~ That's What Happens When It's Spring! ~ An Internet Project
Marci McGowan is back with another great Internet project, That's What Happens When It's Spring! based upon Elaine Good's book of the same name. This project asks us to open our eyes to the advent of Spring and to respond about this most joyous season through words and images. To learn more about this wonderful project click here. LOOKING FOR LITERATURE OR IDEAS? Marci has put together a great page of Spring Links and Books. Be sure to check it out! For some tips on using seasonal non-fiction, try our Spring Reading page. A search at amazon.com will also yield an extensive list of children's books with a Spring theme.
~ Our Work ~ Image by Heartwarming Holidays Graphics Our work for this project included: Writing daffodil haiku Reading the books That's What Happens When It's Spring and Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic Wrting descriptive paragraphs in Writers' Workshop and writing Spring acrostics How do we know it's Spring in Arlington, Massachusetts? One of our first signs of Spring is Daffodil Day. Daffodil Day is a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society, and it began in our school and town right in my classroom! Daffodil Day always inspires us, and this Daffodil Day was no different. We created wonderful haiku poetry to celebrate the day. Here is one: Beautiful yellow, daffodil’s wonderful scent, brings joy to my heart. by Mary To read all of our wonderful haiku poetry, click here. Art by Brandon Next we enjoyed Elaine Good's book in Writers' Workshop, and began work on descriptive paragraphs. The children created their own graphic organizers. Next they wrote and revised their paragraphs. Below are three of them. Please enjoy! What happens when it's Spring? Spring is the season when the world comes to life! The scent of the magnificent daffodils is extraordinary! When I go to the brook I can hear the enchanting flowing and splashing of the rushing water against the rocks and pebbles. The cold weather starts to get warmer and the days get longer as the weeks pass. New babies are born from their mothers. Birds start chirping gleefully in the morning. My absolute favorite sports, baseball and soccer, begin in Spring. And that's what happens when it's Spring! by Ryan What happens when it's Spring? Spring has many mysteries to unveil. Outside nature is becoming reborn in its own way. In Spring flowers begin to bloom, like daffodils, tulips, and lilies, because of warmer weather. Birds are returning from the South to sing their beautful songs. It is also time to get out Spring clothes. Children start to play more outside because each day is more beautiful than the last. And that's what happens when it's Spring! by Addie What happens when it's Spring? Spring is a fascinating season and there are so many reasons to enjoy it. Spring is alive with the birth of baby animals, such as deer and rabbits. In Spring the weather is so warm most people take off even their lightest coats. Now, practically once every two weeks, my dad cooks on his grill. Everybody knows the expression "April showers bring May flowers," and it's certainly true. The glistening raindrops in April will bring rainbow colored flowers in May! And that's what happens when it's Spring! by Matthew To view more of our descriptive work, click here. Art by Billy To view a SLIDESHOW of accompanying artwork, click here. Art by Nick ADDRESSING THE STANDARDS This project addressed the following Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework Standards: Standard 2: Questioning, Listening, and Contributing Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their information or ideas in group discussions or interviews in order to acquire new knowledge. Standard 4: Vocabulary and Concept Development Students will understand and acquire new vocabulary and use it correctly in reading and writing. Standard 14: Poetry Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the themes, structure, and elements of poetry and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Standard 19: Writing Students will write with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail. Standard 20: Consideration of Audience and Purpose Students will write for different audiences and purposes. Standard 21: Revising Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in their compositions after revising them. Standard 23: Organizing Ideas in Writing Students will organize ideas in writing in a way that makes sense for their purpose.
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