Mr. Giso's Room to Read

What's Mr. Giso Making "Room to Read?" Pick #5

Auntie Claus

Written and Illustrated By: Elise Primavera

This is by far, my favorite Christmas read aloud. This story is set among the hustle and bustle of life as it exists among the skyscrapers and towers of New York City. The Kringle family lives atop the luxurious Bing Cherry Hotel. Of course, they love Christmas. They keep up their Christmas tree all year. Mrs. Kringle even owns the Mistle-Toe-to-Nail Salon on 56th and Fifth.

Sophie and her litter brother have everything, but of course, they are not satisfied. Their great-aunt, Auntie Claus often wondered if Sophie and her little brother had too many presents. No one loved Christmas more than Auntie Claus, who lived in the penthouse of the hotel. Each day Sophie would have tea with Auntie Claus and get the latest advice.

"Always pick a nice full one, darling, with springy needles."

"You must dr-a-a-a-ape the garland, darling, one strand at a time..."

Each tea time would end with Auntie's most important piece of wisdom.

"And darling, always remember my first and final rule-- whether it's birthdays, Christmas, or Halloween, it is far better to give than to receive!"

Auntie Claus is quite prim, proper, and fancy. She is tall, thin, and always made-up. Auntie Claus is also very mysterious as she always has a diamond key that hangs from a sliver ribbon around her neck. Every year she leaves after Halloween and does not return until Valentine's Day. Each time Sophie would question her Auntie about these oddities she would say, with a twinkle in her eye, "That, darling, is something for me to know and you to find out."

This book takes us through the twists and turns of Sophie's adventure in finding out the truth behind her Auntie Claus. Through Sophie's journey we travel to the North Pole, learn about "elf rules and vital information," and discover the secrets behind the "B-B-and-G list" (Bad Boys and Girls). Does Auntie Claus reveal her true self and finally get Sophie to realize the true meaning of giving? Read to find out.

The illustrations by Primavera are marvelous! Each page illuminates with the spirit of holiday lights. Scale is cleverly used to show the high-rise hotel in all its glitz and glamour. Deep blues, holly greens and vibrant reds dazzle each page. Auntie Clause is long-lashed, painted tall, slender and dressed to the nines.

I love reading this book each year the day before the winter break. I enjoy the look on my first grade's faces and the sound of their giggles when I say "darrrrrling" in my raspy voice the way I imagine Auntie Claus to sound. This book was given to me by my Auntie Dee ten years ago this Christmas. Her message on the inside cover adds the perfect personal touch to this story.

In November Pattern Poems

The leaves may have been falling, but poetry was in bloom among my first grade poets this week. Each November, I kick off our new month with the book entitled In November by Cynthia Rylant. It's a quick, yet powerful read that really paints a picture and appeals to all five of our senses. The running text reads like a poem. The illustrations by Jill Kastner paint a watercolor-like tour through the images, sounds and traditions that November brings. Trees without arms spread their branches "like dancers." Food in November is "better than any time of the year," and animals "sleep more."

Many of the pages begin with "In November..." This was my inspiration to make pattern poems with my first graders that paint just as clear of a picture in our minds as does Cynthia Rylant. Another inspiration for this product was this neat dollar store find of the stationary on which we published our poems.

Here's the directions for this writing workshop.

1. I read aloud the book and had the children recall the images that the author and illustrator described as happening "In November."

2. I asked children if they noticed any patterns about the way many of the pages began. They were able to, right away, tell me that the words "In November" repeat.

3. We discussed the meaning of the word "pattern" and applied it to the fact that a poem that starts the same way, repeatedly, is called a pattern poem.

4. Students watched me model writing a few lines of my In November Poem. I noted how I used the book for help and also was sure to come up with my own ideas, too.

5. Students went to their desks to complete drafts of their poems. The template was copied on white paper. Grab your template here--free all November. I had picture books about Thanksgiving, fall, etc. everywhere.

6. We had writing conferences and edited accordingly. Thank you to my editors for all your help.

7. Students copied their final drafts onto the template printed on the fancy fall stationary.

8. We had a celebration! Students read aloud their poems sitting on the author throne. Click here to read my post on making your own author throne. It was a Mr. Giso's Room to Read Bright Idea (#3).

I'm really happy with the results! I hope you will be too. I'm please to announce that I have passed the "5 Star Blogger" challenge from the Organized Classroom Blog. Check it out! Best wishes to all my friends for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving week!

What's Mr. Giso Making "Room to Read?" Pick #4

Memoirs of a Goldfish

Written By: Devin Scillian

Illustrated By: Tim Bowers

I grabbed this book on Amazon.com when it came up in my book recommendations. Admittedly, I judged a book by it's cover. I did, however, buy this book in hopes that it would be handy to teach students about point of view. I was right.

Written by Devin Scillian, this book tracks the thoughts of two weeks in the life of the main character--a goldfish. On day one, he swims around his bowl. On day two, he swims around his bowl, twice. Fun, huh? Soon, the mundane life of the goldfish changes when over the next week, he gains company. Mr. Bubbles, a bunch of plants, Mervin the snail, Fred the crab, Rhoda and Clark the guppies, a pirate ship, Cha-Cha the angelfish and more soon intrude his once peaceful bowl. The goldfish can't take his crowded surroundings and one day, loses it. He exclaims, "I want my bowl back!" His wish is granted as he finds himself in a tiny bowl all by himself with a whoosh and a splash.

Soon, the goldfish wonders. As annoying as they may have been, he misses his friends. He wonders if they even realize that he is gone. On day fourteen, with another whoosh and another splash, the goldfish is reunited with his friends. Why you may ask? What had happened while he was gone? Read the book to find out.

The illustrations by Tim Bowers are remarkable! The look on the sea creatures is priceless. The perspective of the illustrations is done in a way that clearly depicts the crowded nature of the bowl. The looks on the goldfish and his friends as their home becomes more and more crowded is startling, annoying and shocking. There eyes are hilarious.

Yes, this book is great for teaching children point of view in a concrete manner. You can clearly place yourself in the "shoes" of the goldfish and understand what he's feeling throughout the course of the story's plot. In addition, this book is appropriate for teaching sequencing in a fun manner. I've added it to my book picks from Amazon.com at the bottom of my blog. It's a book choice from the International Reading Association.

Spooktacular Ghosts

Well, it's still not midnight! This means I can get this post in as part of what went on in my classroom this Halloween Week. I wanted to make sure I added this simple craft I have done every Halloween for years--Making Cheesecloth Ghosts. Here are the directions so you can file them away for next year. I have to give credit to my Mom's friend Ms. Maddy for originally sharing this project with me.

Cheesecloth Ghosts

Materials:
Cut up pieces of cheesecloth (1 per child)
2 cups white school glue
1/2-3/4 cup of water
16 OZ plastic cups (1 per child)
plastic (not paper) plates (1 per child)
google eyes
black foam (for mouths)
ribbon
Halloween decorations (optional)

1. Dilute the white glue with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water. I do this in a one of those dish washing tubs. Mix well.

2. Dip a piece of cheesecloth in the mixture. Get it saturated!

3. Take out the cheesecloth and squeeze out the mixture until it stops dripping.

4. Drape the cheesecloth over a cup (the cup should be turned over, on top of the plate. Stretch out the cheese cloth so it is over the plate's edges.

5. Let ghosts dry (on humid days, this make take up to three days).

6. Remove the cup and plate. Pop up the head of your ghosts gently with your fingers, so it's not flat from the cup.

7. Decorate ghosts. I usually add a ribbon to hang the ghost, google eyes, a black foam mouth, pom pom nose and other Halloween decorations.

There you go! I usually am lucky enough to have a parent come in to help with this project. Once the materials are set up, the children can do their ghosts in small groups. Have a good week everyone!

Mr. Giso's Class Celebrates Halloween with Pumpkin Globes

The first grade in my school (all three classes) was fortunate to have pumpkins for each child donated this year. WOW! I had always wanted to make pumpkin globes, so this was my chance. It was definitely a project! I was very careful and knew it would be important to test each step ahead of time. Also, my two grade one team members and I put our heads together to come up with a variety of solutions when we ran into trouble with this project. The result is these fool proof directions for you to enjoy. They look fantastic, so save this blog post for next season.

First the pumpkins got cleaned with a bleach wipe. After they dried, we used a small sponge to dab on acrylic blue paint. Water based paint will not stick to the pumpkin. We even did the bottoms of the pumpkins and lay them back right on the newspaper. I placed the paint in cleaned meat trays for easy disposal. Also, each desk was covered with a sheet of newspaper.

Here are the pumpkins set out to dry on my kidney table. The children thought they looked like Smurfs... so true. After they were fully dried, I sprayed the pumpkins with a clear, acrylic spray. Make sure it is low odor! Also, I used the gloss can because I wanted the pumpkins to shine. I let the pumpkins dry and resprayed them two more times (see below). For about 20 pumpkins, I bought two cans and had plenty left over.

In the meantime, I conducted a few geography mini-lessons. My goal was to introduce my students to the following points.
•Maps and globes show our planet in different ways
•Our planet has more water than land
•There are 7 main continents
•There are 4 main oceans
•Being a cartographer (map and globe maker) means being as accurate as possible.
I used these catchy poems by Evan-Moor. They came from an old big book of poems. I tried to find the item, but I don't think it's made anymore.

Next, students colored a set of labels for the continents green. You see them in the photograph above. I printed these out from a geography blackline I had. I printed them on full page labels made by Avery. The box said they worked in copiers. After that, the students cut out the labels and stuck them on. We did this together, label by label. I had plenty of maps and blow up globes around. I also used Google Earth on my ENO board. If you have not checked that out yet, let me say WOW! I was able to spin the globe around and zoom in and out. Click HERE to download this.

Before the labels were put on, I had a helpful parent cut out leaves out of foam board and write each child's name on them for me. I punched a hole in the leaf and tied it on with two shades of green curly ribbon to look like vines.

Here is the finished project. I love these!

Simply click HERE to printout a free set of the globe poems and directions for making this terrific project. Happy Haunting to All!

It Looked Like Spilt Milk--Art and Science Integration

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this handy book with the repetitive text on which early readers rely to be successful as a beginning readers. It's called It Looked Like Split Milk by Charles G. Shaw (scroll to the bottom of my blog to order it from Amazon).

In the first trimester of first grade, we study weather. A fabulous colleague of mine shared this my first year as a first grade teacher. It's a fun and quick writing and art project that supplements our learning of cumulus clouds. In the book, we are given "ink-blot like" images of things that look like an ice cream come, tree, birthday cake, etc., but really aren't. After sharing the book in a read aloud, we make the connection on how the white and puffy clouds known as cumulus clouds, often look like different things in the sky.

Now, the fun begins! I have students use an eye dropper to suck up and drop a few drops of white tempera paint on blue construction paper. They fold it in half and rub the paper. Next they open it up. If they are satisfied with their creation, they are done. If not, I let them add no more than two drops of paint in the center a final time. They repeat the rubbing process.

After that, students examine their paintings and imagine they are cumulus clouds. What do they look like? Students fill in a cloze prompt that copies the repetitive text in the book. The end result is an interactive bulletin board. I have students predict what each student said his or her cloud looked like and then lift the flap to confirm their predictions. Here's the final products.