It's amazing how fast the year goes. We are already past the halfway mark!
Here's what we have been working on:
Vacation Reading Plans
As you know, students were asked to formulate a plan for how reading would (or would not) fit into their winter vacation plans. I have found over the years that this helps kids see reading as one part of their everyday lives. It also helps them take charge of their reading and learning. After vacation, students thought and wrote about how their plans worked out.
Book Count Updates
Periodically, we do a count of how many books each class has read. This helps them recognize their progress in relation to their past selves as well as to other kids. It usually results in students' making mental notes about how they want to change or challenge their reading habits moving forward.
Oral Fluency Project - The Joys of Winter
Hopefully, you saw and heard your reader practicing some oral reading before the winter vacation. We had fun browsing through a huge box of picture books and poems related to the joys of winter. The kids were really thoughtful in their choice of text, often choosing things that connected with their families or cultures. We then enjoyed hearing everyone read their passages out loud and everyone got feedback on things like pace, pauses, expression, and tone.
Books Read
"Aloha" taught us about the Hawaiian tradition of wearing leis. We worked with the following vocabulary words:
status
defend
lavish
tourism
commitment
fragrant.
We then read a book about the theremin, an unusual musical instrument. In reading this book, we practiced using the headings to guide our thinking and understanding. We then worked with the following vocabulary words:
sensation
tinker
flocked
marvel
soundtrack
synthesizer.
