Book Raffle

The beginning of the year always means it's book award season. In February, we were able to purchase 7 different award-winning titles for our library. Flora & Ulysses is the Newberry Award winner for 2014 and the others are Kentucky Bluegrass Nominees that we'll be voting on later this Spring. All of these books are coveted reads, so last week we held a Book Raffle to see who would have the 'first read' of these soon-to-be classics!

Every student received 1 ticket (scrap of paper) to enter into the raffle. Then, students who had no missing assignments were awarded a second ticket. I placed a plastic cup in front of each book. I set the timer on the board and students had 3ish minutes to decide which book they wanted to 'win'.

After all 3 classes have had the opportunity to enter the Book Raffle, I pulled names for each of the books (dramatically, of course) and delivered their new treasures. :) The students who 'won' each book have a week  to return the read book to me, so his/her friends have the chance to read the book, as well!

Book Raffles keep everything a little more fair and help build an excitement for reading. We're always grateful to add books to our collection and share our favorites with friends! :)

Root Words

Learning about Greek and Latin Root Words is an important word-solving skill and a 5th Grade Common Core standard. If students are knowledgeable about common roots and affixes (bi-, auto-, geo-), they can solve the meaning of unknown words as they read. 

Two weeks ago we spent several class periods reviewing and learning about Greek and Latin Roots. Here are some of the activities we spent time learning with. 

As a starting place, we make interactive flap-books to learning about common roots and affixes. 

We've also introduced a game of root word memory. Played like a traditional game of memory, students have to match a root word and examples of that root in action with the root's meaning.

As a 'working backwards' method, students also spent time sorting words by their roots. After they sorted each group of words, students inferred the meaning of the root based on their knowledge of the 5-6 in the group!

One of our favorite centers (maybe even more popular than iPads) is STACKS. A root or affix is written on the bottom of each cup and its meaning on the inside of the cup. The cups are placed in a large Ziploc bag and students works in pairs. One partner grabs a cup. He/she defines the root and then, gives an example of a word that uses the prefix. The partner checks their work (mentally or using the answer I have written on the inside of the cup). If the partner answers correctly, they can add it to their cup pyramid. If incorrect, the cup goes back into the bag. Students work together to build the tallest possible pyramid in our 12 minute work period! 

Root words are something we'll continually revisit as we encounter unknown words in texts we read, as well as, through out Flocabulary vocabulary program. As you see root words in the 'real' world quiz your child and see if they can identify the root and its meaning!

Gavin Goes to Frankfort!

The Legislative Page Program provides students the unique and educational experience of serving legislators in the House Chambers during a legislative session. Gavin represented Woodlawn Elementary and the Boyle County Schools as a student page on March 11, 2014. Thank you, Gavin! Here is what Gavin said about the day:  I served as a Legislative Page during the 2014 Legislative Session. As a page, I spent time on the Senate floor and had the honor of shadowing Senator Chris Girdler. Through the day, I was able to tour Frankfort and learned how the legislature makes new laws and changes old ones. I am so glad I was able to participate as a Student Page at the Capitol.  We are so proud of you, Gavin! Thank you for representing Woodlawn. :)

March Madness: A Tournament of Books

Our kids {love} sports and between rec teams and AAU teams, it seems they spend most of their afternoons and weekends involved in some type of athletic event. Additionally, being a Kentuckian, basketball is serious business. This makes March Madness the perfect event to merge our love of basketball and amazing books.

Over the course of the year, I have kept a tally of the books students have been reading and writing about, and chose the 16 books that were favorites. If multiple books in a series showed up on my list, I showcased the first book in the series. Below are a few of our 'chosen' books! :) The full list includes Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Dairy of a Wimpy Kid, I Funny, Football Genius, Stick Dog, The Witches, Number the Stars, Wonder, The One and Only Ivan, Stranded, I Survived, Nancy Drew Clue Crew, Bad Kitty, Bone, and Origami Yoda.

As each round of the 'real' March Madness tournament takes place, we'll vote for which books progress in our own tournament. As part of the voting, students are only allowed to participate in the vote if they've read the two books facing off. To make sure everyone has access to the books, I have put any copies of the books or their accompanying series top of our shelves. As students finish these favorites, they'll return them to the stands for others to read!

We'll vote for out Elite 8 on March 30th (as the Elite 8 Games are taking place on March 28th - 30th), then the Final 4 on April 5th, and the Championship game (vote) will be on April 9th. I'll set up a Survey Monkey so students can easily vote at the beginning of class.

In addition to voting for the best books of our school year, we'll will also fill out our own brackets predicting the winners. For every correct answer, students will receive a point. The 3 students with the most points will receive a free book from our next Scholastic order! :) We'll fill out our brackets with the start of the tournament!

So, when all these parts come together it looks a little like this... :)

Well, I am definitely excited to see the 'winner' of our tournament. I would guess that Wonder and Diary of a Wimpy Kid will be the final contenders, but honestly, it is a complete toss up! Make sure to encourage your child to finish up any book on his/her list before we start voting at the end of March. :)