Hello Omega Parents,
We are deeeeeep into research. Many Omega Ones have already completed at least three fact cards, and many Omega Twos have completed five. The goal is for O1s to have ten fact cards with at least three sentences each and for O2s to have fifteen fact cards with at least three sentences each. Students are free to go above and beyond, and I know some of them will. If your child is finding this goal particularly stressful and difficult to reach, please talk to me about a modified plan. My goal is for all kids to have finished collecting facts by the beginning of next week so that they can start writing and drawing pictures. There may be homework for some kids this weekend. Feel free to pop in and check with me about your child’s progress. I am not available Thursday (2/36) or Friday (3/27) afternoons, but will be here in the morning. Monday (3/30) I’ll be here in the afternoon until 4:00, but will not be available in the morning.
Research has been taking up a lot of our literacy time, but we are still squeezing in some spelling, quiet reading, and story writing when we can. I am keep as much consistency with kids’ spelling programs as possible so that students are continuing to make progress. So far, it is going smoothly.
We haven’t done a whole lot with our mapping unit since we’ve started research, but we did make a floor plan of the reading corner.
With the great spring weather we had last week, I took the opportunity to start a Yoga of Spring unit with the Omegas. We talked about yoga as mindfulness what that means- paying attention, being here now, being observant. We took a mindful walk around the wetlands and searched out some signs of spring. The kids sketched what they saw on the front of their Yoga of Spring journals. As the weather continues to warm up, we will continue to take mindful walks and look for signs of spring. Each time students will document their findings in their journals using a different artistic medium: watercolor, pastels, paper cut-outs, collage. If you are interested in helping with any of these art activities/lessons, please talk to me, and we can find a time that works for you to come in.
In Friendship Group last week, we talked about what makes a friend. Kids were very thoughtful in answering the questions: What does a friend do? Friends are ___. Some of their responses are:
“I like my friends to play with me.” “Friends invite you to their birthday parties.” “Friends will listen to you if you have something to say.” “Friends share.”
Friends are encouraging, helpful, fair, respectful, nice, generous, flexible, open, willing, supportive and understanding.
You all have very insightful kids. I truly enjoy working with each and every one of them to help them understand their worlds.
:) Rachel
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sage Literay Lounge
Hello Sage Parents,
The Sages and Sagers spent the first part of this month learning about author’s purpose and author’s craft. Learning conversations about author’s purpose centered on the questions: Why does an author write? Who is the audience? How do the purpose, audience, and format of the writing affect the tone? The students then took on a different role and wrote from that perspective in a specific format to a specific audience. The activity is called a RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic. The students’ writings are in the hallway behind the Omega room door.
Then we shifted gears and moved toward author’s craft: imagery, metaphor, simile, exaggeration, and point of view. The Sages and Sagers did a fun activity with imagery, metaphor, and simile in which I gave each student a strange picture and they had to describe it using sensory language, a metaphor, and a simile. They were not allowed to share their picture with anyone. Then everyone shared their writing and the class had to figure out which picture was being described. The pictures and descriptions are in the hallway behind Fran’s door.
Desi wrote his paragraph from the point of view of the picture itself, so we were able to have an authentic transition into discussing point of view. What is first person? What is third person? Why isn’t there a second person? (There is in choose your own adventure books.) What would be the benefits of writing in first person, third person? The kids determined through our discussion that the benefit of a first person point of view is that the reader really gets to know the main character well- his/her thoughts and feelings. It is easy for the reader to put him/herself in the main characters shoes. The advantage of a third person point of view is that the reader understands multiple characters’ perspectives. The writing may be more objective. I was very impressed with the kids’ ability to analyze the differences in points of view.
Then we worked with exaggeration. The kids all had to write about an event that really happened in their lives and make it bigger than real life. Those writings are also in the hall next to the Sage room.
As a culmination of our study, we created a new literature circle job centered on analyzing author’s craft. Students brainstormed names for the job and voted on Creator’s Craft. Then they hashed out what the requirements of the job should be and what a kid would need to do to go above and beyond. The Sages and Sagers decided that the person who does the Creator’s Craft job should have to identify at least two literary devices, read them aloud to the group, and explain the craft (ex. It is a simile because so-and-so is being compared to a song using the word like). The student also has to talk about how the author’s use of that literary device makes the work better. To go above and beyond, the student would need to meet the above requirements and create a discussion among the group. WOW! What great thinkers!
So we added the Creator’s Craft job to our repertoire and began literature circles. All of the kids are reading The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm. He is a Vermont author from Rutland. His book made a big splash in the education community a few years ago when it came out because it deals directly, and on an appropriate level, with the hard and, unfortunately, all too common issue of bullying in school. The kids can relate to the kids in the story and use the book as a place to begin talking about how to deal with a bullying situation. I found the book to be very empowering! So, of course, in addition to talking about The Revealers as a piece of literature, we will incorporate the social/emotional piece. Hopefully kids will come away with some strategies in their social navigation toolbox. At some point during this round of literature circles, Cory will lead a lesson about the book from a human development perspective (her major)…sort of like a friendship group (from lots of these kids’ Omega days). I am also trying to figure out how we can arrange a visit from Doug Wilhelm or create an online forum to engage him in a discussion about his book. If you have any ideas, concerns, questions, or suggestions, please chat with me. I know I’m dealing with a heavy and sensitive topic. Thanks for your support, as always!
:) Rachel
p.s. We are still doing spelling, too.
The Sages and Sagers spent the first part of this month learning about author’s purpose and author’s craft. Learning conversations about author’s purpose centered on the questions: Why does an author write? Who is the audience? How do the purpose, audience, and format of the writing affect the tone? The students then took on a different role and wrote from that perspective in a specific format to a specific audience. The activity is called a RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic. The students’ writings are in the hallway behind the Omega room door.
Then we shifted gears and moved toward author’s craft: imagery, metaphor, simile, exaggeration, and point of view. The Sages and Sagers did a fun activity with imagery, metaphor, and simile in which I gave each student a strange picture and they had to describe it using sensory language, a metaphor, and a simile. They were not allowed to share their picture with anyone. Then everyone shared their writing and the class had to figure out which picture was being described. The pictures and descriptions are in the hallway behind Fran’s door.
Desi wrote his paragraph from the point of view of the picture itself, so we were able to have an authentic transition into discussing point of view. What is first person? What is third person? Why isn’t there a second person? (There is in choose your own adventure books.) What would be the benefits of writing in first person, third person? The kids determined through our discussion that the benefit of a first person point of view is that the reader really gets to know the main character well- his/her thoughts and feelings. It is easy for the reader to put him/herself in the main characters shoes. The advantage of a third person point of view is that the reader understands multiple characters’ perspectives. The writing may be more objective. I was very impressed with the kids’ ability to analyze the differences in points of view.
Then we worked with exaggeration. The kids all had to write about an event that really happened in their lives and make it bigger than real life. Those writings are also in the hall next to the Sage room.
As a culmination of our study, we created a new literature circle job centered on analyzing author’s craft. Students brainstormed names for the job and voted on Creator’s Craft. Then they hashed out what the requirements of the job should be and what a kid would need to do to go above and beyond. The Sages and Sagers decided that the person who does the Creator’s Craft job should have to identify at least two literary devices, read them aloud to the group, and explain the craft (ex. It is a simile because so-and-so is being compared to a song using the word like). The student also has to talk about how the author’s use of that literary device makes the work better. To go above and beyond, the student would need to meet the above requirements and create a discussion among the group. WOW! What great thinkers!
So we added the Creator’s Craft job to our repertoire and began literature circles. All of the kids are reading The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm. He is a Vermont author from Rutland. His book made a big splash in the education community a few years ago when it came out because it deals directly, and on an appropriate level, with the hard and, unfortunately, all too common issue of bullying in school. The kids can relate to the kids in the story and use the book as a place to begin talking about how to deal with a bullying situation. I found the book to be very empowering! So, of course, in addition to talking about The Revealers as a piece of literature, we will incorporate the social/emotional piece. Hopefully kids will come away with some strategies in their social navigation toolbox. At some point during this round of literature circles, Cory will lead a lesson about the book from a human development perspective (her major)…sort of like a friendship group (from lots of these kids’ Omega days). I am also trying to figure out how we can arrange a visit from Doug Wilhelm or create an online forum to engage him in a discussion about his book. If you have any ideas, concerns, questions, or suggestions, please chat with me. I know I’m dealing with a heavy and sensitive topic. Thanks for your support, as always!
:) Rachel
p.s. We are still doing spelling, too.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Omega World News
Welcome back after a gorgeous vacation filled with snow and sunshine! Omegas are gearing up for our study of island cultures. We will spend some time this week reviewing text structures that can assist readers with finding information (table of contents, index, glossary, titles, heading, subheadings, bold-faced and italicized words, and pictures and their captions). Omegas will also review some basic non-fiction text patterns: main idea and supporting details, cause and effect, and comparison and contrast. We will also work more with using context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and distinguishing between fact and opinion. It is my goal to finish our non-fiction review just before it's time to start research. While Omegas are reading for information and collecting facts, literacy lessons will be individualized and directly related to what each student needs in order to be successful in his/her display. Spelling will continue as normal.
We will continue with weekly friendship group lessons. Over the past couple of months, Omegas learned about put downs, assertiveness, repairing relationships, and the need for clear communication. Our lessons this month will focus on communicating without words- body language and tone of voice. If you have any concerns, questions, ideas, or suggestions, please chat me up.
Learning activities for the cultural display begin Monday with Fran's presentation on the universals of culture. Tuesday Nari will present on the relationship between culture and the environment. My presentation on Wednesday will focus on native populations, migrations, and immigration. Joni will present on Thursday (topic TBA), and we will brainstorm topics for the display on Friday. Monday we will pick topics. It would be great if books could start coming in on Wednesday. Be on the look out for updated display requirements in your mailbox.
In our spare time, we will continue moving forward with our mapping unit. Last month we began preparing for our cultural study by learning about maps and globes. How are they different? What are all the lines for? We walked around the SH property with my gps unit marking waypoints for a future mapping project. At this point, we are going to scale back and step back a little. We'll start getting our hands dirty with mapping by making a map of the classroom. During this project, we'll work with scale, relative location, and map keys.
Other dates to be aware of are:
Board Meeting, Tuesday, March 3
Open House, Tuesday, March 10
Community Meeting, Tuesday, March 17
1/2 day due to teacher inservice, Tuesday, March 24
no school due to teacher inservice, Wednesday, March 25
We will continue with weekly friendship group lessons. Over the past couple of months, Omegas learned about put downs, assertiveness, repairing relationships, and the need for clear communication. Our lessons this month will focus on communicating without words- body language and tone of voice. If you have any concerns, questions, ideas, or suggestions, please chat me up.
Learning activities for the cultural display begin Monday with Fran's presentation on the universals of culture. Tuesday Nari will present on the relationship between culture and the environment. My presentation on Wednesday will focus on native populations, migrations, and immigration. Joni will present on Thursday (topic TBA), and we will brainstorm topics for the display on Friday. Monday we will pick topics. It would be great if books could start coming in on Wednesday. Be on the look out for updated display requirements in your mailbox.
In our spare time, we will continue moving forward with our mapping unit. Last month we began preparing for our cultural study by learning about maps and globes. How are they different? What are all the lines for? We walked around the SH property with my gps unit marking waypoints for a future mapping project. At this point, we are going to scale back and step back a little. We'll start getting our hands dirty with mapping by making a map of the classroom. During this project, we'll work with scale, relative location, and map keys.
Other dates to be aware of are:
Board Meeting, Tuesday, March 3
Open House, Tuesday, March 10
Community Meeting, Tuesday, March 17
1/2 day due to teacher inservice, Tuesday, March 24
no school due to teacher inservice, Wednesday, March 25
Sage Literacy Lounge
Hello, all, and welcome back after a gorgeous vacation filled with snow and sunshine. This week the Sage class will wrap up some loose ends from prior to the break and begin a new unit. We will take the first couple of days to finish procedure writings and score them using the State of VT rubric. Then we will review text patterns by making posters to hang in the Sage room during research as a comprehension resource. This will be our final learning activity for non-fiction text patterns.
Then we move back to fiction and a study of author's purpose and author's craft. Students will learn why writers write and how they change their style based on the purpose and audience. We will also learn about what literary devices, or writing tools, author's use to create their works. Specifically, students will study imagery, simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, and personification. As usual, we will come at our literature study from the perspecitives of readers and writers. When students have become familiar and friendly with author's purpose and craft (hopefully after about a week), we will apply our new knowledge in literature circles.
Literature circles will begin a bit differently this time, as students will not be offered a choice in reading material. All students will be reading The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm, a Vermont author, in small groups. You may have heard of this story. It was published a few years ago and deals directly with the issue of bullying and harassment that often rears up in adolescent years. It is my goal that this round of literature circles reaches children on a social-emotional level, as well as cognitive, and helps prepare them to be assertive in the face of conflict.
From the back cover: "I really like this book. It really wakes people up and sends a message to use your voice and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. -Ashley, age 12, Plainfield, Vermont"
Then we move back to fiction and a study of author's purpose and author's craft. Students will learn why writers write and how they change their style based on the purpose and audience. We will also learn about what literary devices, or writing tools, author's use to create their works. Specifically, students will study imagery, simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, and personification. As usual, we will come at our literature study from the perspecitives of readers and writers. When students have become familiar and friendly with author's purpose and craft (hopefully after about a week), we will apply our new knowledge in literature circles.
Literature circles will begin a bit differently this time, as students will not be offered a choice in reading material. All students will be reading The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm, a Vermont author, in small groups. You may have heard of this story. It was published a few years ago and deals directly with the issue of bullying and harassment that often rears up in adolescent years. It is my goal that this round of literature circles reaches children on a social-emotional level, as well as cognitive, and helps prepare them to be assertive in the face of conflict.
From the back cover: "I really like this book. It really wakes people up and sends a message to use your voice and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. -Ashley, age 12, Plainfield, Vermont"
Monday, January 26, 2009
Omega World News
Reading
The Omegas have been participating in literature circles for a fw weeks now, and all is going smoothly. The Omega Ones are figuring out how to apply the skills they learned through explicit instruction in the first part of the year. Omega Twos, being familiar with the process, are refining their skills. Hopefully everyone will have the opportunity to do each job once.
Here's a little background information on literature circle jobs. Each job corresponds to a different reading comprehension stratgey or skill.
Discussion Director (questioning): Writes four questions to ask the group. (Also must write his/her answers in complete sentences.)The questions must correspond to the current section of text assigned. There must also be once question from each of four levels of thinking: recall, comprehension (explicit), inference, and synthesis/evaluate. The students have question guides and starters to help them.
Fortune Teller (predicting): Makes a logical prediction about what might happen next in the story and supports it with evidence from the text. Prior knowledge of story structure and author's style/technique is also permissible evidence.
Savvy Summarizer (summarizing): Writes a detailed summary that includes the main events and important information.
Passage Picker (determining important information): Selects a passage, records the page number(s), writes about why s/he selected that section to talk about with the group and why it is important to the story.
Amazing Artist (visualizing): Draws a picture of a part of the story and writes a caption explaining the picture. Writes about why that part of the story is important.
*NOTE: Passage Picker and Amazing Artist can be combined into one job.
In addition to completing their jobs and reporting out to the group in weekly meetings, students work with unfamiliar words. Sometimes we work on decoding, but more often the focus is on using context clues to determine the meaning. Students also use the dictionary to check their guesses.
I hope this explanation of the literature circle jobs helps answer questions you may have had. Please feel free to grab my attention after school, if you'd like to chat about it (or anything else, really).
Writing
Omegas have been working on writing procedure pieces. Last week, they wrote about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then they got to trade papers with a classmate and test out someone's directions. In the end, everyone got to eat what they made. We will continue to work on procedure pieces this week. We will be taking a look at the VT Writing Rubric and Benchmarks to determine what constitutes a quality piece of writing.
Students have also participated in mini-lessons on sentence structure. They have learned that each sentence is made up of a subject (who or what does the action) and a predicate (the action). I have introduced helping verbs. We have also kept working with adjectives and pronouns.
Announcements
Tuesday (tomorrow) is a half-day for teacher inservice. Students will be dismissed at noon. There is no lunch at school, unless your child is going to afterschool.
Wednesday we are going on a field trip to the Firehouse Gallery to particiapte in an art display by Terry Hauptman and her fellow artist, Jerry.
The Omegas have been participating in literature circles for a fw weeks now, and all is going smoothly. The Omega Ones are figuring out how to apply the skills they learned through explicit instruction in the first part of the year. Omega Twos, being familiar with the process, are refining their skills. Hopefully everyone will have the opportunity to do each job once.
Here's a little background information on literature circle jobs. Each job corresponds to a different reading comprehension stratgey or skill.
Discussion Director (questioning): Writes four questions to ask the group. (Also must write his/her answers in complete sentences.)The questions must correspond to the current section of text assigned. There must also be once question from each of four levels of thinking: recall, comprehension (explicit), inference, and synthesis/evaluate. The students have question guides and starters to help them.
Fortune Teller (predicting): Makes a logical prediction about what might happen next in the story and supports it with evidence from the text. Prior knowledge of story structure and author's style/technique is also permissible evidence.
Savvy Summarizer (summarizing): Writes a detailed summary that includes the main events and important information.
Passage Picker (determining important information): Selects a passage, records the page number(s), writes about why s/he selected that section to talk about with the group and why it is important to the story.
Amazing Artist (visualizing): Draws a picture of a part of the story and writes a caption explaining the picture. Writes about why that part of the story is important.
*NOTE: Passage Picker and Amazing Artist can be combined into one job.
In addition to completing their jobs and reporting out to the group in weekly meetings, students work with unfamiliar words. Sometimes we work on decoding, but more often the focus is on using context clues to determine the meaning. Students also use the dictionary to check their guesses.
I hope this explanation of the literature circle jobs helps answer questions you may have had. Please feel free to grab my attention after school, if you'd like to chat about it (or anything else, really).
Writing
Omegas have been working on writing procedure pieces. Last week, they wrote about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then they got to trade papers with a classmate and test out someone's directions. In the end, everyone got to eat what they made. We will continue to work on procedure pieces this week. We will be taking a look at the VT Writing Rubric and Benchmarks to determine what constitutes a quality piece of writing.
Students have also participated in mini-lessons on sentence structure. They have learned that each sentence is made up of a subject (who or what does the action) and a predicate (the action). I have introduced helping verbs. We have also kept working with adjectives and pronouns.
Announcements
Tuesday (tomorrow) is a half-day for teacher inservice. Students will be dismissed at noon. There is no lunch at school, unless your child is going to afterschool.
Wednesday we are going on a field trip to the Firehouse Gallery to particiapte in an art display by Terry Hauptman and her fellow artist, Jerry.
Sage Literacy Lounge
The Sages and Sagers have been learning a lot about non-fiction text patterns. They have been identifying various patterns in articles and, most recently, President Obama's inauguration address. The students have also written paragraphs with the intention of including specific text patterns. They are hanging up in the Omega room just inside the door. Come on in and check them out.
We will continue our study of non-fiction text patterns this week and next by writing procedure pieces (How to Make an Ice Cream Sundae) that incorporate patterns such as sequence, compare and contrast, list, and definition. We will use the rubric for procedure pieces from the VT Department of Education and Framework of Standards to outline the requirements for the writing pieces. Then students will trade writing pieces and follow a classmate's directions to make an ice cream sundae. To conclude our study, students will make posters depicting a text pattern to hang in the Sage room. The posters, hopefully, will serve as a reference during research for the cultural display.
We will continue our study of non-fiction text patterns this week and next by writing procedure pieces (How to Make an Ice Cream Sundae) that incorporate patterns such as sequence, compare and contrast, list, and definition. We will use the rubric for procedure pieces from the VT Department of Education and Framework of Standards to outline the requirements for the writing pieces. Then students will trade writing pieces and follow a classmate's directions to make an ice cream sundae. To conclude our study, students will make posters depicting a text pattern to hang in the Sage room. The posters, hopefully, will serve as a reference during research for the cultural display.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Omega World News
Hello, everyone, and welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and long vacation. The next six weeks will, in many ways, be defined by the Schoolhouse play. We will be reading through the play on Tuesday, and students will audition on Thursday. We will be asking students to make their choices about what parts they'd like to try out for by Thursday so that I can organize the auditions. Many students will be involved in a play short course or even two. It might be a rehearsal short course, props, or sets. There will also be after school rehearsals on Wednesdays beginning January 14. Not all students will need to attend everyday. Someone from the play committee (I think) will notify you about your child's after school rehearsals.
On January 7, students will be watching a performance by New Kids on the Block. Please see the information in your mailboxes.
January 7th and 8th are make up parent conferences. If you haven't already signed up, please do so. If none of the times work for you, check in with me and we can set up an alternative time. Conferences begin at 1:00 and will last for 45 minutes. The last fifteen minutes of your conference will be with Fran.
There is no school on January 19th for MLK day.
January 27th is a half day for teacher inservice.
On January 28, we will be taking a field trip to the Firehouse Gallery in downtown Burlington to participate in an interactive art exhibit by Terry Hauptman.
Sometime this winter...I was wondering how many of my students have snowshoes at home. I am hoping to take the class on a nature walk around the wetland once we get some snow. Please let me know at your convinence. This may be the precursor to a mapping unit later this year.
We are picking new job partners for the second half of the year on Monday.
EXTRA< EXTRA!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
The Omega classroom will be getting an intern from UVM. Her name is Corinne Ann Scoppe (she goes by Cory) and is majoring in human development. She has been interning at Central School in South Burlington for the first part of this year and is looking to have a different experience. She will be with us Mondays and Fridays all day and Wednesday mornings. Cory will begin by observing in the classroom and will slowly try out various roles in the classroom (1-on-1 instruction, small groups, a whole group lesson, maybe even a series of lessons by May). She will start here on Monday, January 12th. I have invited her to Community Meeting next week to meet all of you. In the meantime, if you see her, say hello. She is about my height, in her early twenties, and has long red hair.
Okay...instruction...Omegas are going to begin Literature Circles this week. We will be choosing books Monday and getting set up. Hopefully, we will be able to begin circles on Tuesday. I have put the students in groups this time around, and there is two or three book options for each group. Please be aware that your child may start bringing home literature circle work as homework if the going is slow here. I'll do my best to keep you posted about that so you can support it getting done. Really, the kids should all know what to do. You may just need to help your child find a quiet space good for working or maybe just remind him/her to get busy with it.
Writing instruction will be a bit more formal for a little while as I conduct mini-lessons with specific students based on their needs. Students will continue to write narratives adn respond to simple prompts in their journals during this time. The next two genres of writing we will focus on as a whole class is procedures and persuasive pieces.
Of course, spelling instruction will flow as normal.
I think that's all for now.
Happy New Year!
Rachel
On January 7, students will be watching a performance by New Kids on the Block. Please see the information in your mailboxes.
January 7th and 8th are make up parent conferences. If you haven't already signed up, please do so. If none of the times work for you, check in with me and we can set up an alternative time. Conferences begin at 1:00 and will last for 45 minutes. The last fifteen minutes of your conference will be with Fran.
There is no school on January 19th for MLK day.
January 27th is a half day for teacher inservice.
On January 28, we will be taking a field trip to the Firehouse Gallery in downtown Burlington to participate in an interactive art exhibit by Terry Hauptman.
Sometime this winter...I was wondering how many of my students have snowshoes at home. I am hoping to take the class on a nature walk around the wetland once we get some snow. Please let me know at your convinence. This may be the precursor to a mapping unit later this year.
We are picking new job partners for the second half of the year on Monday.
EXTRA< EXTRA!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
The Omega classroom will be getting an intern from UVM. Her name is Corinne Ann Scoppe (she goes by Cory) and is majoring in human development. She has been interning at Central School in South Burlington for the first part of this year and is looking to have a different experience. She will be with us Mondays and Fridays all day and Wednesday mornings. Cory will begin by observing in the classroom and will slowly try out various roles in the classroom (1-on-1 instruction, small groups, a whole group lesson, maybe even a series of lessons by May). She will start here on Monday, January 12th. I have invited her to Community Meeting next week to meet all of you. In the meantime, if you see her, say hello. She is about my height, in her early twenties, and has long red hair.
Okay...instruction...Omegas are going to begin Literature Circles this week. We will be choosing books Monday and getting set up. Hopefully, we will be able to begin circles on Tuesday. I have put the students in groups this time around, and there is two or three book options for each group. Please be aware that your child may start bringing home literature circle work as homework if the going is slow here. I'll do my best to keep you posted about that so you can support it getting done. Really, the kids should all know what to do. You may just need to help your child find a quiet space good for working or maybe just remind him/her to get busy with it.
Writing instruction will be a bit more formal for a little while as I conduct mini-lessons with specific students based on their needs. Students will continue to write narratives adn respond to simple prompts in their journals during this time. The next two genres of writing we will focus on as a whole class is procedures and persuasive pieces.
Of course, spelling instruction will flow as normal.
I think that's all for now.
Happy New Year!
Rachel
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