Cereal Box Book Reports

Posted on April 19, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

I’ve always been a little on the fence about reading logs and book reports. When I was a child, I LOVED to read. I could zoom through a couple of books a day, and when my mom said my sister and I couldn’t go to the library, we’d cry!

However, when teachers would assign reading logs and book reports, it pained me. I always did the reports of course, but they seemed to take the fun out of reading for me. Now, I was a kid who loved to read. Can you imagine being the student that doesn’t see the joy in reading, and you are required to submit weekly reading logs and monthly book reports?! *Shudder.*

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How I Tricked My Students on April Fools’ Day

Posted on April 1, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Today is April Fools’ Day, and I just knew my students were going to be bombarding me with all kinds of foolish things; I wanted to join in on the fun. I perused Pinterest for ideas, and came up with absolutely nothing.

I found a gibberish document somewhere online and modified it for my students. When they entered the classroom I explained I had bad news. Mr. Paliughi (our principal) wanted me to make sure all students took an ELA Placement test ASAP; I explained that I couldn’t help them and I couldn’t answer any questions. I suggested they all read the document closely, use all of the reading strategies they learned throughout the year, and support their answers with evidence.

Once they logged on to Google Classroom, they got this document:

They got to work. They took this “ELA Placement” test seriously. I got a few blank stares and a ton of confused faces, but nearly every student tried their best to take this “test”!

I finally told them to scroll down and click the link to turn in their test, and that directive was met with, “WHAT?! I’m not finished!”

Once they clicked the link and saw the image below, several students shouted, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

It took a few students to drag themselves from racing to finish their placement test to realize it was all a joke.

🙂 🙂

Sorry, guys and girls!

Bud, Not Buddy: Making Connections

Posted on March 26, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Before analyzing the image, answer these questions about chapter six of Bud, Not Buddy with your group mates.

Why did the man in the overalls call Bud by the name Clarence?

Why did the mom and dad keep smacking Bud on the head?

Why do you think the pretend family did what they did? Would you do something like that? Why or why not?

Open your book to page 49. There are five paragraphs to read, so each group member should read a section aloud.

Paragraph one: I stood in line… (p. 49)

Paragraph two: It showed a gigantic picture of a family… (p. 49)

Paragraph three: You could tell they were rich… (p. 49)

Paragraph four: Writ about their car… (p. 50)

Paragraph five: My pretend daddy… (p. 50)

After reading, study the pictures below. With your group, follow the 3-2-1 strategy for each picture.

3 things you notice

2 inferences you can make

1 question you have

[source] 1937

[source] 2012

Discussion Questions:

1. Infer: Why did people begin laughing and talking once they entered the mission, and why was the gigantic picture being talked about?

2. Connect/Author’s Word Choice: Why does the author, Christopher Paul Curtis, repeat the word shiny in paragraph two?

3.Compare/Contrast: Look at the image from 1937 and the image from 2012. What do these two images have in common? What is different about these images?

4. Your Position: Bud was willing to lie to the man at the mission in order to get food. If you were placed in a similar position, would you be dishonest to get your basic needs met (food, shelter, clothing)?

5. Clarify/Discuss: Ask your group any questions you have about the reading. You may also discuss any parts you like/do not like about the book.

Watercolor and Haiku Poems

Posted on March 8, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

We spent the past two weeks during W.I.N. period (What I Need) writing haiku poems and painting watercolor landscapes to match our poems. I was able to snap three pictures of student work, and I will post more later this week.

Interpreting Personification

Posted on March 3, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Figurative Language posters

All classes have been focusing on figurative language, and last Friday period three through six interpreted personification.

Of course we had to view a couple of YouTube videos:

My students have used Google Drawing before to draw pictures, but because I couldn’t checkout the laptops (and I wanted this to be quick check for understanding), good old-fashioned drawing worked out perfectly.
Each student was given a strip of paper with a sentence containing personification. Students were told to spend 15 minutes drawing an image to explain the phrase. On the back of their drawing they explained the phrased and identified what was being personified.
Sentence frame: The phrase _____________ means _____________. The non-human object being personified is _____________; I know this because ________________.
Below are four completed projects I was able to take pictures of.

Author’s Tone and Reader’s Mood

Posted on February 27, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

My classes learned about tone and mood for six days nearly two weeks ago. We learned

Tone is the author’s attitude towards the audience, the subject and the character. Tone is shown through dialogue (talking) and descriptions (author’s word choice). When I discussed tone, I always pointed to my head to indicate the author’s thoughts.
Mood is the feeling the reader gets from a story, poem, passage, video, etc. Mood is shown through setting (location) and atmosphere (everything in the the setting). Since I had a little hand movement for tone, I had to have one for mood! Mood was simply two hands in the shape of a heart over the heart.

We started off watching a series of videos and writing down the tone and mood for each video. First up was the original 1964 Mary Poppins trailer. Ohhhh, everyone made fun of the “old-school” Mary Poppins graphics and special effects. We noted words like pride, sparkling new motion picture, the world’s most delightful heroine, and magical and wondrous ways transform each member of the family. We took a look at this handout I created to determine the author’s tone. Students discussed in pairs which words best described the author’s tone, and they came up with optimistic, cheerful, and informal. We also spent some time discussing mood (light-hearted, humorous, and warm).

After watching the original Mary Poppins trailer, we watched Scary Mary trailer. THAT one definitely got everyone’s attention! Nearly everyone pointed out that the author’s word choice helped them to determine the tone, while the atmosphere helped determine the mood.

When students had some free time, they were able to access my Blendspace account to watch a few more videos on their own and write down the tone and mood for each video and explain how they determined the tone and mood.

Students also added an easy drawing to our notebooks, and wrote the definition for tone and mood in their own words.

After analyzing several passages and excerpts, my first period class was given an assignment that required them to read an excerpt from a book, box words that helped them to determine the author’s tone, and then draw a picture over the words to help explain the mood. Finally, they had to answer three questions about tone, mood, and their drawing.

Going forward:

Students will analyze tone and mood in poetry and literature.
Students will explain how figurative language plays a major role in tone.
Students will write paragraphs and essays that analyze the author’s tone.

Next year:

Teach author’s tone and reader’s mood earlier in the year and complete short projects about author’s tone throughout the year.

How to Access Assignments

Posted on February 17, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

If you miss class, there’s no excuse to miss out on classwork. You have a couple of options:

1. The Old-Fashioned Way: Come see me before or after school to get a paper copy of your assignment.

2. The New School Way: Check Google Classroom for the assignments, or access the assignments on my website.

Internet access and a printer may be required for TNSW. I’m still working on getting all assignments available in Google Drive, so printers can be a thing of the past.

Check out the video below to see how you can access the assignment calendar:

Valentine’s Day Comic by Emily and Heather

Posted on February 17, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

Emily and Heather put their heads together to create another comic strip on Pixton.com! Thanks to a generous $500 grant from the Olive Branch Rebekahs Lodge #48, all students will be able to log on to use Pixton to create comics.

Mrs. Leonardo’s DonorsChoose.Org Project

Posted on February 2, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed, so I just created a request for my classroom at DonorsChoose.org:

Help Bridge The Technological Divide!

Give to my classroom by February 8, 2015 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code SPARK on the payment page and you’ll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $100).

If you know anyone who may want to help my classroom, please pass this along!

Join Kennedy Middle School’s Coding Club

Posted on January 3, 2015 by MrsLeonardo

I’m so excited about Kennedy Middle School’s first computer programming club! We’ll be using Google CS First lesson plans to learn how coding is used in music and sound, fashion and design, storytelling, game design, and art!

Our very first meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27 in room 530. The club will begin at 3:15.

Space is limited, so be sure to sign up with me ASAP!

Learning with Mrs. Leonardo

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.–George Washington Carver