Special storytellers and a vocabulary parade

I can't believe that the week is almost over!  Time really does fly when we are busy and having a good time.  This past Tuesday, we had a special guest speaker, Mrs. Lyn Ford.  Mrs. Ford comes from a long line of storytellers, and we were fortunate enough to have her share a few stories with us.  She started off by telling us a story about one of the first stories she ever told.  She was three years old, and she really wanted to play outside.  Since her mother wouldn't let her, she decided to play inside instead.  When her mother heard a crash, she found the young Lyn Ford and a broken lamp in their living room.  Mrs. Ford went on to tell us how at age 3 she created a story that both included characters (herself and a cat, even though they didn't own a cat) and had a distinct beginning, middle, and end. She told us that even though she did not recall that story on her own, she was able to tell the story because her mother had told it to her.  She just filled in the blanks to make it whole.  Mrs. Ford provided us with inspiration for learning stories about our own past.  This is the reason your children have been asking you to tell them stories about when they were young.  We will be taking these memories and creating our own fictional stories. 

This week we finished our recycling presentations.  Each group presented to either kindergartners or first graders.  This is also the week that our class is responsible for organizing the recycling bins.  Each Wednesday and Friday, a 3/4 class is responsible for collecting the recyclable items from the bins found across the elementary school campus and making sure that they are ready to be picked up to be recycled.  This includes rinsing out the bottles and/or cans and sorting them into the proper containers.  This is a great responsibility for our students, but one that they know will benefit everyone.

This year, to celebrate Halloween and our love of new vocabulary words, we will be holding a vocabulary parade.  Each student will choose a vocabulary word, either one from their notebook or a new word, and create a costume to illustrate the word.  Some examples that we talked about in class were dressing up in sunglasses, a hat, and a trench coat to illustrate the word "inconspicuous."  We will be parading in our costumes during the next elementary school assembly on Thursday, October 25.  We will be working on our costumes in class, but students may be asking to bring in items from home.  I am encouraging students to use items that they already have and to make items instead of buying them.  This is their chance to show off their creativity and imagination! 

Here is this week's newsletter from the class reporters:
3_4 News MH & SR 10_18.pdf

Posted on October 18, 2007 10:13 AM | Permalink