Reading/Writing/Word Work
Our literacy block is based on the Daily 5 designed by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. Your students will be engaged for up to 30 minutes reading to themselves, reading with a partner, listening to reading, working on spelling, or writing independently. During this time, I’ll be reading with small groups and/or conferencing about reading or writing with individuals.
We will be working on a variety of strategies for decoding unknown words. These strategies include sounding out the word, looking for word patterns, breaking words into smaller parts, reading ahead, self-correcting, finding contextual meaning, etc.
Our goal for the year is not only to decode words and read fluently, but to work on comprehension strategies. These strategies include creating mental images, sequencing events, summarizing, comparing and contrasting, looking for connections, etc.
Most of all I want to foster the love of reading. I want the students to be curious about stories and eager to read books by favorite authors. The students will experiment with different genres, research topics of interest, and encourage their friends to read books they’ve enjoyed.
We will use the Snoqualmie Valley School District adopted Harcourt reading curriculum as well as a variety of leveled fiction and non-fiction books for reading instruction.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/
gailandjoan@the2sisters.com
You Can Help By . . .
• Encouraging reading at home.
• You can read with your child or have your child read to you.
Research findings; “The best way for parents to help their children become better readers is to read with them…Children benefit most from reading aloud when they discuss stories, learn to identify letters and words and talk about the meaning of words…Children improve their reading ability by reading a lot. Reading achievement is directly related to the amount of reading children do in school and outside”.
(U.S. Department of Education)
Writing
The writing curriculum for the Snoqualmie Valley School District includes The Six Traits of Writing (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions) and the writing process (pre-write, draft, revise, edit, publish).
Listed below are writing activities we will be working on throughout the year to help the students become more successful writers.
Word Work: This will provide children with the opportunity to learn to learn words, patterns, and spelling. During writing, the children will be encouraged to sound out words to the best of their abilities, use a dictionary, or ask for words to be added to their personal dictionaries. When they are ready to publish their work, I will help the students edit it for spelling, punctuation and grammar. This will help the students as they use the writing process.
Writing Process Projects: We will work on several forms of writing to meet many purposes of written communication.
Reader’s Response: Writing will be tied closely to reading. Journaling or prepared responses to literature, poetry, realistic fiction, and non-fiction will be excellent ways to stretch our learning across the curriculum.
Journals: Written communication helps us to reflect on feelings and experiences. Journaling based on our own experiences will provide important practice.
Instruction: The students will learn writing strategies and skills during whole or small group mini-lessons, as well as during individual conferences.