Fourth graders in Stacey Venzel’s class at PBE had a special visitor recently: Joseph, aka Dumpy, an Australian white tree frog, who happens to live with math and science coach Aly Callahan. Students spent the past three weeks earning individual “Dumpy points” from Ms. Venzel based on their good choices.
They practiced the honesty system by keeping track of their own point totals using a tally system. Their interaction with Dumpy was three-tiered: earn 25 points and get a visit with the frog; earn 50 points and pet him; earn 75 points and hold him! The student who earned the overall greatest number of points earned an additional prize.
Prior to Joseph’s visit, the class analyzed text features and comparing and contrasting through the RADD writing strategy – Re-state the question; Answer the question; Detail 1; Detail 2. Their goal is to write a nonfiction text on frogs and toads. They also used a graphic organizer to complete a list of sensory details in preparation for building a shared personal narrative. Stay tuned!
Great job all! And what fun to meet Joseph/Dumpy!
