Thanksgiving Fun!

Thanksgiving Songs

Balloons Over Broadway: The History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

This week my 3rd grade students are reading Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.  It's a story about Tony Sarg, the first puppeteer of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  After reading, we'll watch a short video that shows some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons from the 1930s!

K5: Learning About the Five Senses

This week my kindergarten friends are learning about their five senses!

1. Sight

2. Hearing

3. Touch

4. Smell

5. Taste

We'll be reading two Eric Carle books: Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See.  

If we have time afterwards, we'll sing a song about our five senses.  Check it out!

2nd Quarter Reading Challenge is Here!

Your Goal: Read as many pages as possible between now and January 14th!  Reading logs must be turned in to Mrs. Hood and Mrs. Danley no later than Wednesday, January 20th.  We'll have prizes for those who read the most in each grade level, and every participant will be receive recognition!

How do you record reading? Students receive reading logs from their homeroom teacher and you can print out a reading here.  List books (with page numbers) as you complete them.  An adult must sign by each book read.  Add the total number of pages read during the 2nd quarter.

Third Grade: Native American Unit

This year in third grade you will be learning about the three major Native American tribes in South Carolina: Cherokee, Catawba, and Yemassee.

Let's talk about where they were located.

Our story today is Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Smith.  It's about a Native American girl who is competing in the town festival's native American dance.  She does not have enough time to order a jingle dress, so she must find the jingles herself.

Check out this video of a young boy who is a Native American dancer as well!

More About Careers

This week we are continuing our unit on careers!  What types of jobs are you interested in?  Let's check out www.kids.gov and do some research!  Research is where we read, listen, and learn about different topics.  Let's learn more about jobs!

Careers Within Our Community

This week we are learning about community helpers and their jobs.  Do you know of jobs within our community?  Policemen, firemen, teachers, and doctors are just a few, but they are very important to our community.  Today we'll read a few books about each community helper and watch a little video featuring the Berenstain Bears.  It's called "On the Job".

Scarecrows

This week we are reading about scarecrows!  Scarecrows are one of my favorite Fall symbols.  We'll be reading The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown.  If we have time we'll even sing a scarecrow song!

Rocks and Minerals

Third graders are finishing up their unit on earth materials!  We'll wrap things up with our favorite scientist, Bill Nye!

Pacific Northwest Indians and Totem Poles

This week my fourth graders and I are studying one region of Native Americans: Pacific Northwest.  They are located on the Northwest side of the United States.  One prominent symbol that we recognize from their tribe is the totem pole.  
Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved on poles, posts, or pillars with symbols or figures made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. They are not religious objects.  However, they do communicate important aspects of the Pacific Northwest culture.  

Destiny Quest

4th Graders are reviewing the "in's and out's" of Destiny Quest this week.  I think you guys are ready to find books by yourselves on the library shelves.  What do you think?  Last week, we discussed a little bit about DQ.  This week there are a few more details I would like to cover.

Learning About Communities

Second graders have been learning about different types of communities this year.  There are three types: rural, urban, and suburban.  Today we are reading Farm Fresh Cats by Scott Santoro and City Mouse and Country Mouse.

We Are Learning About Apples!

My Kindergarten students are learning about apples and how they grow.
What does an apple seed NEED to grow?
Today we are going to read The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson.  We are also going to be watching a video clip on how apple trees grow!

Light and Shadow

My first graders are learning about light and shadow this week!

How do shadows form?  

What are some things that give off light?

We'll be reading Bear Shadow and watching a little video clip on how shadows are formed!

1st Quarter Reading Challenge is HERE!

Your goal: Read as many pages as possible between now and October 22nd. Reading logs MUST be turned in to Mrs. Hood no later than Wednesday, October 28th. We’ll have prizes for those who read the most in each grade level, and every participant will receive recognition!

How do you record reading? Students receive reading logs from their homeroom teacher and you can print out a reading log here. List books (with page numbers) as you complete them. An adult must sign by each book read. Add the total number of pages read during the 1st quarter.

Finding a Just Right Book

Nobody likes reading a book if it's TOO HARD!  And nobody likes to read a book that's TOO EASY!  Today we'll be discussing how to find a JUST RIGHT book in the library.  We'll read the book Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians and then watch a quick video clip.

Friendship

My second graders and I are discussing friendship this week!  After reading The Rainbow Fish and Jumpy Jack and Googlily we are going to create a word cloud that describes our F-R-I-E-N-D-S!

Colors of a Rainbow

This week a few of my classes are reviewing colors, so what better story to read than The Rainbow Fish!  We'll discuss colors, read aloud our story, and we may even have time for a song!  If you'd like to read The Rainbow Fish at home I've added a video below.

Do the Dewey

As we grow older we are able to find books for OURSELVES!  It's easy to find non-fiction books in the library if you know where to go.  Watch this clip below!  It's about the Dewey Decimal System and how Mrs. Danley and I use it to organize the library books.  When you understand the system you can find books all by yourself!  Woo hoo!!

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

Taking Care of Your Books

Students,
Remember the A in TEAM stands for Act Responsibly.  YOU are responsible for taking care of your books!  We are going to watch a quick clip about book care and discuss how we take care of our library books at school and at home.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back my little doodles!  Ohhhhh how I have missed you this Summer!  This week we are talking about the library, rules and procedures.  We'll call it Library Orientation.  Click here to get started!

Also, last year you received a piece of paper that talked about FIE's Summer Reading Challenge.  You were challenged to read at least 500 pages!  Did anyone complete the challenge?  If so, please turn in your paper by THIS FRIDAY!  I'll be collecting names of those students who completed the challenge and start working on your PRIZE!  

Greenville County Libraries' Summer Reading Program

FIE's Summer Reading Program goes hand-in-hand with Greenville County Libraries' program. Watch the video below for more details!  Don't forget to register at your favorite library location to get started.  

Check out their website here!

Summer Is Here!

Summer is HERE, but that doesn't mean your time for reading disappears!  

Fountain Inn Summer Reading Challenge

Your Goal:

Read 500 pages from June 5^th -August 21^st

As a school, Fountain Inn’s goal is to read 500,000 pages!

Students who reach the 500 page goal and turn in their reading logs will be invited to a Summer Reading Rewards Party.

Prizes will be awarded to the top reader in each grade as well as the top faculty/staff reader!