Nonfiction Note Taking and Writing

This past nine weeks, my little darlings had a WONDERFUL time exploring the world of nonfiction reading and writing. We have a great textbook adoption that has a variety of nonfiction selections. Has we moved our way through this super exciting genre, I thought it would be a great opportunity to for my students to begin note taking to help keep track of the important details. Here are a couple of graphic organizers that we used to jot down our thoughts:

Note Taking Form

 

Nonfiction Circle Map

 The kiddos read their stories and others that complimented the given topics (weather books, biographies on African American inventors and U.S. Presidents) and then took notes or added to the notes that they had already gathered. This made for an awesome prewriting activity as well!! Before the students used their notes to write their 5 page books, they worked with a partner and shared their notes verbally with them....retelling what they had read as they were planning their books!!

My little ones then used this stationary:

to write about their topics.My students also used this page to create their table of contents with the corresponding page number.

The next step to our fabulous 5 page books was to make a cover that included our title, cover illustration and author's name. On the inside cover, the kiddos wrote a dedication, publishing information and a copyright date.

Then, it was time to share our hard work with our classmates! They were so proud of their books and learned so much along the way!

A Little More Nonfiction Fun!!

My students and I have now wrapped up our nonfiction unit! They learned so much and have become such in depth thinkers! I LOVE to hear their connections to what they are reading and the conversations that are going on in my classroom. I love that my students have meet the challenge to a more rigorous curriculum and are having meaningful interactions with text. I AM ONE HAPPY TEACHER!!! 

A super fun activity that  my students adored was an interview. As a class, we reviewed how to write a question and modeled our questions around those that were found in the biographies that they had read and Internet resources that they had used to complete research on an American President. We created a flip chart with several questions that they had created. 

Once the questions were written, we talked about how to organize our paper. We reviewed many biographies to create an organizer where they could write questions to ask their friend. The kiddos decided that they would use these questions as subtitles in their writing to help their readers find and understand information about their classmates. I was so impressed with them and totally got the teacher goose bumps as they took over the conversation about their books...they truly applied their knowledge!!

Once the class made plans for organizing their writing, they had the choice to use this organizer or to create this in their writer's notebook.

Once the class had made plans for organizing their writing, they used the following form to write their final rough draft on the following form:

These turned out wonderful and the kids had the best time writing them and sharing their writing with their classmates. One of the best parts of this assignment were the "photographs" that they drew of their friends in the text box provided in the final draft form. They were so adorable!!!

Hope you enjoy this! 

We have started with poetry and all I can say is.....SO MUCH FUN!!!

I will post more about that very soon!! :)

Booking Across the USA- The Lone Star State!

Howdy from the great state of Texas!!

I am so excited to be part of an amazing blog hop showcasing bloggers from each state created by Jodi of GrowingBook By Book! She has done a fabulous job organizing this fun virtual trip across our beautiful 50 states!

Here are a few facts about Texas:

The state is called The Lone Star State.

The official state flower is the bluebonnet.

The official state bird is the Mocking Bird.

The capitol of Texas is Austin.

The official state song is Texas, Our Texas.

Our state was once a republic. There were only two presidents before Texas became part of the United States of America in 1845.

Texas was the 28th state to be admitted into the United States.

Texas is the second largest state in the United States.


Texas is also known for our cowboys and cowgirls, ranches, horses and country music and nothing ties that all up like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It is one of the best times in Houston with carnivals, musicians and rodeo activities for people of all ages. It’s a fabulous time in Houston and in the classroom!

I love using the rodeo as a real life connection for my students during this time. One of my favorite activities to do with my students is a fiction/ nonfiction pairing of a wonderful storybook Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett and a nonfiction text named It’s an Armadillo by Bianca Lavies .

Here are two activities that we use to collect information about our favorite little friend, the armadillo:

 

Once we have a deeper understanding of the armadillo, I love to read the story Armadillo Rodeo!  This story is a sweet story about a little armadillo that goes looking for his “friend” and has an amazing adventure through the rodeo!

Here are a few activities for Armadillo Rodeo:

 

 

Graphics/fonts copyright DJ Inkers. www.djinkers.com

 Thank you so much for stopping by and learning about Texas!  I would love for you to follow my blog (just click on google friends on the left), follow me on Facebook,  and come and join my giveaway for one of my resources on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Thanks again and have a wonderful  time hoppin’ through our wonderful 50 states!

Alabama: Everyday Snapshots Alaska: Little Wonders’ Days Arizona: Simply Kinder and Think, Wonder, & Teach Arkansas: Homeschooling in Arkansas California: Juggling with Kids and The Outlaw Mom Colorado: Learners in Bloom and Living Montessori Now Connecticut: The Teacher Park Delaware: Mama Miss Florida: Teaching Stars Georgia: Fabulously First Hawaii: Teaching With Style Idaho: True Aim Education Illinois: Growing Book by Book Indiana: Teach Preschool Iowa: Surviving a Teacher's Salary Kansas: KCEdventures Kentucky: Chicken Babies Louisiana: New Orleans Moms Blog Maine: Maine Adventure Mom and Country Fun Child Care Maryland: Picture Books and Piourettes Massachusetts: Mama Smiles Michigan: Play DrMom Minnesota: The Wise Owl Factory Mississippi: Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk Missouri- Ready. Set. Read! Montana: The Honey Bunch Nebraska: The Good Long Road Nevada: Boy Oh Boy Crafts New Hampshire: Whoopsidaisy New Jersey: The Pleasantest Thing New Mexico: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom New York: What Do We Do All Day North Carolina: Realistic Teacher Blog North Dakota: ND HealthWorks Ohio: Smart Chick Teacher’s Blog Oklahoma: Herding Kats in Kindergarten Oregon: Journey of a Substitute Teacher Pennsylvania: Land of Once Upon a Time Rhode Island: Smiling in Second Grade South Carolina: Cookies and Kiddos and JDaniel4’s Mom South Dakota: The Wise Owl Factory Tennessee: No Monkey Business Texas: Curls and a Smile and Kid World Citizen Utah: Teach Beside Me Vermont: Burlington Vt Moms Blog Virgina: Once Upon a Story, and The Freckled Homeschooler Washington: Home Learning Journey and Boy Mama Teacher Mama West Virginia: This Week @ Great Peace Academy and Mamas Like Me Wisconsin: Reading Confetti Wyoming: No Twiddle Twaddle USA: The Corner on Character        

2012...What a Great Year!

Christina from Bunting, Books and Brainbridge is  having a super fun linky party that I just couldn't resist! 2012's Blog Best & Brightest!

  

 

One of the BEST things that happen this year was how many amazing bloggers I have meet! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful group of teachers that are so supportive and talented! They are there to help when I have a question, make suggestions, edit late at night and make me laugh when I really need a it! Thank you for being such good friends!

 

Another fabulous thing that I did this year is becoming an author at Blog Hoppin'! I absolutely adore the ladies that I blog with and can't wait to share more ideas on Blog Hoppin'!

 

 

This year was also an amazing blessing because I was able to represent my school as Teacher of the Year for Huggins Elementary and also represent my school district as the Elementary Teacher of the Year for LCISD! What an amazing honor!!

 

 

This year has also been an awesome year for my little TpT store! I made a small milestone and hope to continue to create awesome resources for amazing teachers to use with your students! Each and every one of you motivate me to challenge myself to create the best resoures I can!

 

I am updating a few files so make sure to check out any purchases that you may have made....my updated Gingerbread Man unit should be up by Christmas!

 

One of my favorite and most viewed post this year is my nonfiction notetaking freebies! It always makes me so happy to know that my freebies are useful and help your kiddos in the classroom!

 

     

 

I can not wait to see what 2013 has to bring!

I think it is going to be an amazing year!

 

 

 

 

 

Show Us What You Bought Linky

Howdy!
For all my lovely bloggy friends, so glad to see you back!
For those of you that are new to Curls and a Smile...welcome!!

It is confirmed. I am addicted to Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

I  LOVE to stock up when there is a big sale!
Well, let's face, I lvoe shopping at TpT all the time ESPECIALLY during a big sale!

 

There are so many talented teachers that create wonderful and useful resources! 

Here is what I snagged during the big Super Sunday Sale:

 

 A million frames and borders...

   

                                    

  

 and these awesome resources for teaching reading and language arts skills such as

contractions, nonfiction text features, reading response, biographies and sentence structure!

 

I definitely snagged some great deals!

Check out our post at Blog Hoppin'

 

and the fabulous post at Sunny Days



to see what all the other awesome bloggers bought

and start filling up that wish list for the next big sale!