I also wrote about how much I love the website Values.com. It's basically real life theme. If you've never see the billboards, here are a few:
There's a person. Enough to give you their story. Then a one or two word THEME. Brilliant. If you visit the website, you can get a longer background story for each billboard.
On Monday and Tuesday, we used the Mimio lesson I made using some of the billboards and stories. We went through the different stories, and the kids tried to guess the theme for that person.
I also read a book each day with a strong theme to it. We did a lot of turn and talks with this. Calling on just one student isn't going to help the whole class. Theme is hard. They need a lot of chances to talk it out.
On Wednesday, I read another book, and then each kiddo sketched out their own billboard for a fictional character of their choice. Some kids needed more help, but that was good because it gave me a chance to talk out theme with them one on one.
On Thursday, they made their billboards. I love how they turned out. Take a peek:
Percy Jackson
Stephanie from Stephanie's Ponytail
Purplicious
Wodney Wat
It's been a great week. Today the kiddos are going to spend some quality time with our laptops and the Values.com website reading some of the stories from other billboards. And I will clean my classroom. It's a win win.
Oh I like the second and third columns! I love glitter fun haha :)
ReplyDeleteGina
Third Grade Tidbits
I think the 3rd column is the most glittery. Happy Thanksgiving! Love the theme idea. I need to do this lesson. Mine just blew theme big time on the last benchmark test.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea...what a great way to get kids thinking about themes and also making connections. Thanks for sharing. I like the green glitter best!
ReplyDeleteLast column = best glitter! i'm heading off to check out Values.com. Hitting theme hard after Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteLove your ideas! Thanks for sharing.
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