columbus day

Columbus Day didn't sneak up on me like it usually does. In years past I have hastily read a book and done a worksheet or two to settle my guilt of forgetting Columbus Day even existed until a day or two beforehand.

This year, I was on top of things because we started our Columbus Day activities last week. My kids are slow pokes and we just finished. Sweet, yes. But definitely slow pokes.

Good thing we started early.

We watched a movie and took a movie quiz for a listening grade. This little activity confirmed my worst suspicions ~ these guys don't listen so well. They hear me alright, but listening? Not so much. 

The main thing we did was get into groups to read about Columbus and find important facts. After they researched for a couple of days, they wrote an informational paragraph {just 5 sentences this time}. Then, they made this adorable craftivity from A Cupcake for the Teacher.  This was my example.

They look so Columbusy & festive! Not everyone is finished just yet, but we left room at the bottom for them.

I love how even though they essentially all did the same thing, they each came out just a little different.

I told them to glue the writing on first, leaving a little bit of a black border all the way around. This little monkey clearly doesn't have the listening part down yet.

Or the neatness part.

Gotta love the stripped pants and shoes though.

This boat is obviously experiencing some rough seas! Nevertheless, Columbus is stylin' in his stripped coat.

Overall, the kids did pretty well on their first little research project. Most were able to write the five sentences I requested. But we do need to work on what is a super important fact and what is merely interesting to you and no one else.

   

presidential

President's Day is near. More than a good reason for a day off school in this long stretch of the school year, it's a good reason to teach compare and contrast. My class is working on a compare/contrast essay about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The idea is not revolutionary, but it works so well to integrate social studies, reading, and writing.

First, I read books to the class about Washington and Lincoln. As I was reading, I stopped every few pages for the class to tell me what to record on our fact posters. They look different, you say? My sub wrote the Lincoln facts with the kids.

Once the facts have been collected, the students decide which they feel are the most important facts to include in their essay. The structure of this essay is basic - introduction paragraph, compare paragraph, contrast paragraph, and conclusion paragraph.

The students organize the facts they have selected on this graphic organizer in a bullet format. Then the top box contains all the information for the compare paragraph and the bottom boxes are for the contrast paragraph. From here they will write their rough draft. Click on the picture to download the graphic organizer for your classroom.

I'm hoping these turn out well and we are done before President's Day!