Current Reading News

Hopefully by now you have seen the reading log folder coming home nightly (except Wednesday's when I collect it). Another part of our reading workshop you will want to review is your child's reader's notebook. Every week we will have a skill focus. In class I introduce the skill on Monday by making a chart together with the class. Students are to copy the chart in their reader's notebook. Other activities you should be seeing in the notebook are vocabulary words and definitions and answers to the questions at the end of the story in the textbook. Here are some pictures of a few of the charts we have done so far in class.








This is our current reading focus skill.

Students will have a test Friday Sept. 28 on Author's Purpose, weekly vocabulary and genre. Students should have brought home a study guide on genre (types of writing) to study.

Room Parent Needed!

I sent home a flyer in the Friday Folder last week asking if anyone was interested in being a room mom or a room dad. So far nobody has volunteered. There really is not a lot to do. We have two parties a year: Winter Party and and End of the Year Party. Other times of need are during play day, field trips, and possibly book celebrations. If you would be interested in taking on this responsibility please let me know! Thanks

Upcoming Test Info

We have now gotten into our reading textbook and skills. Last week the students focused on sequence in a story. Most did very well on the tests. We also started focusing on vocabulary in reading and had our first vocabulary test. Again most students did well! This week we are focusing on drawing conclusions. Students have to use clues from the story as well as what they know in real life to make decisions about the characters in the story.

One way you can review with your child at home is to go over the skill introduction page in the textbook. They should be able to show it to you as we use it in class every Monday to introduce the skill. Also they should be able to show you in their reader's notebook what we did in class that day to practice the skill.

From now on you should see the reading textbook coming home with homework assignments such as to define vocabulary or to reread the story and answer the question at the end.
Students should continue to read and log in from their chosen chapter book. Their goal is about one chapter book a week.

This Friday students will have a reading test on drawing conclusions
vocabulary test with words from the textbook story Goldilocks
grammar test on complete sentences (practice pg. homework
on Wednesday)
spelling test

To study for spelling and language tests students have a Language notebook with activities we have completed in class to use as a study guide or I will give a practice sheet to go home to do as homework. If they can do the practice page then they should have no problem completing the test. In Spelling they may have spelling rules at times to study and on the test they may have to apply those spelling rules to words as part of the test. All this would be introduced and practiced in their Language notebook which they are then instructed to take home and share with their parents as part of the test. Please ask you child what they are studying. They should be able to tell you if they have been paying attention in class.

Reading is Thinking!

By now students should have brought home their reading folder with their reading log inside. This is how they will track what they are reading independently. As I tell them in class, since they will be doing their independent reading in their head this is how they show me what they are thinking while reading. They will also keep track of their 30 chapter books in this folder. These logs will change as the year goes on. Today students are to start practicing predicting and questioning while reading. You should see post it notes (or sticky notes as we call them in class) in their books showing what they are thinking. I call these reading tools needed to help them do a good job reading. We will be adding more to our tools in the next weeks. Ask your child what they are reading and thinking about in their book.