Literacy
We are now working on writing opinion pieces in writer's workshop. Students are learning to state their opinion and support them with reasons and examples. First graders have lots of opinions! We have been looking at character traits in reader's workshop. Again the students are looking for evidence in their books to support their choice of character traits. These ideas carry over in our new unit on matter. Scientists make hypothesis based on information and observations.
We have begun 2 new units this week. Our reader's workshop mini-lessons will focus on asking questions to better our comprehension and using the text features of non-fiction texts. At the same time we are working to write "teaching" books during our writer's workshop time. This week each student thought of a topic they could teach something about. They learned to plan for at least three subtopics. One way to help them plan was to think of the questions their readers might have. Readers and Writer's units this semester go together so nicely with our Unit of Inquiry. The students are excited to share the new knowledge they are acquiring. The students are also doing a quick reading assessment to make sure we know what level they are reading at after the summer break. These new levels should be going home next week.
The students are working to revise their stories to share on Dec. 17th. These stories represent what they have learned over the last two months. The are not "polished" pieces but are pieces of their work as real writers. You will be able to see their transition and development in writing these small moment stories. I hope you will help your young writers celebrate their achievements. We will spend the next two week writing fictional pieces. The students are very excited to use their imagination to craft some exciting stories. As the semester comes to an end, I will be giving the students an informal reading assessment to see what level they are currently reading at. I will update their Raz-Kids account based on this information. Please have your child read over the long break. We do not want them to lose all of reading skills that they have worked so hard to achieve. Thank you!
We have started a new unit for Writer's Workshop. We are beginning to write "Small Moment" books. These are personal narratives. The students will be working on stretching their story over several pages. Their story should have a beginning, middle and end. They will be encouraged to sketch, write and then go back to color and add details to their illustrations. Our focus will be shifting to writing during this unit.
We will be doing a quick running record for student's current level of reading. As Interim reports are coming up, I want to make sure I have the most current analysis of their reading skills. Please remember to read each night and RECORD their books in their reading log.
During our new Unit of Inquiry, the students will be working cooperatively to solve problems. Students will need to work on being good listeners, speaking clearly while sharing their ideas and working together to present their ideas to others.
We will be doing a quick running record for student's current level of reading. As Interim reports are coming up, I want to make sure I have the most current analysis of their reading skills. Please remember to read each night and RECORD their books in their reading log.
During our new Unit of Inquiry, the students will be working cooperatively to solve problems. Students will need to work on being good listeners, speaking clearly while sharing their ideas and working together to present their ideas to others.
We are finally finished with the DRA. Books in Bags were sent home along with a Reading Log to record their books and a Book Response Journal. Each week students need to write about ONE of their books. The students are becoming more familiar with our word sorts. Each group is working on different spelling and phonic's skills. Each week students get a new group of words to sort into groups that practice these skills. The last piece of our Literacy program is the weekly spelling list. Each student's list is based on their own spelling skills.
I hope you are enjoying listening to your child read. Ask them to use their strategies to figure out hard words and don't forget to engage in a conversation about the book after reading it.
We are starting to look at ways good readers check for comprehension. This week we talked about our "schema". The students will be making their own schema poster to show all of the background knowledge they already have "stuck" in their brain. They are also finding and discussing connections they are making between themselves and the text we are reading.
In Writer's Workshop we have been looking at decisions illustrators make when illustrating books. We have discussed background and ways to show action. The students are trying out these new insights in their own books. Next week we will look at how illustrators show a character's feelings. The students are enjoying creating their own books.
I hope you are enjoying listening to your child read. Ask them to use their strategies to figure out hard words and don't forget to engage in a conversation about the book after reading it.
We are starting to look at ways good readers check for comprehension. This week we talked about our "schema". The students will be making their own schema poster to show all of the background knowledge they already have "stuck" in their brain. They are also finding and discussing connections they are making between themselves and the text we are reading.
In Writer's Workshop we have been looking at decisions illustrators make when illustrating books. We have discussed background and ways to show action. The students are trying out these new insights in their own books. Next week we will look at how illustrators show a character's feelings. The students are enjoying creating their own books.
Next week we will begin our DRA (reading) testing. This will help to determine reading groups and help the students when selecting their books to take home for reading. The students spent time this week learning the literacy routines. They worked hard to learn how to work quietly and independently during the reading block. This week they were introduced to several literacy activities like Doodleloops and Scrambled Sentences. Ask you children about these activities. We have started our writer's workshop by developing a list of all of the things we can write about. The students are building stamina as writers as they begin to write their first books. The students also wrote their first picture caption. You can find them on "Look What We Did". We had our word study assessment this week and next week we will start working in our word study groups. Watch for their first sort on Wednesday.