April 28, 2017
Students' learning target this week was to identify the message, or moral of the story, as well as determine the theme or "big idea". We enjoyed several different genres such as fables, realistic fiction, and other types of traditional literature and found that even though the lessons and themes were different, each story did indeed have one! This critical thinking skill is difficult because it takes a lot of inferring and using text evidence.
We also spent time reviewing different concepts learned throughout the year, such as contractions, comma usage, compound words, prefixes and suffixes!
We also spent time reviewing different concepts learned throughout the year, such as contractions, comma usage, compound words, prefixes and suffixes!
April 21, 2017
In reading this week, we continued to learn how to identify the mood of poems we read aloud. Students also spent some time practicing and presenting their own poetry for their classmates in preparation for Literacy Night! This was an exciting celebration of students' hard work.
We also began reviewing reading skills we have learned throughout the year. We practiced finding examples of cause and effect in text as well as determining the lesson learned by a character. We will continue reviewing previously learned skills next week!
We also began reviewing reading skills we have learned throughout the year. We practiced finding examples of cause and effect in text as well as determining the lesson learned by a character. We will continue reviewing previously learned skills next week!
April 14, 2017
Students learned and reviewed many elements of poetry this week, such as similes, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyming, and words that describe what we feel, see, smell, hear, and taste! We read several poems and looked for these elements and then brainstormed and drafted our own poems! Students will be practicing presenting their poems early next week and we will have our performance next Tuesday, April 18th at Literacy Night!
March 31, 2017
We had a full and fun-filled week! Students got to dress up as their favorite book character, camp out and read in our tent, swap favorite books with other kiddos, and learn about how to exercise and work out our brains! Students did their "Gallery Walk" this week, displaying their non-fiction book projects and reading about each other's topics! Students were so proud of their own work and impressed with their classmates' projects too! This week, we kicked off our poetry study and began to write poetry using similes, which is a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as. Once we return from break, we will continue to read and explore characteristics of poetry such as rhythm, personification, onomatopoeia, imagery and much more!
March 24, 2017
Students worked diligently this week on their non-fiction research projects! Next week, students will participate in a "gallery walk" in which they can read other students' reports! In addition to working on our projects, students also practiced comparing and contrasting two topics using a Venn Diagram. Since we have been learning so much about bees, we read a book about wasps and bees. Students found many similarities as well as differences between these two insects. Next week we will have many special events to wrap up March is Reading Month!
March 17, 2017
We began our non-fiction research projects this week! Thank you all so much for donating your cereal boxes! We will be putting them to good use next week as we assemble and share our projects. Each student chose a book and found important facts, vocabulary, and text features.
We also continued working on finding the main idea of non-fiction texts. Students learned a "main idea equation" with fun motions to help them remember how to find the main idea. The topic + main point= main idea! We also continued to learn new prefixes and suffixes and did a hunt for these during independent reading time. Students were amazed at how many words have these added to them!
We also continued working on finding the main idea of non-fiction texts. Students learned a "main idea equation" with fun motions to help them remember how to find the main idea. The topic + main point= main idea! We also continued to learn new prefixes and suffixes and did a hunt for these during independent reading time. Students were amazed at how many words have these added to them!
March 3, 2017
Determining the main idea was the reading skill we practiced this week. Students worked on determining the main idea of a text read aloud. The first step is to figure out what the topic of the text is (this is the easy part!) by using the titles and looking for repeated words. Next, we have to figure out what the main point of the passage is. Determining the main point requires some critical thinking skills, making it a difficult one that we will continue to practice throughout the school year! Once we have the topic and main point, this will tell us the main idea! We created a "formula" (topic + main point= main idea) and motions to help us remember how to find the main idea!
We also learned about and practiced using prefixes this week. Prefixes are added to the beginning of the word to change a word's meaning. Primarily, we used the prefixes un-, re-, dis-, and pre-, but we will continue to practice others as well!
We also learned about and practiced using prefixes this week. Prefixes are added to the beginning of the word to change a word's meaning. Primarily, we used the prefixes un-, re-, dis-, and pre-, but we will continue to practice others as well!
February 17, 2017
This week, students learned the comprehension skill, "Determine Author's Purpose"! We learned that figuring out the author's purpose, or reason for writing the book, is as easy as PIE! Authors generally write books to persuade their reader about something, inform, or teach the reader something, or it can simply be written just to entertain the reader! We read different books and practiced identifying the author's purpose and explaining our thinking about how we came to our conclusions.
We wrapped up our final drafts of our opinion writing this week. Next week we will begin letter writing, and prepare drafts for our soon-to-be pen pals!
We wrapped up our final drafts of our opinion writing this week. Next week we will begin letter writing, and prepare drafts for our soon-to-be pen pals!
February 3, 2017
Our reading focus this week was "Expanding Vocabulary" by learning how to use context clues to determine the meaning of new words. This is a tricky skill that we will be practicing all year long! You can encourage your child to write down words while reading at home and then work together to look for the clues in the sentence. Once you've identified the clues, have your child think of a synonym, or word with the same meaning, and plug it into the sentence to see if it makes sense!
We continued to work on our opinion writing pieces this week. We discussed three ways to write a strong introduction so that our reader will be excited to read our work! We could write a question, tell an interesting fact about the topic, or share a strong feeling about the topic. Students practiced writing all three introductions and then chose their favorite one to add to their piece!
We continued to work on our opinion writing pieces this week. We discussed three ways to write a strong introduction so that our reader will be excited to read our work! We could write a question, tell an interesting fact about the topic, or share a strong feeling about the topic. Students practiced writing all three introductions and then chose their favorite one to add to their piece!
January 27, 2017
When we weren't taking our NWEA reading test this week, we continued to learn about reading non-fiction. Students also were introduced to finding the main idea of their book as well as asking and answering questions about non-fiction texts. We also continued to learn strategies to help tackle challenging words using our "Hunk and Chunks" along with "Flip the Sound". When students see an e at the end of a word they don't know, this lets them know they may have to flip the short vowel sound to a long sound, like in the word cake. We also looked at words that had our Hunk and Chunks in them, that didn't follow their usual sound, like the "ea" in the word weather, feather, and leather. Students tried the long sound first, but when it didn't make sense, they flipped the sound to solve the words.
We also worked on adjectives in language this week. Adjectives are words that describe what nouns look, smell, taste, feel, or sound like. In our journals, students chose a noun and wrote as many adjectives they could about their noun. When we were done, we shared out adjectives as clues for our partners to try to guess the correct noun.
We also worked on adjectives in language this week. Adjectives are words that describe what nouns look, smell, taste, feel, or sound like. In our journals, students chose a noun and wrote as many adjectives they could about their noun. When we were done, we shared out adjectives as clues for our partners to try to guess the correct noun.
January 20, 2017
This week we continued our non-fiction unit and learned some new text features! Students learned about bold/highlighted words, how to use the glossary and index, as well as labels! In addition to learning text features, we learned to pause and think about what we just read before moving on to the next section. Good readers stop and think, "What did I just read about?" and "How does this section fit with what I have already learned about?" Students know that when they don't understand or know what they just read, they better back up and reread! We enjoyed learning lots of interesting facts and information...which is our purpose for reading non-fiction!
One idea for fun practice of text features and reading non-fiction at home would be to take an outing to the library and let your child choose some topics he or she would like to know more about...or just browse the informational texts until something interesting pops up! You can ask your child to do a text features scavenger hunt, seeing which features can be found in his or her book. Encourage your child to keep track of interesting facts or write down questions he or she may have, and see if the answers can be found in the book!
One idea for fun practice of text features and reading non-fiction at home would be to take an outing to the library and let your child choose some topics he or she would like to know more about...or just browse the informational texts until something interesting pops up! You can ask your child to do a text features scavenger hunt, seeing which features can be found in his or her book. Encourage your child to keep track of interesting facts or write down questions he or she may have, and see if the answers can be found in the book!
January 13, 2017
We dove back into reading this week with non-fiction books! We will be studying non-fiction text features and how they help us to understand more about a topic. This week we practiced using a table of contents to go to sections we wanted to read about. We also discussed that headings help us get our minds ready for what we are about to read, as well as give us the main idea of that section. Students found that captions helped us to better understand and explain photographs we looked at. We will continue to learn about text features and interesting topics and facts next week!
December 16, 2016
In reading this week, students practiced making inferences and providing text evidence for their inference. Although students have been successful at making inferences after we've discussed the text evidence as a group, it was a little more challenging this week when they were responsible for identifying the text evidence on their own before making their inferences. Inferring is a difficult skill that will need to be practiced and revisited often throughout the year!
Students were excited when we began setting new "CAFE" goals to work on during independent reading and group time this week as well. It has been so amazing to see readers meeting their individual goals and moving on to another challenge to tackle!
Next week we will be doing some fun "winter themed" reading and writing activities! As winter break approaches, please remind your child to read daily so they will not lose any of their reading stamina over the break! :)
Students were excited when we began setting new "CAFE" goals to work on during independent reading and group time this week as well. It has been so amazing to see readers meeting their individual goals and moving on to another challenge to tackle!
Next week we will be doing some fun "winter themed" reading and writing activities! As winter break approaches, please remind your child to read daily so they will not lose any of their reading stamina over the break! :)
December 9, 2016
We continued to work on making inferences this week using our "formula" to determine something that the author hints at, but doesn't fully explain or tell! Students were asked to state their text evidence along with their schema before sharing their inference. We especially enjoyed one of my favorite author's books, Zathura, by Chris Van Allsburg. He is an author known for leaving his readers clues throughout the book!
Students also shared their "How-to-Books" this week. Our little authors were so proud of their hard work! We also took some time to set some new "CAFE" goals with individual students this week. Students may still be working on the same goal (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, expanding vocabulary) using a new strategy, and some have gotten new goals completely.
Students also shared their "How-to-Books" this week. Our little authors were so proud of their hard work! We also took some time to set some new "CAFE" goals with individual students this week. Students may still be working on the same goal (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, expanding vocabulary) using a new strategy, and some have gotten new goals completely.
December 2, 2016
The last couple of weeks, students have been working on making inferences! We made motions and a chant to help us remember how to make an inference this week. Text evidence (a part of the book) + Schema (what we already know) = Inference (something we can figure out that the author doesn't tell us). We read a picture book called Free Fall which was perfect for inferring because there are no words in this book. Students looked for clues in the picture, used their schema, and made inferences about what was happening in the story.This is a difficult skill, so we will continue working on inferring throughout the school year.
In addition to working on inferring, we have continued to learn and practice new accuracy and comprehension strategies for reading. Students were also introduced to the term "genre" and have practiced identifying the genre of the books I have been reading aloud. Students are also working on identifying verbs in language. First graders are primarily identifying action verbs and second graders have been working on linking verbs.
After lots of revising and editing, students are now in the publishing stage of their "How-to" writings. We will be finishing these up next week and sharing!
In addition to working on inferring, we have continued to learn and practice new accuracy and comprehension strategies for reading. Students were also introduced to the term "genre" and have practiced identifying the genre of the books I have been reading aloud. Students are also working on identifying verbs in language. First graders are primarily identifying action verbs and second graders have been working on linking verbs.
After lots of revising and editing, students are now in the publishing stage of their "How-to" writings. We will be finishing these up next week and sharing!
November 11, 2016
Students learned a fluency strategy this week called "read with expression" which we also called "read with a story teller's voice". We practiced using what we knew about what characters were doing, thinking, and feeling to help us match our voice and expressions with the character. Students should be practicing this strategy any time they are reading aloud. You can encourage your child to read with expression at home with you as well!
In language this week, we reviewed nouns and learned about when to use the articles "an" and "a". We played a game to reinforce when to use each article. I wrote a noun on the board and students had to choose the "a" side of the room or the "an" side of the room. It was great practice while having some fun too! :)
In language this week, we reviewed nouns and learned about when to use the articles "an" and "a". We played a game to reinforce when to use each article. I wrote a noun on the board and students had to choose the "a" side of the room or the "an" side of the room. It was great practice while having some fun too! :)
November 4, 2016
We wrapped up our Character Study this week! Students learned about comparing and contrasting characters from different books. We brainstormed feelings, traits, and experiences that characters shared as well as those that were unique to individual characters. We will continue to discuss characters throughout the year and will constantly be referring back to the skills students learned to become better readers during this unit!
In writing, students brainstormed activities they are experts at for our how-to writing unit! I was so impressed at their creative ideas! We will continue to work through the writing process next week by adding details to each step, editing for capitals, punctuation, and spelling before we create our final drafts.
During reading buddies this week, I was excited to see some students teaching reading strategies they have learned this year to their kindergarten buddies! Below are some photos of our little leaders! :)
In writing, students brainstormed activities they are experts at for our how-to writing unit! I was so impressed at their creative ideas! We will continue to work through the writing process next week by adding details to each step, editing for capitals, punctuation, and spelling before we create our final drafts.
During reading buddies this week, I was excited to see some students teaching reading strategies they have learned this year to their kindergarten buddies! Below are some photos of our little leaders! :)
October 28, 2016
Our reading focus this week was asking questions before, during and after reading. We discussed the reason good readers ask questions is because it engages us in our book and builds our comprehension, or understanding of the book! When we ask ourselves questions we typically read on and want to find the answers! We also continued to read books and identify lessons the character learned throughout the story. We read about one character, Howard, who would do anything to win, even if it meant cheating! In the end, students told me he learned to be respectful as well as a good sport and that winning isn't everything.
We began our "How-to" writing unit this week with a fun little project: How to Carve a Pumpkin! The first day students wrote down the steps they thought were needed to carve a pumpkin. The second day, I read some of the directions aloud and demonstrated what I would do if I were following the directions as they were written. Many students realized that their original directions were not quite as detailed as they thought. We worked on adding details to each step so that someone who had never carved a pumpkin before should be able to read the steps and be successful.
We began our "How-to" writing unit this week with a fun little project: How to Carve a Pumpkin! The first day students wrote down the steps they thought were needed to carve a pumpkin. The second day, I read some of the directions aloud and demonstrated what I would do if I were following the directions as they were written. Many students realized that their original directions were not quite as detailed as they thought. We worked on adding details to each step so that someone who had never carved a pumpkin before should be able to read the steps and be successful.
October 21, 2016
This week, students learned about identifying how characters change throughout a story as well as finding the lessons learned. I read one of my favorite books, A Bad Case of Stripes! Students were able to identify that the main character, Camilla Cream, was worried about what people thought of her at the beginning of the book. She loved lima beans, but never ate them because she wanted to fit in. Camilla has some strange things happen to her throughout the book. In the end, she decides she is going to eat lima beans after all, even though some kids call her "weird". We discussed that Camilla changed a lot from the beginning to the end. She no longer was worried about what people thought of her. She learned a valuable lesson- that she should just be herself! We will continue to notice how characters change and work on identifying the lessons they learn.
During independent work time, students continued to work on their independent goals. Each student has a reading goal for comprehension, accuracy (reading the words correctly), or extending vocabulary. In small groups, we work on a strategy to improve students' reading goal and then they are encouraged to practice independently during Read-to-Self.
Students have worked so hard on publishing their personal narratives and we celebrated by sharing stories this week! I just love how excited and proud they are to tell their stories to classmates. Here's a sneak peek of our share day below! :)
During independent work time, students continued to work on their independent goals. Each student has a reading goal for comprehension, accuracy (reading the words correctly), or extending vocabulary. In small groups, we work on a strategy to improve students' reading goal and then they are encouraged to practice independently during Read-to-Self.
Students have worked so hard on publishing their personal narratives and we celebrated by sharing stories this week! I just love how excited and proud they are to tell their stories to classmates. Here's a sneak peek of our share day below! :)
October 14, 2016
In reading this week, we continued to jump into the shoes of the characters we read about! We learned how determine what our character likes and dislikes, how he or she is feeling, as well as what our character is thinking. In addition to learning about characters, we also learned a new comprehension strategy called "Use prior knowledge to connect with text". We discussed the meaning of text-to-self connections as well as text-to-text connections. When we make a text-to-self connection, we are using what we know or have experienced in our life to relate to the book or character in some way. We read a book called My Tooth is Loose! and every single student in our room had prior knowledge on this topic! We shared our tooth stories with each other and related them to the main character in the book. The reason good readers use this strategy is because it helps us to be engaged in reading and remember more details from the story. We will continue to practice and use this strategy throughout the school year and you can encourage your child to make connections while reading at home as well!
October 7, 2016
This week in reading, we began a Character Study. We reviewed what characters are and then dove a little deeper as we read carefully to learn about our character, paying close attention to the things he said and did to get to know him. We discussed that it was kind of like meeting a new friend! Once we got to know our character, Morris, we used what we knew about him to make predictions about what he might do or say next. Many students were using their knowledge of the character (text evidence) to make their predictions rather than making random guesses, which was happening prior to learning how to make more accurate predictions.
In writing, we continued moving through the writing process with the stories they have been working on. We worked on revising our stories some more to make sure they made sense and we added details to make them more interesting. Students practiced these steps on their own and then checked their partner's work and gave advice for improving the story further. Next week we will publish, or make the final draft. When we're finished, we will celebrate our little authors and their writing through sharing with the class!
In writing, we continued moving through the writing process with the stories they have been working on. We worked on revising our stories some more to make sure they made sense and we added details to make them more interesting. Students practiced these steps on their own and then checked their partner's work and gave advice for improving the story further. Next week we will publish, or make the final draft. When we're finished, we will celebrate our little authors and their writing through sharing with the class!
September 30, 2016
One highlight of our worktime this week was the addition of word work! Students learned part of our "Phonics Dance", where we learned the sounds that ch, sh, and th make. Students practiced doing a word sort with these sounds and then used one of our many word work materials to build their word sort words and sight words for the week.
In reading, students were introduced to two new CAFE strategies (reading strategies or skills). We learned about the "Monitor and fix up" strategy to help us with comprehension. When we notice that something we read doesn't make sense, we have to use this strategy to help us figure out what we aren't understanding. One way that students already use, is backup and try reading it again. The three other fix up strategies are to adjust our reading rate (how fast or slow we read), summarize what we've just read, and read on to see if it makes more sense and if not, reread. The second strategy was an accuracy strategy, to help us read words we don't know. Use beginning and ending sounds is a strategy in which students must pay close attention to the beginning and ending sounds and think about what word would make sense in the sentence, as well as match both sounds. Many students will match the beginning sound when reading, but will not use the ending sound. Using both sounds will help them to become more accurate readers!
In writing, we continued to work our way through the writing process. Students chose their favorite story to revise, or make necessary changes to make their writing make sense. They began this independently and then read their story to a partner to see if they could catch anything that didn't quite make sense. Next week, students will learn about editing their writing for capitals and punctuation!
In reading, students were introduced to two new CAFE strategies (reading strategies or skills). We learned about the "Monitor and fix up" strategy to help us with comprehension. When we notice that something we read doesn't make sense, we have to use this strategy to help us figure out what we aren't understanding. One way that students already use, is backup and try reading it again. The three other fix up strategies are to adjust our reading rate (how fast or slow we read), summarize what we've just read, and read on to see if it makes more sense and if not, reread. The second strategy was an accuracy strategy, to help us read words we don't know. Use beginning and ending sounds is a strategy in which students must pay close attention to the beginning and ending sounds and think about what word would make sense in the sentence, as well as match both sounds. Many students will match the beginning sound when reading, but will not use the ending sound. Using both sounds will help them to become more accurate readers!
In writing, we continued to work our way through the writing process. Students chose their favorite story to revise, or make necessary changes to make their writing make sense. They began this independently and then read their story to a partner to see if they could catch anything that didn't quite make sense. Next week, students will learn about editing their writing for capitals and punctuation!
September 23, 2016
We had another busy week in the Plum Room! We continued building our reading and writing stamina this week. Each day we were able to read and write a few minutes longer than the day before! We also practiced using shelf works independently. In addition to practicing our reading strategies from last week, we used a new strategy called, "Back up and Reread". When something we read didn't make sense, we knew to stop reading, backup and take a closer look at that sentence. Once we figured out the word we skipped or misread, we could move on. In writing, we worked on writing a beginning, middle, and end as well as adding details to our stories. Next week, I look forward to introducing the next portion of our worktime, which is Word Work! :)
September 12, 2016
Students were introduced to our first two parts of work time this week! We practiced building our reading stamina all week during Read to Self as well as during Work on Writing! During read alouds, we learned some new strategies to help us become better readers. To help us understand what we just read, we used the strategy "Check for understanding", where we pause to make sure we know WHO we just read about and WHAT just happened. You can ask your child to do this at home when your read with him or her to ensure comprehension too! :) To help us read tricky words, we learned a strategy called "Cross Checking" we used "Tune into interesting words" to expand our vocabularies. We wrote these words down in our word collectors to use during writing as well!
September 6, 2016
We had a wonderful first week of school! Much of our time was spent learning about our new classroom this week but we did have some fun reading new books! The First Day Jitters taught us that most of us get nervous for the first day of school...even the teacher! Most students loved trying out the "Jitter Juice" that magically helps to get rid of the jitters! A few said they were more nervous about trying the green liquid than they were about the first day of school, but quickly changed their minds after bravely tasting it!