Seeing DOUBLE!

A BIG thank you to all the parents who could make it to our Open House!!  Students were so excited to show you our room and the work they've completed so far.

They made self-portraits and thought they were a riot.  They talked to themselves all day and thought it would be great to have a twin!! Now, I thought that would be A LOT of kids in one class.

Here are some of the completed portraits.

Then I thought wouldn't it be great to have two of me?!

Responding to Reading through Writing

Our school is focusing more on having students respond to reading through writing.  We use Fountas and Pinnell for our reading assessments but didn't often have the students complete the writing piece.

Last year we began having students complete this section and we incorporated more writing during our Reader's Workshop.

We've been working with making connections.  I read, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and paused right where Mr. Slinger took her purse away. In their notebooks students had to write a connection on a time when they got in trouble!

I love when they read their responses.  Some crack me right up with how blunt they are and with hearing the voice in their writing.

Here are some examples.

Meet Olivia

Mean Jean, the Recess Queen

I added this poster to our Writer's Workshop bulletin board.  I thought the visual might help them know our workshop model.

We have been reading about bullies and working with Character Maps. Here's how they described Mean Jean!

We've been working more on using evidence from the book to prove their ideas.  We created a list of describing words for Mean Jean and students went back and proved it by looking through the book.  Here's what we found!

Students wrote their opinions on if they'd be her friend or not.  Of course I modeled and then they practiced.  

Do You Like Your Name?

So today we had our VERY first attempt at full blown Writer's Workshop.  Students listened to the story The Name Jar and talked with a friend on if they liked their name or not.

After discussing our opinions we made a list on the board.

Our class has focused on making detailed illustrations.  I use my "Rate Your Writing" posters with my class every year.  You can check them out here (Rate Your Writing Posters).  Since using these, it has really made a difference in their work and discussion about writing.   

I love how when we go to the rug they can rate their own work.  We also talk about how it's okay for some pictures to be black and white and how you can rate yourself a 1 and it's not a bad thing.  Maybe they just began their picture or we had less time to illustrate.

I really go through this process s-l-o-w-l-y.  We've been doing Quiet 5 and will build up to Quiet 10.  This is ALWAYS how I begin when it's writing time.  It allows kids to transition after the mini-lesson and read aloud.  It's quiet in the room and music is playing.  I find this helps those reluctant writer's and creates less nervousness about writing.

After Quiet 10, I begin to model.  While the kids illustrate, I illustrate. I modeled how to write an opinion and then have them try.  After,  I told them my opinion on why I liked my name and showed them how I'd write it.  Then they tried.  Our wrap ups for now all sound the same so once again I modeled how that would look.

Today we wrote 3 WHOLE, complete sentences!!  When their writing was finished they worked on their illustrations.

When completed, the last step was for them to stamp the bottom of the page.  This is always a hit because most students have never used a date stamp!

We wrap up by sharing.  Some days we sit in a circle and students that want to read their piece do.  Other days they buddy and up and share.

Next up, we'll be reading books about bullies.  Mean Jean will be our next focus.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Last week we wrapped up what a sentence is and what it looks like.

After reading, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, I gave students a scrambled sentence that they needed to put in order.

Once they were able to unscramble it and read it back to me they created an illustration.

Magic Chalk

So I work with some amazing teachers, who come up with some amazing ideas, and of course I LOVE to try new things.

Last week we worked with wordless books, orally told the story, and each wrote a sentence.

A teacher I work with saw this idea and decided to try it with the book Chalk.  After the kids told the story she had them each take magic chalk and create a picture.  Of course she had students asking it they could sit or lay on the floor so it was like they were outside writing on the tar.  Fantastic, I tell you!!

I just had to try it out.  After we looked through the book each student took a piece of magic chalk and began creating.  My room was buzzing with excitement chatting with their friends on if it was "really" magic chalk.

I wish I had taken pictures of their work but I was going around helping them as they wrote.  I did put a sentence starter on the board (I made...) just in case students needed one.

Here's my example.  Of course I'd want to see a lion...yah, right. Maybe not that close.

I love working with such creative people who adjust and change their lessons to fit the needs of their students.

Meet Hannah

Meet Keegan

Newsletter for the Week of Sept. 12th