didn't Frighten Me!

Halloween was SPECTACULAR! Last Friday was a ball! We had loads of fun busting a move at the dance, reading spooky stories, making a Halloween wind sock, and playing all sorts of active games, like Goalie Ghost!

But our Halloween fun began well before October 31st! For the past few weeks, the boys and girls have enjoyed the book It Didn't Frighten Me, by Goss and Harste. 

It is a pattern book about all of the things that didn't frighten a child late at night ... until a little brown owl shows up to do some scaring! Eeek!

We read the book several times, and then worked for days creating our own versions of the story! 

The boys and girls were introduced to the word criteria. We had two very simple criteria that the students were challenged to meet for this project: 

(1) print neatly with finger spaces

(2) draw neat pictures that fill the space

Ta da! Here are a few completed pages!

On Halloween, we shared our work with our Grade 5 buddies, and also snuck opportunities to read to anyone who was brave enough to hear a scary story!

Yesterday we reflected on our great work! We thought carefully about the criteria for the project. Then the students chose a colour they thought would best match their effort for the given criterion; green (excellent), yellow (proficient), or red (basic). 

We often use these monkeys when we self-assess and are reflecting upon where we are at on our learning journey. Can your child describe what these monkeys and their corresponding colours mean?

Watch for these amazing, scary stories in your child's Evidence of Learning binder, coming home after the November break!