Who Would Win?

A polar bear and a grizzly bear meet up and have a battle.  Which of these fierce creatures would win?  Or maybe a whale and a giant squid have an epic ocean battle.  Could you predict the winner?  If you are familiar with author Jerry Pallotta, then you'll know exactly the books I'm referring to.  And if you are not familiar with this man, you should start reading!

My elementary school had the pleasure of hosting Jerry Pallotta this past week.  He reeled the kids in with stories of his childhood growing up in Massachusetts on the beach.  He talked of finding whales and tuna, of raking seaweed to sell to food producers, of hunting crabs and lobsters.  He shared childhood stories of his cousins and family and their time together.  He showed us books he's already written and new books yet to come. He involved the kids and made funny things happen with his projector.   And he never. stopped. talking.  And the kids never. stopped. listening.  For an entire hour!

See Jerry's biography by clicking here.

Jerry had so much energy, the kids were mesmerized.  And he did it 3 times!  Between every presentation he signed books.  And not just the sign-your-name-and-move-on kind of signing.  He used the name of every child and adult who purchased a book (and even for those who already had a book), and even drew some cute little pictures with little messages.  Amazing.  And because I knew this about Jerry Pallotta before he presented, I wanted to make sure I gave him a personal thank you.

Jerry was very kind to talk to me for a few minutes as I rudely interrupted his lunch (I promise I kept it short!).  I wanted to thank him for always writing back to my kids when we sent letters to him.  Each year I do a non-fiction author study, and he is one of the authors to whom kids can write.  He is beyond generous with his response.  He told me a story about how this came to be.  Many years ago when the baseball players went on strike, a sports writer published a scathing report about the players and teams and then waited to see how the teams would respond.  Most teams did nothing.  Some were angry and lashed out.  But a few teams loaded this fellow up with merchandise and serious team swag as a measure of good will.  Jerry said he wanted to be like those teams.  He said Scholastic has been very generous to him, so he can return the favor to kids.  And believe me, he certainly does.

Back in our classroom, we spent a few minutes discussing what we could learn from a working author.  Jerry presented so many great ideas during his talk, I wanted to make sure the kids had soaked it all in.

Here's the list we came up with.  We thought back to the slides he shared of his writing and editing process, and we sorted through his stories to come up some ideas of what it takes to be a quality writer.  I love this reading and writing connection!

And speaking of reading, my students absolutely LOVE reading the Who Would Win? series.  Our library teacher held a school-wide vote to see which Who Would Win? book was the most popular.  And the winner was...

Photo Credit:  Scholastic
Purchase this book here:

These books are great on so many levels.  First, they are high interest for nearly every 3rd grader I know.  There are so many different books in this series, it seems there's something for everyone.  In addition to the sheer volume of books, they work so well for teaching the compare and contrast text structure in non-fiction reading.  I have a very simple compare and contrast foldable booklet to use with this as well.  I'll make sure to post some examples later this year when we have some that are completed.  And finally, what I love the most is that kids are reading.  They get so excited about seeing who would win, the reading is just fun.  It's just FUN and they are LEARNING.

So who wins now?  Everyone!

Citizenship

The dictionary defines citizen as 

an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises.

I like to think of a citizen as someone who is a member of any community, whether it be a city, a nation, or even a classroom.  In fact, I find it to be very important for the kids to learn they are all citizens who are not only entitled to the privileges of our classroom, but also have responsibilities to keep things running smoothly by taking care of the physical space and the people who are within that space.  I guess that's why we spend so much time at the beginning of the year learning what it takes to be a good citizen.  And it really is their immediate world--a place they know very well.  I have some favorite books I love to share with the kids.  This one is at or near the top of the list.

It's Not My Fault by Nancy Carlson is one of my all-time favorites.  We have such good discussions about being proactive and taking responsibility for our own actions.  Both are things that good citizens should do to help keep a community cohesive (Wouldn't it be great if some of our political leaders could learn this too?!).

In addition to being a good classroom citizen, we learn about being a good citizen in a larger community as part of our first social studies unit.  Our Iowa Core Curriculum states that students will understand the rights and responsibilities of each citizen and demonstrate the value of lifelong civic action.  One idea my 3rd grade team tries to emphasize is community involvement.  A big part of that is being a volunteer for an organization and giving time and energy.  For the past 2 years, we have invited 4 different organizations to speak to the kids about how volunteers are a necessary part of the work they do to help make communities better.  The kids love learning about the work done by these groups and get some insight into issues facing our local community.  This year we had a homeless shelter, Labs for Liberty (a group that provides service dogs for veterans), the Animal Rescue League, and the food bank.  I always find it interesting how different organizations spark a chord with different kids.  It's fun to see what they take away from these visits.  

As a last look at what kids have taken away from this unit, I want them to show they know what it takes to be a good citizen.  I created a graphic organizer that we filled out as a class as we went through the unit.  Then the kids chose one item from the list and illustrated what they learned about being a good citizen. Here are some examples of the kids' work:

You can grab this freebie at my TpT store by clicking on either picture.

In the end, I really just want my students to know that being a good citizen is about helping yourself and those around you be better, no matter the size of the community of which they are members.  It's my job to help them learn to make this world a better place for all.  Based on their ideas, they are off to a good start!