Comparing Goldilocks and the Three Bears with The Three Snow Bears {Winter Must Read Mentor Texts}

Hey there!!  I am excited to share with you a winter book that I love to use in my classroom!

One of the things that Common Core asks of us is to compare and contrast stories.  I know Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a well known story.  Or you would think it is.  However, I am always delighted at how much my students enjoy James Marshall's version of it!

Goldilocks is very naughty in this book, and I think that's why the kids love it!  She's a fun character to read about!  Plus, I love James Marshall's illustrations!   It does have some good language in it that brings it up to a third grade level or so.

Well, a couple years ago I stumbled on The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. I love to use this book in the winter!  And, of course, we love Jan Brett.  Talk about some gorgeous illustrations!  And, it's a different version entirely of the Goldilocks story. Now, there are still three bears, but the setting is entirely different.  And, I do really love using these books, so of course I can tie this in to the fact that we learn about the Inuit in our Native American unit, and the kids love that!

Now, in this story, the little girl, Aloo-ki, is not nearly as naughty.  She basically just loses her dog sledding team and then discovers the Three Snow Bears' igloo, tries their breakfast, their boots, and then takes a nap.  The ending also shows that both the bears and Aloo-ki are very kind.  

So, two totally different stories based around the same general plot.

Now, since I teach fourth, I feel like I have to kick it up a notch.  We use these two stories for the basis of a writing piece- our own "Goldilocks" story.  We talk about the elements that made up both stories.  The basic structure is you have a person (a girl in these stories) who goes into someone or something else's house and then gets into 3 things that aren't their own.  Usually Papa Bear's is too big/hot, Mama Bear's is too squishy/cold, but Baby Bear's is juuuuuuuuust right.  So, we use that same structure.

Now, I let them choose any character and any animal they want for their story.  It can be a boy if they want it to be.  But it has to work itself out that they can think of three things that the character can try of the owner's.

I definitely spend a good deal of time on setting.  This is one of those elements in writing where students rarely do their setting justice.  They just don't think about really describing it for their audience.  So, we talk about that because the setting for these two stories is vastly different.  Now, we have the illustrations to help us out when we read these books, but their reader really wants to READ about the setting so they can understand.

Then, we get writing using the Goldilocks structure.  I try REALLY HARD to keep them from using exact copies.  Like, the soup was too hot, too cold, and just right.  Like, maybe they went into a rabbit's den and the carrots were too crunchy, too mushy, and just right.  That way, they aren't exact replica's of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story, but their very own version.

This will be the first narrative we write when we are off break to get back into the swing of things, which makes it pretty painless for me and the kids.  And, I get to incoroporate a fun winter book!!

Now, you've probably seen other books like this one:

This story is told from Baby Bear's point of view.  I have not read this story, but I've seen a lot like them.  You could go even further with this and have the students write another version of their own Goldilocks story (you know, the one they just wrote?) and have them tell it from another point of view.  Talk about throwing in the Common Core!  Yes, I think I will!!

Yes, I know I just shared three books and only one was a winter book.  I totally broke my own rules.  Oh well.  It'll be ok.  And if you want to share more than one book, I say, GO FOR IT!!  :O)

Oh, and I did create a little unit last year to go with Goldilocks and the Three Bears versus The Three Snow Bears if you'd like to try these books out and have some activities to go with it.  :O)  

What are some of your favorite winter books?  If you don't blog, please feel free to comment!

Amanda

Please Link Up!

Next week's linky- Language Arts

RACK {Our Random Acts of Classroom Kindness}!

Last year around this time, I knew many people were participating in RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness).  As we got closer to the holiday season, I knew I wanted to do this with my class...I just had to figure out how...

You see, this year, my class is...in need of...hmmmmmm.  How do I say it....???

Some of them just need to be nicer and a little less SELF-CENTERED if you get me??

So of course I turn to Pinterest for some ideas because I knew there would be some, I just needed a nudge in the right direction.  And, Pinterest NEVER lets you down!

I found this pin first:

And then this pin:

Now, the first pin links to Cara Carroll's blog, The First Grade Parade.  As soon as I saw it linked to her, I knew it was going to be good.  Because everything she does is good.  If you don't read her blog, I strongly recommend it.  Even if you are upper grades, like me, you'll find something you can use and make appropriate for upper grades.  I promise!

Well, her RACK cards were for her family (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness).  So, I read over her post, drooled over the beautiful Advent Calendar she made, and filed away some of her ideas in my head, hoping I could use some for the classroom.

Then, I went to Stephanie's blog, 3rd Grade Thoughts.  Another fabulous blogger!!  I knew I was in luck having stumbled on two amazing pins like this!!  I read over Stephanie's cards and I really liked that she switched her to Random Acts of CLASSROOM Kindness.  She's so smart.  Much quicker thinking than I am.  ;O)

So, I read over her cards and decided we could definitely do some of these.

I wanted to get started the week we got back from Thanksgiving break and do one each day for those 3 weeks.  Plus, there were a few that would be "homework" because it required them to take it home or do something at home.  There were also specific people in our school building that I wanted to target, so I added those in.  Here's what I came up with:

Now, I'm pretty aggravated with myself because I left some photos on my jump drive at school and forgot to bring it home for the break.  I will add those photos in once I get back to school.

We actually did ALL of these cards except maybe two.

Here's how I introduced it to the class:

I put the wrapped present on my bench.  The kids love the bench and I knew they would see it.  It was just a matter of time before they started asking about it.  By about mid-day, they wanted to know who left it there and who it was for.  I told them I left it there and it was for the class.  They got REALLY excited!  I told them we would open it at the end of the day.  The suspense about killed them!  ;O)

At the end of the day, I gathered them on the carpet in front of this bench.  I started to talk to them about the season coming up.  I knew everyone didn't celebrate Christmas, so I explained that sometimes we get so wrapped up in wanting things for ourselves, we forget how good it can feel to GIVE to others.  And, we forget how it can make OTHERS feel when we give to THEM.

From there, I explained what Random Acts of Kindness are and then told them we were going to do a classroom version.  I showed them the cards in the box.

I did not read all of the cards to them.  I told them it would be a surprise each day.

I wanted them to be able to keep track of the different RACKs we pulled out, so I created a log sheet so they wouldn't forget, since some of them might take a little time.

Each afternoon, just before bus call, the kids would say, "It's time for RACK!!!"  We never forgot.  Not one day.  Well, I forgot.  They didn't.  So they didn't let ME forget for long!  We would sit and they would all gather around me.  More like on top of me.  Because they knew if they were close, THEY would be the one to pick the card out.  But it didn't always work that way.  I was always looking for someone who was RACKing others without even thinking about it.  And if they did, I'd let them pull the card.  I never said why I picked them, just that only those with the true RACK spirit could pull cards.

(This probably sounds harsh but the very first week one of the cards we pulled was "Help a friend clean up his or her area".  That NEXT DAY we were walking in the hall and had stopped to wait to go into art.  Another student from another class was walking past our class and had her hands were full.  She dropped everything and it went everywhere.  I kid you not.  My entire class turned and looked at me.  Just looked at me and looked at her.  Then back at me.  Finally, one of them moved to help her and I said, "This would be a RACK for sure!"  Then, they ALL moved.  See.  This is why we did this.  They didn't quite get it on their own.  So doing all of this brought it to their attention that they SHOULD help.  I couldn't believe they just stood there and looked at me.  Maybe they wanted permission to get out of line and help?  We'll go with that...)

When we made notes for the librarians and lunch ladies, I put the notes in a little box and I had made brownies.  I put them in a bag and we left the notes and brownies for them.  My assistant principal had to put her dog to sleep, and she was one of the cards, so I told them I wanted to pull that card that day so we could leave her notes and maybe lift her spirits.  We left a candy cane for her since she can't eat gluten.

The kids LOVED the making a sign for the trash collector.  I had parents email me pictures of their notes on the trash can.  Those are pictures I will add later (sorry!).

I also have a picture of a student leaving a chalk note on the driveway of her neighbor's house, thanking them for putting up Christmas lights on their house  It's precious.  I promise I'll add that one too!

I do have a picture of the last RACK we did.  This one was a big hit.  I had parents donate a box of candy canes to this cause.  We had loads of candy canes.  Then, I emailed and got a parent or two to come in on the Friday before the break to help us.  You see, I'm not so comfortable having 28 fourth graders running around the parking lot unsupervised.  So, I had three parents come in and take groups around the parking lot and put notes and candy canes on the cars.  Here's one of my sweeties with her RACK!

This was a great success.  Friday was a day of winter parties.  Apparently a parent that was helping with a party left and posted a picture of her candy cane and note on her car, tagging the school's Facebook page.  The next thing I know, the administrative assistant is buzzing into my room asking me to check my email and respond ASAP.  Uh oh.  So I did.  Her email said, Did your class RACK the cars in the parking lot?:  Can I post it on FB?

I was like, um, yes, but it's supposed to be anonymous.  And how did you know it was me???  She said that a parent posted it on FB and then one of my student's parents that had helped us responded on the post and said it was my class.  Geez.  Social media works fast, I tell ya.

Five minutes later, the principal is in my room.  She thanked my class for their thoughtfulness and said she promised she wouldn't tell.  It made my students feel very good, so I guess technically I'm glad that they found us out.

Later, a few teachers figured out it was us (they removed my name from FB so it was still anonymous) and they left really sweet messages on my personal FB page.  One of them said "It made me smile at the end of a long, crazy day.  It's amazing how something so small can mean so much."  Very true.  And something we all need to remember.

I hope my students learned something from this.  I know I did.  Maybe it will stick with them.  I hope so.
Amanda

PS- A great big thank you to all who have posted about RAKs and helped me find a way to do this in my classroom!!  Oh, and I am linking this up to my buddy Joanne for her linky:

And don't forget about our giveaway!!!  It ends tonight!!

 Click the button below!  Good luck!

Inserting the Holidays into our writing- Opinion Writing!

Hey there!!  This is a quick post to share something we were working on in writing!

We just started opinion writing and I found this freebie and I thought it would be PERFECT for an introduction into opinion writing!!

This is great because it has the "Hiring Notice".  I printed that out and posted it up on my white board last week in the morning and said not a word about it.  In the middle of math (about 8:45 AM) I had a student raise his hand and say, "What is this elf for hire notice and where can I get an application????"  I said, "Hm.  We'll talk about it later."

Around 10:00 another student came up and asked about it and I said, "Hmmmm, I'm not sure...we'll have to check into it after lunch."  She said, "Oh, you know what it is...and I want to apply!!"  You gotta love it!!  Nothing builds engagement and suspense like putting something new up or in the room and then not saying a word about it!!

So, after lunch, I explained that Santa needed some new elves and they could apply.  They were, surprisingly, very excited about this.  Of course, I had to tell them they wouldn't really be able to be elves, which they said they totally understood, but they still wanted to apply.

So, we filled out the graphic organizer while I talked about what opinions are and how we could have an opinion, but we needed to back it up with facts and/or proof.  So, they could SAY they are very responsible, but can they PROVE it with examples??

They caught on real quick and had fun with it!

They went from the graphic organizer to the rough draft paper:

And, they could even invent/create their own toy to convince Santa that they were truly elf material!

I think they turned out really cute!

Then, I printed out some elves by Melonheadz and they colored them and they are now all on proud display in the hall!!

I love that they made the elves look like themselves for our hall display!

I know it's too late for you to do this year, but I definitely recommend it for next year!!  Anything that keeps these 4th graders engaged, especially during writing, I definitely recommend!!!  We'll do it every year!!
Amanda

PS- If you haven't entered our giveaway, click the button below!  Good luck!

Merry Christmas!! {Don't forget about our giveaway!}

We wanted to post this yesterday, but my internet was not cooperating!!  So, it's a day late, but the sentiments are still there!!

Merry Christmas from Amanda and family!

And Stacia and family!

And don't forget to enter our one year blogiversary giveaway!!

We hope you like what we have in store for you!!!

Because we love books and we've been sharing tons of books through our Mentor Text Linky, we thought it would be perfect to giveaway an Amazon giftcard to help those of you who have been racking up a huge Amazon account!  Or, if you are like me, you switched to Amazon Prime so you could order the books and have them within two days!!  As if I didn't have enough books, I still order some each week due to this linky!  So, this is our way of saying thank you to all who link up and all who read and try out these books in their classroom!!  Of course, you don't have to buy books...but if I know your teacher heart, you probably will!!  :O)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, our friends at Classroom Friendly Supplies have donated a pink pencil sharpener so that you can have one of these amazing sharpeners in your classroom!!!  I'm so jealous, too!  I want a pink one so bad, but my black one is doing just fine so I don't really have an excuse to get another one...the kids use it constantly and it still sharpens like the day I got it (a year ago!)...If you don't have one, be sure to enter this giveaway and if you do already have one, you could give it as a gift!  (who am I kidding...you should totally just have 2!!).  And, if you don't want pink, I suppose we could let you choose the color...but the pink matches our blog and it's my favorite color so deep down, I hope you pick pink.  ;O)

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(PS- they only send the sharpeners within the U.S.!  Sorry to all my non-U.S. readers!!)

Last, but not least, we are giving away 3 items of your choice from our TpT Store.  Happy shopping!!!

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Good luck and thank you so much for all of your support this past year!!  It means the world to us!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

George vs George~ The American Revolution Seen from Both Sides {Must Read Mentor Text}

Hi!

I know it is pure craziness right now as everyone preps for Christmas, so I am interested to see how many people link up this week.  Last week, for science, there was only 2!  Eek!  But I understand!  Things get crazy!

This post is going to be short as well.  We spent yesterday trying to finish up our Christmas shopping.  Insanity.  Apparently a lot of other people waited until yesterday to go shopping, too.  Go figure.  ;O)

Stacia has the flu!  Ick!!  It's going around our school so I am very glad that we get two weeks away so hopefully these kids can get well and we can stop passing that nastiness around.  Double ick.

Anywho, onto the reason you are here!!

Today I wanted to share with you a book that I use when I teach about the American Revolution (my absolute FAVORITE part of our social studies curriculum!!!)

I brought all of my American Revolution stuff home to look through over the break because we start the Road to Revolution in January!!  I'm so excited!!

This book is great for comparing and contrasting the two Georges (George Washington and King George III).  

From Amazon:  Rosalyn Schanzer's book is an accessible account of one the most vital periods in American history. It is also a timeless lesson in seeing history from different points of view. The author spent two years researching books, paintings, cartoons, and descriptions of Revolutionary times. She uses art, text, and first-hand accounts to illustrate how history should never be reduced to simplistic conflicts between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Her illustrations, and her engaging quote bubbles, bring the Revolution to life again, and allow the characters of the period to speak for themselves. Through its lively text, detailed illustrations, and fully authenticated quotes, George vs. George shines fresh light on both sides of the story of our country's formative years.

This is a long book- you wouldn't want to try to read it all in one sitting.  I usually only read bits and pieces that I feel really show both sides of the story.  Not only that, it compares the two men- their character and their lives- with is great for character analysis.  We want to hate King George III because of his treatment of the colonies, but this book actually shows that he wasn't actually trying to be mean...It's fun for students to try to come to terms with their feelings about King George III while hearing how he wasn't all that different from George Washington.  

And of course, who doesn't love George Washington?  So, if King George III was very similar to him, what does that mean??  This book sparks great conversations!

We will be using a graphic organizer to compare and contrast these two Georges.  Feel free to download this one if you can use it!  (Stacia made the clipart- aren't they cute!)

We may try this in a few different ways, but I'll share more about that after we actually do it!  I also share last year about how I used this book HERE (you'll find some more freebies!)

If you teach about the American Revolution, I strongly recommend you take a look at this book, even if you just read it for your own information, it's VERY informative!!  But, I promise you, the kids do love it!

It also has some great text features, like speech bubbles and drawings with captions, which makes it a great mentor text for nonfiction/informational writing.  Students can easily use this as a model for their own writing!
Amanda

Please Link Up!

Next week's linky- Since we have 5 Sundays in December, next week feel free to link up any of your favorite WINTER books- related to any subject!

Our One Year Blogiversary Giveaway- $50 Amazon giftcard plus the world's best pencil sharpener (and more!)

Hey there!

We can't believe that we have been in this blogging world for a year now...we have met so many wonderful teachers and formed so many bonds that we never would have formed had we not started this journey!

So, even though it's a bit past our blogiversary (sorry!  Christmas chaos hit and we didn't get our giveaway up and running on time!) we wanted to thank you for sticking with us, supporting us, and following our little old blog!

We hope you like what we have in store for you!!!

Because we love books and we've been sharing tons of books through our Mentor Text Linky, we thought it would be perfect to giveaway an Amazon giftcard to help those of you who have been racking up a huge Amazon account!  Or, if you are like me, you switched to Amazon Prime so you could order the books and have them within two days!!  As if I didn't have enough books, I still order some each week due to this linky!  So, this is our way of saying thank you to all who link up and all who read and try out these books in their classroom!!  Of course, you don't have to buy books...but if I know your teacher heart, you probably will!!  :O)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, our friends at Classroom Friendly Supplies have donated a pink pencil sharpener so that you can have one of these amazing sharpeners in your classroom!!!  I'm so jealous, too!  I want a pink one so bad, but my black one is doing just fine so I don't really have an excuse to get another one...the kids use it constantly and it still sharpens like the day I got it (a year ago!)...If you don't have one, be sure to enter this giveaway and if you do already have one, you could give it as a gift!  (who am I kidding...you should totally just have 2!!).  And, if you don't want pink, I suppose we could let you choose the color...but the pink matches our blog and it's my favorite color so deep down, I hope you pick pink.  ;O)

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

(PS- they only send the sharpeners within the U.S.!  Sorry to all my non-U.S. readers!!)

Last, but not least, we are giving away 3 items of your choice from our TpT Store.  Happy shopping!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and thank you so much for all of your support this past year!!  It means the world to us!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Phases of the Moon- How the Moon Regained Her Shape and Neil Armstrong {Must Read Mentor Texts for Science}

Hey there!!!

We are here again to share with you a must read mentor text for science...well actually TWO!

We have just finished up our unit on the solar system and from there, we go into the phases of the moon.  We've shared a few books that we use during our moon unit and I wanted to talk about one that I have added to my collection

It is called, How the Moon Regained Her Shape by Janet Ruth Heller.

Here is the description from Amazon:

How the Moon Regained Her Shape is a fiction picture book for children.  Janet Ruth Heller has written a legend influenced by Native American folktales that explains why the moon changes shape and helps children deal with bullies. The sun insults the moon, and the moon feels so badly hurt that she shrinks and leaves the sky. The moon turns to her comet friend and her many friends on earth to comfort her. Her friends include rabbits and Native Americans. Then she regains her full shape, happiness, and self-esteem, and she returns to her orbit. An educational appendix gives advice about bullying, scientific information about the moon, and ideas for related activities for children. 

Children will learn from this book 1) that they need to tell friends and adults when bullying occurs, 2) that a bully's insults are seldom true, 3) that children will recover from abuse, and 4) that we can be friends with people who are different from us. Bullying thrives in secrecy, and most kids feel intimidated by abuse. Adults will learn that many children need the help and advice of friends and adults to stop bullying and to recover from the loss of trust and self-esteem that such harassment causes.

This is a simple book with beautiful illustrations!  I like it because it is based on Native American folkore, which we talk about when we teach our Native American unit, it talks about the phases of the moon (or you can at least infer them), and it touches on bullying.  Wow!  That's a lot in one story!!  

This will be a neat book to go through and have students find the phases of the moon within the story.  I think it would also be a great extension for them to create their own Native American tale about the phases of the moon, or even just any tale about the moon.

You know, the man in the moon, the cow jumped over the moon....well they could get more creative than that but I think it's fun to expose them to the stories and myths from a long time ago!

We are also reading Who Was Neil Armstrong by Roberta Edwards.

This is a quick read for my students and for the most part, at their level.  I have been having them read two chapters a night for homework and then we read them together as a class.  I created a unit last year with writing prompts for each chapter.  For most of the chapters, I had two prompts that could go along with it.

This year, I changed it up a bit.  You know how you create something and you have one thing in mind?  Well, my daughter's teacher also used my unit and she did it differently and I thought, hey, that's a good idea!!  Why did I not even think of that???  Duh.

Well, what I've done this year, is give them the writing prompts and have them paste both in.  They are typed so that they can be cut into strips and be pasted at the top of a notebook page.  So, now, we do one together so I can model going back in the text and finding evidence to support my thinking and then I give them the other prompt to complete for homework.  This has really helped with keeping them accountable!!  A big thank you to my daughter's awesome teacher for making me realize I can use my own unit differently than I had thought!

I think I'm going to try this more often for homework.  It really takes very little prep time.  Just think of a writing response for the book you are reading, whether in guided reading groups or a class read aloud, type it, print it, paste it and then they can respond!!!  Simple yet effective!!

Also, with using this book, it's a great time to compare and contrast different view points or accounts of the same event, which is totally Common Core.  

Here I found a video interview with Neil Armstrong.  It's long, but right from the first few seconds with Neil Armstrong, it goes right along with the book!!!  It is AMAZING to watch and for the kids when they see that he's actually talking about what we are reading!!!!  They can actually hear it from his mouth and then compare it to the book.  Not only that, they were able to talk about what is left out of the book, and whether that impacts the story of his life for the reader or not.  (It goes very in depth and you'll want to make sure you watch it because there are parts you may want to skip.) There is also an interview from Buzz Aldrin at scholastic that students can compare to Neil's experience on the moon!!

And I'll tell you this, it doesn't matter how many times I watch the video clip of when he says his famous words "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" I still get chills.  I am so amazed and I think it is sooooo awesome that we have YouTube and can actually watch that moment in history!!

Neil Armstrong is not a hero that we are "supposed" to teach about in our state, but it goes with our moon unit and gives great nonfiction for students to dive into.  Especially with all of these resources, it's a no-brainer to include him!!  And, it's just plain fun for me and the students!  They LOVE learning about him and space travel!!  

Do you teach about the moon?  Do you have any awesome resources you'd like to share that I haven't found?

I can't wait to see what is linked up!

Amanda

Please Link Up!

Next week's linky- Social Studies