Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

I revisited this book recently and loved reading it again. I remember reading it as a child and being amazed at the story of bravery, hope and inspiration this little girl embodied.

Sadako Sasaki lived in Hiroshima when the atom bomb fell and a few years into her childhood she got sick with Lukemia. While in the hospital, her goal is to fold 1,000 paper cranes because as legend has it, if a sick person folds 1,000 cranes, the gods will reward the person with health and long life.

I highly recommend this book; it fits perfectly with our PYP Unit about Heroes. Sadako Sasaki is a hero and in Hiroshima there is a Peace Memorial showing a statue of her holding a gold crane in her hand. I hope to see it in person one day. Due to this little girls hope and dedication, the paper crane has become a symbol of peace around the world. I remember visiting 911 Ground Zero site a few years ago and being reminded of Sadako when I saw all of the paper cranes children from around the US sent as a peace gesture.

You can watch her story on YouTube using the link below.

Also, use these links to find out more information:
Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Special Exhibit: Sadako Sasaki
Angel Hero: Sadako Sasaki (This site also has links to other heroes from around the world)

Links for teachers and parents:
Sadako Reading Activities
Activity
Fiction Level 2-3: Sadako Lessons
Oragami Resource Center
 

Writing Wednesdays! Persuasive Writing

From now until December we will be working in the genre of persuasive writing. I introduced the genre by reading two picture books to the students. The first one is Hey, Little Ant. The books takes the reader through a conversation between a boy and an ant. The boy sees the ant and wants to squish him with his shoe. The ant tries to convince the boy that he should not squish him. It is a cute, creative rhyming book that invites the reader, at the end of the story, to decide if the boy should squish the ant.

The kids were convinced that the new genre was poetry with the rhyming words so I had to read another one. I had two other books with me on my reading chair, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus and Earrings! I had to make a quick decision and since I love, love, love earrings, it was an easy choice. The second story Earrings! is about a little girl who is trying to convince her parents to get her ears pierced. She has some very good arguments and there is lots of expression in the writing.

After both stories, the kids got into small groups and discussed the similarities between the two books. Many great thoughts were generated and the class was able to list some of the key concepts of persuasive writing including an making an argument and getting someone to give you something you want.

Next we picked up the Write Source text book and read about persuasive writing. The kids were so excited to get started with this type of writing. We brainstormed a list of topics (writing trait: ideas) and made a list of possibilities. Stay tuned for more persuasive writing ideas in the upcoming weeks....

... and if you want more resources, check these links out!
A Quick Guide To Teaching Persuasive Writing, K-2
Persuasion Map
Write Persuasively (Grades 3-5)
Can You Convince Me? Developing Persuasive Writers
Persuasive Writing Pinterest Page (Ms. Rorey Hearts Pinterest)
Persuasive Writing from a fellow Teacher Blogger
Student Writing Models (from Write Source)
Edutopia Article: Persuasive Writing is a Key Focus in Common Core Standards
 

Last Day Pop-Up Books

On the last day, our amazing library assistant, Stella, came in to show us some amazing pop-up books and then let the kids try to make a few of their own. I have to say, pop-up books have really changed since I was a kid. The kids got to explore many Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda books. The shark and mythical creatures books were a hit as well as the fairies book. Check out this video and watch as one of the authors takes you through a book.

If you got to youtube and search his name, you can find many more cool videos to watch.


The kids got out the paper, paste, coloring devices and scissors to try their luck with this wonderful  craft. Their creations were wonderful and they couldn't contain their excitement. It may have been the fact that it was the last day of school, but I would like to think it was the amazing books :-)

To all my lovelies, enjoy the summer and KEEP READING!!!

Friendly Letter Writing

This week our writing focus was on creating friendly letters. On Tuesday I introduced the components of a friendly letter and shared with the students how to compose a letter with all of the necessary parts. 

We drafted letters to a person of our choosing and the students came up with many interesting topics to share about what was happening in their day to day life.

The following day, I gave an assignment to the students today to write a letter to someone different and many chose Roald Dahl, since we are doing a focus unit on his books. Other students chose people from the school or home setting and a few even wrote letters to imaginary characters. Here are some of the letters below:

Can You Count to a Googol?

Unit 5 in Everyday Math teaches students about place value and numeration. Today in class, I shared the book "Can You Count To A Googol?" by Robert E. Wells. The students were fascinated with it and the book got them inquiring about other numbers and just what it means to be a HUGE, TREMENDOUS, BIG number.

As we were reading, I posted "What if...?" questions and the students loved it. For example, I asked questions such as "What if you saw 10,498 lions while on safari?" or "What if you ate 9,207 kernels of popcorn?"

After the book, the kids got to create their own "What if...?" sentences with large numbers. Check out their questions!

What if...

… you had 1,000 boxes of ice creams? Jescah

… you ate 9,846 cookies? Adrienne

… you had one million dogs? Vansh

…a there was 607,896 air in the world? Tanay

…there were 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000… students in the school? Christophe

… there were 900,000 fruit flies in the class? Travis

… there was a googol children in a 4X4 meter room? Luka

… 77,777 spiders were born in one egg? Zoey

… you had 88,888 million bunnies? Noelle

… 9,000 people made trucks? Elrad

… you had googol pets? Evan

… 9,640 of your friends each had 7,000 kids? Magali

… everyone had an octillion chocolates? Stan

… you had 10,000400 dog? Tristan

… you have 99,999 toys? Elin

… there was 7,504 hats on each person? Maiya

… you had 100,000,000 pets? Alma

… you had 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars? Ethan

… you wore 1,000 t-shirts? Meet

Check out the book with your class and post your own "What if..." questions below?