Books+for+Brains+Student+Activities

=Ms. Boss' Third Grade Class = **Books for Brains**  Congratulations, students! You were told last week to have __Because of Winn-Dixie__ read by today, Monday. Now, we are ready to begin our project. Please make sure you all keep your books in your desks at school so that you have access to them throughout the week.

The following directions are for your assignments for the week of //April 19-23 // during which we will have our Books for Brains project. Use this website to gather links and other information provided for your individual projects. Please follow these rules and do your assignments accordingly. No late work will be accepted.



Once you have your things settled and your desk cleared, click on this [|Scavenger Hunt] and complete all the questions. Copy and paste the questions into a Microsoft Word Document and answer them accordingly. You may use your book and the following websites to help you find the answers on this Hunt! [|Web helper #1] [|Web helper #2]
 * Monday: Book Scavenger Hunt and Discussion **

 After you are finished answering the questions, we will discuss any answers you would like to share as well as your thoughts on the book. Be ready to talk about your //favorite parts//, //interesting characters//, and //certain parts of the story line.//

[Not for students: (Note: I do not claim creation of discussion questions from Scavenger Hunt. They belong to the owner that created them and we are simply using them to answer questions and rouse discussion, and I thank the Web site kindly for allowing me to borrow those 10 questions. All rights reserved.) ]

Today will the the PowerPoint quiz. As soon as class begins, all students will take out a pen and paper to write down their best answer choices to the quiz questions. The quiz will be on the //characters// and //events// in the book. Watch this video to see what characters will be on the quiz.
 * Tuesday: PowerPoint and Color Chart**

media type="youtube" key="euZlZV9Ex6I" height="385" width="640"

 [Not for students: (Note: I do not claim creation or ownership of this video. It belongs to the owner that created it and we are simply using it to provide insight to the story's characters. I thank the Web site kindly for allowing me to borrow this video. All rights reserved.)

After this quiz is finished, you will proceed to the computer lab to do a small project. You will pull up Microsoft Word and create a // C o l o r -Coded Character Chart// using a table. Create this chart using the characters from the video above. Give each character a different color for his/her entire column. You will use //6// characters (meaning 7 rows) and tell me //4// things about these characters (meaning 5 columns). The four things can be anything you like, as long as it pertains to every character you list. You may use two of my examples, but be creative enough to come up with two of your own! This is an example of how your chart should look:

 When you finish your chart, __save it__ to your flash drive. (Teacher's note: all children will need flash drives on the first day of school to use throughout the year.)
 * **Characters ** || **Relation to Opal ** || **One Important Action ** || **Role in Story ** || **Background Information ** ||
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Opal ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Preacher ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: #ffff00; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Winn-Dixie ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: #00ffff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gloria ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Otis ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(minor character of your choice) ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

Today for the first 30 minutes of class, each student will take out a piece of lined paper and write a book review of Because of Winn Dixie. This review must be a //page and a half// long and include the //main idea//, a //short description of each main character//, the //setting//, important //events//, and //Opal's solution to her problem// at the end of the book. Finally, add your opinion of the story and whether you liked it or not. Don't be afraid to tell me you did not like the book; all I want is your //honest opinion//.
 * Wednesday: Book Review**

After every book review is handed in to the teacher, we will have a 20 minute discussion about "How to Stay Healthy." I will stand at the front of the class and ask questions to facilitate the discussion, but it is your job to continue it and provide answers. These are a few of the questions that will be asked. Please look over them and prepare answers to each one. They are not difficult, but you must think about your past experiences to come up with appropriate answers. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">When Opal found Winn Dixie, she did not know if the dog was dirty or possibly sick. Describe what you would have done if you found a stray dog. Would you go right up and pet it, or stay back and be careful? Would you ask someone for help, or decide to take care of the dog on your own? List a few steps you would take to ensure the dog is healthy.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How do you stay healthy in your life? What are steps you take to keep yourself healthy from day to day? Say as many as you can think of!
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How do you and your family keep from becoming sick? What do you do when you are sick?
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">List a few healthy foods that we can eat to keep us alive and strong.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Do you know the proper amount of exercise you should do each day to stay strong? How about each week? How do you exercise?

Today, we will go to the Computer Lab to do an Inspiration project. We have already been introduced to the Inspiration software earlier this year when we did our project with different types of species. For this project, you will create a //visual chart// of the book. This project is less structured than our earlier projects this week. You have the freedom to create any type of chart you wish, but it MUST be about the book. The chart must include different //characters//, //events//, and //pictures// that relate to the book. Don't forget to give me a description of each character. For example, you may start with Winn Dixie in the middle and draw an arrow from the oval to Opal. Then you can describe Opal by putting a picture (from the clip art section) of something that reminds you of her. You can even be creative and put an "opal" stone in as a graphic. Make sure to be colorful! Change the colors and, I cannot say this enough, BE CREATIVE! But equally important, keep your chart __organized__. As much as I love colorful information, it will not mean anything if I cannot sift through and read it easily.
 * Thursday: Time to be Inspired!**

Here is an example from the Internet of how your Inspiration picture could look:



<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> When you finish your Inspiration chart, be sure to SAVE IT to your flash drive.

For our final day of the Books for Brains lesson, we will be creating a __movie__! Your job is to make the //pictures//. Right away at the beginning of class, you will open //KidPix// on your laptop to create a picture of your //favorite scene// from the book. You have //thirty minutes// to create your picture. Please make it appropriate and original. Remember, __CATS__! At the thirty minute mark, everyone will e-mail their completed picture to me. I will then take ten minutes to gather up all the pictures and put them into individual Windows Movie Maker slots. This will be done on the overhead projector so that you can see how Windows Movie Maker works. After the pictures are loaded, transitions are chosen, and music (Who Let the Dogs Out) is applied, the video of everyone's digital artwork will be shown in the last ten minutes of class.
 * Friday: Who Let the Dogs Out?**



For reminder Tutorials of how to work KidPix, click [|here] <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">to view the website containing these videos. Be sure to view this specific Tutorial as well: [|Drawing Tools]

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