The ultimate goal for my students is that they become lifelong readers and writers. During Literacy instruction or Reading Workshop, students will engage in mini-lessons on reading strategies and skills that I demonstrate. They will have the opportunity to practice these skills and read from self-selected books. In addition to independent reading, students will also participate in guided reading. During guided reading, I will work with a small group of students who have similar learning needs. Also during Reading Workshop, students will respond to what they are reading on stickies and eventually their Reading notebooks. They will also utilize resources from the Treasures Literacy Program.
**As you know, students were assessed with running records in September and November at which time they were given a reading level by letter. For students to succeed in reading they must read at their independent reading level which is 96% accuracy. Many parents have asked for book title suggestions. Please go to the TCRWP website to check out book titles. You may browse and download the latest lists or scroll down on the page and search by genre or theme. This is a great resource for you and your child!
In the event that a student forgets their Treasures workbook at school they may print out the page from this site. Be sure to select the correct grade level and workbook.
Students will also be responsible for reading for 30 minutes a night from Monday through Thursday.
Visit Rick Riordan's website to learn more about The Lightning Thief.
Writing Workshop
During this portion of the school day students will write on independently chosen topics in a variety of genres. Along with the Treasures writing component we will follow Lucy Calkin's Units of Study. Every day students will learn through a mini-lesson, be actively engaged, write independently, and share. Students will learn about the writing process. They will be working on creating longer quality pieces that usually last 4-6 weeks. Parents can look forward to reading their child's personal narrative in early October. Students can begin to gather pictures and clippings that will be used to decorate their writer's notebooks. (I will give further instructions in September.)
Spelling
Your child will be bringing home a collection of spelling words every other week that have been introduced in class. Each night of the week your child is expected to do a different activity to ensure that these words and the spelling principles they represent are mastered. These activities have been modeled and practiced in school, so your child can teach you how to do them. I will send home 1 copy of the words on Monday and the other set of words will be kept in school for daily use.
Monday: Remind your child to sort the words into categories like the ones we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you why the words are sorted in a particular way - what does the sort reveal about spelling in general? Ask your child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. You may want to time them.
Tuesday: Do a blind sort with your child. Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error.
Wednesday: Assist your child in doing a word hunt, looking for words in a book they have already read that have the same sound, pattern, or both. Try to find two or three for each category.
Thursday: Do a writing sort to prepare for Friday's test. As you call out the words in a random order your child should write them into categories. Call out any words your child misspells a second or even a third time.
Thank you for your support. Together we can help your child make valuable progress!
~Courtesy of Words Their Way
