Halloween Fun ~ Last week was such an exciting week! After an exciting day of singing Halloween songs with Mr. Thompson and doing some pumpkin math, we enjoyed the QAE Halloween Parade and a fabulous classroom party. I would like to give a huge thank you to Diane (Felix’s mom) for coordinating our party and thank all of the parents that helped make the cupcake decorating and fortune telling and dancing and class decorations happen! I heard one of the kids say, “This is the best Halloween party ever!” I have posted our photos of the day above, which include a few of the party. There are more party photos coming. PBL Who Am I? Project ~ By the end of the week, we had almost wrapped up our All About Me presentations. We have two more to enjoy this week. Each student’s presentation video and final speaking assessment are posted on his/her e-folio. Writers' Workshop ~ I sent home the student’s writers’ workshop folders bulging with their October writing. Student and teacher selected pieces are also posted on the students’ e-folios. They can keep these folders at home to hold all of their at home writing. I also sent home (separately) an alphabet card to help them stretch out the words they want to use to write. At this point as writers, it is important that they can read back their writing to you. If you help them stretch out words phonetically, they will be able to read them and they will own them. Conventional spelling, “like you would see in a book”, will come as they learn to be more skilled readers and writers. At school, we will continue our Launching Writers’ Workshop Unit for a few more weeks, continuing to help the students learn the writing process – generating ideas, planning, sketching, drafting, revising and editing – and help them write pages and pages. At this point in their writing lives, quantity will lead to quality. |
My Writers’ Workshop instruction will focus on helping the students tell stories, planning their stories page by page and adding more details to their pictures and stories. We will also be bringing our stories to life by adding dialogue with speech bubbles. We plan to invite our families in for a writing celebration to share our published stories before Thanksgiving Break.
Readers' Workshop ~
This week, students will each receive their “just right” class book bag for Readers’ Workshop. Most students start with A & B books in their bags. These early pre-reading books all have a pattern that carries the reader through the book. An adult reads them the first page and then the students use the pattern and the pictures to read the rest. Students will be reading these "just right" leveled books for the rest of the year, encouraged to move up levels at their own pace. I will be reading individually with each student over the next few weeks, assessing each and determining his or her independent reading level. See the document below 'what readers need' for more information on the reading levels. We will talk more about this during our conference in a few weeks.
Enjoy your week!
Readers' Workshop ~
This week, students will each receive their “just right” class book bag for Readers’ Workshop. Most students start with A & B books in their bags. These early pre-reading books all have a pattern that carries the reader through the book. An adult reads them the first page and then the students use the pattern and the pictures to read the rest. Students will be reading these "just right" leveled books for the rest of the year, encouraged to move up levels at their own pace. I will be reading individually with each student over the next few weeks, assessing each and determining his or her independent reading level. See the document below 'what readers need' for more information on the reading levels. We will talk more about this during our conference in a few weeks.
Enjoy your week!