We are all just about finished with our book projects, redesigning a book cover. They are being displayed on the shelf across the hall from the Omega/Sage room. We are picking our spelling program back up after a hiatus for winter vacation and transitioning back into school.
We are also beginning a new unit in which students will all be reading a biography or historical fiction novel that is related to their topic for the Cultural Display. We are currently researching options and selecting texts. Some kids have already started reading. The main purpose for this unit is to give students the opportunity to view their topic through a different, more personal lens than non-fiction texts offer. I am not sure where to go with a final literacy project for this unit and am open to suggestions from parents and kids. I was thinking something that contains a visual (art), something that incorporates story line and theme (literacy), and something that deals with historical information contained in the story (research). Let me know if anything pops into your head! As always, I am available if you have ideas, questions, concerns, or suggestions about the literacy curriculum. Thanks for your support.
Rachel
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Omega Update
Literacy
We are finishing up our book projects this week and have begun (barely) our next unit, which centers around the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. The NFCT is a 740-mile long system of waterways that begins in New York and flows through Vermont, Quebec, and New Hampshire to the coast of Maine. It was used for transportation by the earliest inhabitants of this land, the Native Americans. Students will be learning strategies for research and reading non-fiction text as we learn about the NFCT. This unit will be primarily student driven. Today the students generated questions that will guide our study. Their questions will take us into the realms of history, science, public land management, and geography. The unit will culminate after Spring Break with a canoe trip to explore a part of the Trail and to participate in a stewardship effort by picking up trash along the waterway. As always, I am open to ideas and information from the community (including the students).
Spelling
We have yet picked back up with the spelling program, but I plan on getting back into the groove with that next week.
Writing
We are working on putting together a class book that includes writing pieces from every student. This week kids decided which pieces of their writing they want in the book. We will be adding more pieces as we go through the year. Students will also have the opportunity to illustrate their writings.
Research
An information sheet will be in your mailboxes by the end of the day Wednesday or first thing in the morning on Thursday. Today students picked topics. We also worked together to set up Research Action Plans for each student, which breaks down all the various tasks and sets a deadline. I will photocopy each student's plan and put it in the corresponding parent mailbox so that we are all on the same page. Hopefully, this plan will help keep us all more on track. I am requesting that students start bringing in materials on Monday so that we can start collecting facts first thing next week. I am requesting that all materials (as complete as possible) be in by the end of the week, March 21.
Thanks for all you do to support your child, the Omega Room, and Schoolhouse!
Rachel
We are finishing up our book projects this week and have begun (barely) our next unit, which centers around the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. The NFCT is a 740-mile long system of waterways that begins in New York and flows through Vermont, Quebec, and New Hampshire to the coast of Maine. It was used for transportation by the earliest inhabitants of this land, the Native Americans. Students will be learning strategies for research and reading non-fiction text as we learn about the NFCT. This unit will be primarily student driven. Today the students generated questions that will guide our study. Their questions will take us into the realms of history, science, public land management, and geography. The unit will culminate after Spring Break with a canoe trip to explore a part of the Trail and to participate in a stewardship effort by picking up trash along the waterway. As always, I am open to ideas and information from the community (including the students).
Spelling
We have yet picked back up with the spelling program, but I plan on getting back into the groove with that next week.
Writing
We are working on putting together a class book that includes writing pieces from every student. This week kids decided which pieces of their writing they want in the book. We will be adding more pieces as we go through the year. Students will also have the opportunity to illustrate their writings.
Research
An information sheet will be in your mailboxes by the end of the day Wednesday or first thing in the morning on Thursday. Today students picked topics. We also worked together to set up Research Action Plans for each student, which breaks down all the various tasks and sets a deadline. I will photocopy each student's plan and put it in the corresponding parent mailbox so that we are all on the same page. Hopefully, this plan will help keep us all more on track. I am requesting that students start bringing in materials on Monday so that we can start collecting facts first thing next week. I am requesting that all materials (as complete as possible) be in by the end of the week, March 21.
Thanks for all you do to support your child, the Omega Room, and Schoolhouse!
Rachel
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