September Classroom Snapshots

Here's a snapshot of classroom events:

Literacy:

Our class has really been taking off with our CAFE Literacy Program that focuses on important  reading strategies that we should  be implementing everyday in our reading.  Together, our class has been reading various stories where we analyze how to find the story structure of a book that involves discussing the genre, characters, plot, setting, problem, and solution of a book.  Additionally, through our discussions and independent reading assignments, the students have been working on the reading strategies of summarizing the important events in a story and attempting to find the main idea and details of a story.  Moreover, we have been talking about the importance of pausing in our reading every once and a while to check for understanding of what we have read and remembering to back up and reread a passage when we do not comprehend what it says.

Throughout the past two weeks.  I've also been individually assessing your child in the areas of fluency and comprehension.  We hope to have guided reading groups formed soon!  In the meantime, the students are utilizing this testing time working on various reading strategies and Weekly 5 routines. 

Through the reading benchmarking assessments, I will be able to place your child in a guided reading group and provide them with an appropriate novel that I feel matches their reading strengths and capabilities. Guided reading time involves assigning students chapters to read independently, having them answer comprehension questions about their book, and meeting with their group for a novel group discussion. Throughout the year, your child may be moved to a different guided reading group depending on their needs. If your child has a difficult time finishing their guided reading assignment during the schedule 60 minute guided reading period, they will be asked to finish it that night for homework.

Writing:

Our class is really starting to get used to the format and routines our new WEX Writing Program. Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about the writing concept of focus. Throughout our lessons, the students have been learning that when we focus on one moment, setting, sound, or object in our writing, it results in more interesting words, unique perspectives, and surprising fun-to-read details.

Additionally, the students have also been working hard making sure that they are "showing details" in their writing. Showing is the skill of using precise observations, descriptive details, and expressive language to demonstrate emotion, create images, and present evidence within our writing. The students have been learning the difference between telling the reader what is happening in their writing versus "showing" the reader. For example, instead of telling the reader "I was cold", the students have learned that they can better show how the person is feeling by saying, "I was shivering outside on my front porch as I zipped up my coat". Thus, we are learning how to write details in our work that are more precise and authentic to the reader.

Spelling:

A big thanks goes out to all of the parents that are working with their student on spelling each evening this week with our "Words Their Way" Program!   Please continue to make sure that they are sorting their words correctly into their various spelling categories. The goal of our spelling program is for the students to learn and retain the spelling rules and word patterns for future use in their writing and not to just memorize the words for the test and forget them by the next week.   The nightly spelling sorts and activities will help your student to reach this goal.

Grammar:

Over the past several weeks, the students have been working on determining if a sentence is considered complete and when they should use a period or an exclamation mark in their sentences. We also have been discussing how in order for a sentence to be considered a complete sentence, it must always contain a subject. Throughout literacy time, the students had fun practicing these skills with the following web pages. Feel free to on these links to view and play the web site games at home: Sentence Clubhouse, Penguins on Ice, What's the Subject?, and Rags to Riches.

Math:

The students just finished up with Unit 1 that reviewed some of the concepts that they learned already in 2nd grade. Our lessons  involved analyzing data and plotting it into various kinds of graphs, finding equivalent names for a given number, discussing the concept of chance, learning how to utilize our new calculators, and counting money. 

Our Unit 1 Test went home today.   Please have your students make any corrections to the test, sign the cover sheet, and return the test back to school on Wednesday.   (Even if your child didn't have any corrections to make, please still sign and return the test.)

Social Studies:

The class has been having a fun time learning all about Chicago.   Together, we have been discussing about the meaning of the parts of the Chicago flag and learned about the first settlers that moved into the Chicago area.   In addition, the students have been divided into research groups to learn more about events that happened in Chicago's history involving Fort Dearborn, the Chicago River, the Chicago Fire, the Century of Progress, and the Chicago World's Fair.   Throughout research time, the students log into an Edmodo account.    Once on the page, an assignment is posted for them to complete with their group to learn more about a topic.   (Usually the assignments involve reading a webpage, watching a short movie, or watching a slideshow about the subject they are researching that day).   Afterwards, the student groups post a few sentences in Edmodo about what they have read. Together as a whole group, we discuss our findings.     Feel free to view their postings by going to:   www.Edmodo.com.    Once on the site, your child can log into their account to show you their postings!  

We're excited to go on our Wendella Boat ride field trip that has been rescheduled for next Friday, October 4th.   More information about the trip will be sent home to you that week.  

Have a wonderful weekend!