St. Elmo's Third Graders have done it!

Kade and Xavier, two of St. Elmo's brightest have created their very own book trailer!

Initially, we viewed a book trailer about the book, The Mitten. Then, I talked to them about our purpose for reading and said, "We are going to make our own book trailer for The Christmas Wreath." I asked them to watch the The Mitten book trailer again, and tell me what makes the audience want to read the story.

Xavier said:
1.) It has a problem.
2.) It is a glimpse of the story.
3.) It makes you wonder.
4.) It has a picture on the cover.

Kade said:
1.) It has good music.
2.) The words stay up there long enough for you to read it.
3.) It is made of still pictures.
4.) It gives credit to the author.

Finally, we prepared for the making of our own book trailer by reading, The Christmas Wreath, but before we started, I asked them to think about these three things as we read:

1.) summary of the story
2.) think of something that might make others want to read it
3.) think of a question to ask your audience

Kade took notes mostly composed of predictions in the form of questions as we read the story, and Xavier did a lot of summarizing (Xavier also answered many of Kade's questions).

As we read the story and looked over their notes, one of the boys established that it was a mystery story. So, "It's a mystery," became the theme of our book trailer. Once we established our theme, we had to decide which direction to go. Xavier suggested our hook should be, "Who made the wreath?" and Kade eventually revised his idea to read, "Can you solve the mystery?" Once they came up with their hook about who, we decided make a web of the characters to help us organize our descriptions of each character. Their list was composed of the elves, the chief elf, the polar bear, and Santa. After we spent a few minutes attaching adjectives to each of the characters, we looked over our descriptions and replaced our initial adjectives with WOW words.

Finally, we wrote our outline for the plot. Each number represented a slide in the trailer starting with number one, "It's a mystery involving...". We followed suit with slides describing each character and wrapped it up with, "Can you help Santa discover the mystery behind the Christmas wreath miracle?"

Front beginning to finish, this process took about 105 minutes. After we read the story aloud together, I transcribed what they dictated, and they were responsible for everything else in the process including drag and drop, cropping, text insertion, taking the pictures of the pages with the iPad, and choosing the music. I posted it to the web, haven't stopped hearing about doing another one since. Student book trailer number one: SUCCESS!

The Mitten Book Trailer

Be sure to check back for a book trailer previewing Welcome Comfort made by one of our very own Explorers! Also, don't forget Reading Night is December 7, 2011! I hear it's going to be a Winter Wonderland worth remembering!

On Our Way to Defying Indifference

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference." --Elie Weisel

Last week, we learned how art affects writing. Well, this week we are going to use art and writing to represent our math findings! Each of you have a survey about your experiences with bullying. Do not write your name on this survey. It is anonymous. I would like you to take the next 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. Do not forget to list many, varied, and unusual actions you think parents, teachers, and other adults could perform to stop bullying on the back of your survey. Once we tally the responses for each question, I would like you to decide which type of graph would best display our data. Once we have graphed our data, we will determine the fractions and percentages for each answer. Wear your thinking cap!

Before we jump into our art activity, I want you to think of the experiences that you reflected upon when you answered the questions to your survey. If you were bullied, is there something you wish someone could have done to prevent that experience from happening? If you witnessed bullying, is there something you or someone else could have done to stop it? If you were apart of bullying, is there something you wish you would have done differently so that you wouldn't have felt the need to bully? Our goal with this short answer writing assignment is to first list many, varied and unusual ways that we could be proactive about stifling maliciousness and spreading kindness throughout our communities. Then, each of you will choose one strategy that you can expand upon, and complete this sentence with your wish (strategy), "All I want for the holidays is..." We will paste your sentences to an ornament and display them so that others can be inspired by your great ideas!


In honor of Welcome Comfort, I would like you to imagine a Christmas scene that features a Christmas tree. Determine what belongs in the foreground, middleground, and background. Using the torn paper technique like Ms. Luckey's third grade class demonstrated with their Australian Creation Story comprehension visualizations, I would like you to first completely cover your paper with images that belong in your background, even if it is a solid color. Next, I would like you to layer the images that belong in your middle ground on top of your background layer. Finally, I would like you to add your foreground layer. Before you begin this process, you need to use your PLANNING TALENT to determine the colors you will need to create your image, the steps in the process of your gluing and layering, and any problems that might occur along the way.

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

ALCOS Standard, Grade 5:

14. Analyze data collected from a survey or experiment to distinguish between what the data show and what might account for the results. Evaluate different representations of the same data to determine how well each representation shows important aspects of the data. Using given measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) to analyze data.

Journal Entry: "Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being."-- Elie Weisel

Today, we are going to read our journal prompt together. Your ipads are at your desk, I would like you to go to the voice memos app (it has a picture of a microphone with a red background) and start recording. As soon as you press record, I would not like you to touch the ipad until our conversation is over, unless instructed to look something up. As I read the text to you, I would like you to raise your hand and share any connections or related ideas you have. You may also raise your hand and ask any questions if you don't know what a word means, or don't understand a particular concept.

I have printed a copy of the text for each of you. Please feel free to respond to the text in writing on the back of your handout. When we are finished discussing the passage, I would like you and your table partner to think about what indifference looks like. Once you have an idea of what it looks like, use your iPad to find an image that represents your description. Finally, I want you to email me the picture you found with your first names in the subject header, and in the message, I would like you to include, "Indifference looks like ________because________."

The passage below is a series of excerpts taken from Elie Weisel's speech, The Perils of Indifference, that he gave as part of President Bill Clinton's Millennium Lecture series held in the White House. The full text can be read by clicking here.

Elie Weisel has earned his wrinkles.

What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil.

What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a [warm cup of hot cocoa], as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

The Beginning of Great

Friday, our Question of the Day was, "What is good art, and how is does it affect writing?" We examined the painting from Journal Entry: Art and Australia, and came up with a few explanation to define what good art is. The St. Elmo Explorer's came up with the following:

1.) Good art is inspired.
2.) Good art is inspiring.
3.) Good art expresses feelings.
4.) Good art makes you feel.
5.) Good art tells a story.
6.) Good art has a purpose.

We discovered that good art shares a lot of the same qualities of good writing. Kevin said that the best art and writing describe. I couldn't be more proud of the St. Elmo Explorer's dialogue about art and writing, the conclusions they drew from looking at the Australian painting, and the connections they made about it all. The morning's conversation showed me that the students of Room 110 know how to draw from their field experiences and research in order to add substance to meaningful conversations in the classroom.

The work did not stop there. The students applied their knowledge about art and writing to write the following text. This is just a start, but I am too proud of their accomplishments to wait for the final product to post. The prompt for this task is located in the post Featuring the Best of Mobile and Baldwin.

This activity started with a TALENTS Unlimited Communications 1 Activity and was followed up with a Communications 5 Activity. Click here to learn more about TALENTS Unlimited in the classroom.

Featuring the Best of Mobile and Baldwin

Today, we will be compiling an expository text about the Gulf Coast as a team. Together, we will write an inviting introduction and a closure that summarizes what makes our Gulf Coast so great! After all, we are nearing Thanksgiving and our coastal community provides us with many reasons to be thankful!

After we write our introductory paragraph, which will frame out paper, I will split you into pairs. Each pair will be assigned to one of the links below. Each link will take you to the destination of which you must research. During your first twenty minutes, you are to find three qualities that would attract visitors to our our home. These qualities may include recreational areas, science exhibits, historical landmarks, industrial giants, etc. Record your findings in your journals.

Gulf State Park

Bellingrath Gardens and Home

USS Alabama

Coastal History
Museum of Mobile- Fort Conde
Dauphin Island- Fort Gaines
Blakeley State Park

Exploreum

Fairhope- Jubilee

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Downtown Mobile- Revitalization

Once you have recorded your findings, you must list at least 3 adjectives to describe each quality.
Create a paragraph that includes illustrious descriptions of each quality that you chose to highlight your destination.
Your paragraph should have at least 4 sentences (a main idea sentence and three destination quality sentences).
When you have finished, email your paragraph to awc802@gmail.com.

While you are waiting for others to finish, choose a photo that best represents your destination and save it to your iPad.

Journal Entry: Art and Australia

Describe It

1.) Using the most vivid adjectives you can, explain how you would describe this painting to a person who could not see it.

2.) How would you describe the person in this painting? Is he like you or different?

Relate It

3.) What interests you most about this painting?

Analyze It

4.) Which objects seem closer to you? Further away?

5.) What can you tell me about the colors in this painting?

6.) What can you tell me about this person's life? How did you arrive at that idea?