Book of the Month

Courage

This month's Book of the Month is Courage by Bernard Waber.  Remember to visit our website and share all the exciting activities occurring at Due West Elementary.  This month's podcast is a collection of students that share their rendition of Courage.  The students did a marvelous job reading the entire book, and don't miss the "House Noises" presented by Mrs. Posternostro's kindergarten class.

See you soon at our Courage website!

A Fine, Fine School

This month's Book of the Month is A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech.  Please visit our incredible site that includes lesson plans AND a podcast of a fifth grader reading the entire story!  We are so proud of our program and the collaborative efforts between our Technology Integration Specialist, staff, and students to make this program a great success!

Be sure to check out A Fine, Fine School!  http://duewest.blogs.com/fine_fine_school/

All the Places to Love

Our very first book of the month is All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan.   All Due West teachers have a copy of the book, and will be using the book to teach the first trait of writing, IDEAS.

Analyzing verbs that move the plot along.

Lesson Plan to teach with the book.

Another Lesson Plan to teach the book.

Ideas

"The best way to have good ideas is to have lots of ideas." ~ Linus Paulding

DEFINITION:  Ideas are the heart of the message.

Characteristics of the Ideas Trait:

• narrow and focused topic
• fresh and unique ideas
• well-chosen details that elaborate on the main idea
• accurate information

 

Click here to download a poster about ideas for your classroom.