Team SCOOT "Main Idea" made it a Marvelous Monday!

Today was marveloso, baby! I took in enough "stuff" to fix up a dozen bags for "Main Idea" work. My students were given Team SCOOT sheets  half-sheets, run front to back (see Team SCOOT post). I used the copier to put the image on one sheet twice, then copied front to back and cut in half. Voila! Two copies for each of my students and my teamie's!

Brown bags were put at each pod of four desks. The children's job as a team was to use whatever was in the bag to agree on a "main theme." I appointed one leader per group to keep my sweet seconds from "grabbing" the bags and destroying something because there were breakable items. I had two incomplete bags (I forgot to get a few items on my mad dash this morning), which I used to explain how to play. The children practiced Team SCOOT once before I put the bags at the pods so they would know what to do. :) 

They "scooted" around the room twice before we went over what was in each bag as a class. They loved this! I told them that this is like finding the main idea in a paragraph...you're looking for "stuff" called "supporting details" to point to what the whole paragraph is talking about or telling. We talked about determining the importance of what we read by thinking about the explicit ideas and looking carefully for implicit ideas as well.

The next step is to put 4 copies of the same paragraph for "Main Idea Team SCOOT" and let them work as a team together again to figure out what the main idea is based on supporting details.

I think I'll have them take turns being the secretary for the group and writing the main idea and at least 3 supporting details at each station. This was such a fun and exciting way for them to learn something that is sometimes difficult for seconds.

I had 12 brown bags in all. I remembered to get out my camera after the first round of SCOOT. I'll try to remember to get pix of the other bags tomorrow.

I am thrilled with the awesome learning going on today...

check out the pix!

Dog-bone, tug toy, water bowl

 Cleaning!-old towel, kid-friendly cleaning solution, duster

Painting!-purple tape, paint stick for stirring, paintbrush, pint of yellow paint (for my rocking chair)...

Cookies!-flour, cookie cutters, salt

Now a question...does anyone else have a time getting your students to keep their desks neat? Check out this picture I took Friday afternoon and put on the Promethean board so they could see exactly what pleases the Desk Fairy! ;D You should see some of their desks today, though! Ouch! :*(

Can it get any plainer than this?!? :D

More "Main Idea" tomorrow...a "craftivity" to practice main idea and supporting details...stay tuned!

Blessings & peace,

    †~Melly~†

Author's PIE, Team SCOOT

We made an author's pie last year to introduce the author's purpose for writing... to persuade, to inform, or to entertain. We hung our pies in the hallway, but used them as a springboard for discussion when we discussed what we were reading and/or writing. I just felt like something was missing with that. So... after seeing Team SCOOT (who did this, by the way?) I thought,  "WOW!" We are going to make our same PIE. Instead of hanging them in the hall, we are going to use them! We will have a discussion of Author's PIE, then students will use the pies they've made to play Team SCOOT. One book will be placed at each group of seats and the students will scoot around to each pod and decide as a group what the author's purpose was in writing the book there. I will probably run the Team SCOOT sheet front to back and have the students go around twice before we discuss their answers. I'll get pictures as soon as we play and add them to this post. I just wanted to share my Team SCOOT page and the idea for my Georgia buddies who teach Author's purpose. :) Click here for Team SCOOT .