Hello!!  I am so excited that my Resource Room groups will be participating in the Global Read Aloud again this year!!  The Global Read Aloud is an amazing project in which classes all around the world (yes, almost every continent!!) read the same book and then connect with each other!  How amazing is that?!  This will be the second year my kids will be participating in the GRA (the students who worked with me last year will remember reading Fish in a Tree) and I am so excited to see what connections we will make!!

The book that has been chosen for our grade levels is The BFG by Roald Dahl. The goal is to read (aloud by me) a set number of chapters and then we will connect with other classes around the world.  We will be sharing our ideas and connecting with others on this blog, Twitter, Padlet.com, and postcards (it's snail-mail, but still a great way to connect with others around the world!).  I'm also hoping to set up a time for us to Skype with at least other class. 

Parents - if you'd like further information - please check out the Global Read Aloud page.  There is a ton of information about this project on its website.  You can find it at - http://theglobalreadaloud.com/  Feel free to also contact me if you have further questions.

 

I will post at least one discussion question each week on Padlet.com - I'll post the link for this on Twitter when a question is posted.  Feel free to encourage your kids to respond at home to the question (this is not mandatory though!)  We will also be responding in class to our Padlets, as well as others around the world! 

 

We will also be tweeting our ideas and/or photos of things we are doing in class.  Please follow us on Twitter (@Mrs_Betterton).

 

I hope everyone enjoys reading this book and connecting with other kids around the world!  I can't wait for all of us to learn from each other! 

 

Happy Reading!

-Mrs. Betterton :)

In chapter 42 of Fish in a Tree, Mr. Daniels asks his class, "If you could have an unlimited amount of any single object, what would it be? It can't be magical, have special powers, or anything like that.  Just an ordinary, everyday type of object." 

What object would you choose?  Describe this object and why you would want an unlimited amount of it.

Happy Writing! :)

Lynda Mullaly Hunt has some AMAZING similes in her book!  We have listed a bunch of them in our classroom. 

 

Choose one of the similes below and describe what it means. 

 

1. "School is like pulling a tire through a keyhole."

2. "Reading is like having a gift that's locked in a glass box."

3. "I need attention like a fish needs a snorkel."

4. "Teachers are like the machines that take quarters for bouncy balls. You know what you’re going to get. Yet, you don’t know, too."

 

I can't wait to see what you think!!  Happy Reading and Writing!

~Mrs. Betterton

 

Ally has a very special relationship with her Grandfather.  Describe your relationship with someone special in your life (a grandparent, parent, aunt/uncle, family friend).  What do you have in common?  What makes your relationship special?

 

Looking forward to seeing your responses!

Happy Reading and Writing!

~Mrs. Betterton

Ally is having a wooden nickel day.  She got in trouble for giving her teacher a sympathy card, although she was trying to do a really nice thing.  She thought her teacher would love the yellow flowers on it.  In contrast, her brother is having a silver dollar day.  He found two things to restore (an old coke machine and a gumball machine) and he's very excited about it. 

 

Describe a time when you had a silver dollar day.  Try to use lots of details as you describe this time.  *This is just like your personal narratives!*

 

I can't wait to see your responses!  Hope everyone has a silver dollar long weekend!

 

Happy Reading and Writing!

~Mrs. Betterton

Today, we finished our first week of the Global Read Aloud!  What a great week it was! 

 

We made connections with other classes on Twitter by asking and answering questions. We also shared some of our thoughts about the book in our tweets. Please check out our Twitter feed on the homepage of my teacher website, or my following @Mrs_Betterton. 

 

We also responded to blog questions about the book (check out our blog responses!)  We even had a student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania respond in the blog! How exciting is that?!

 

We talked all about Ally, the main character of our story.  She struggles a lot with reading and writing.  She doesn't want anyone to know, so she has been trying to hide it by getting in trouble. 

 

We also started to discuss some of the wonderful similes in the book.  The author definitely likes to use them!  We will keep searching for them as we read! 

 

Next week...

~More tweets!

~More blogging!

~Writing a personal narrative about one of our "silver dollar days!"

~Maybe even connect to another class (or two!) on Edmodo!

 

I hope you all have a silver dollar weekend! 

~Mrs. Betterton

Ally struggles a lot in school; however, she is a wonderful artist!  She is always drawing in her "Sketchbook of Impossible Things."  Everyone has areas that they struggle in, but they also have things that they excel at!  I would love to know what your strengths are.  What do you excel at? 

 

Happy Reading and Writing! :)

~Mrs. Betterton

I hope you are enjoying this amazing story as much as I am!  In the first few chapters of the book, we see Ally get in trouble very often.  Why do you think she gets in trouble? What do you think she should do instead? 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your responses!    Happy reading and writing! :)

Before we begin reading Fish in a Tree, let's share our predictions!  I can't wait to hear what you think this book is about! 

Hello!!  I am so excited that my Resource Room groups will be participating in the Global Read Aloud!!  The Global Read Aloud is an amazing project in which classes all around the world (yes, almost every continent!!) read the same book and then connect with each other!  How amazing is that?!  This is my first year participating in the GRA and I am so excited to see what connections we will make!!

The book that has been chosen for our grade levels is Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.  It is an amazing book that I KNOW will be enjoyed by everyone!  The goal is to read (aloud by me) a set number of chapters and then we will connect with other classes around the world.  Right now, I have made connections with classes in Arizona, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania - we will hopefully be connecting with them in a web-based "classroom" called Edmodo (Edmodo.com).  This is a safe place where a group is created and only students/teachers invited are able to participate and see what is posted.  It is closely monitored by the admin (which will be me).  Students are not able to contact each other outside of the group.  I am also hoping that we will be able to use Twitter to share our ideas about the book as well.  I will update you all if we create one so that you can see what we're up to!

Parents - if you'd like further information - please check out the Global Read Aloud page.  There is a ton of information about this project on its website.  You can find it at - http://theglobalreadaloud.com/  Feel free to also contact me if you have further questions.

Finally, the author of our book has posted a welcome video for the Global Read Aloud on her website.  I have shared this video with my groups.  Feel free to check it out as well!  https://lyndamullalyhunt.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/welcome-to-gra15-lynda-reads-chapter-one-of-fish-in-a-tree/

I hope everyone enjoys reading this book and connecting with other kids around the world!  I can't wait for all of us to learn from each other! 

 

Happy Reading!

-Mrs. Betterton :)