Happy Fall, Y’all! We are nearing the end of first quarter and that means fall conferences are right around the corner. Thank you to the parents who have already signed-up via www.signupgenius.com and to those who have sent emails requesting a particular day and time. In the Monday folder tomorrow, you will see a hard copy of the conference schedule. Please confirm your appointment by signing the bottom of the paper and returning it in the Monday folder on Tuesday. This lets me know that I have marked you down correctly. Also, if you have not signed-up yet, please select TWO time slots that work for you by marking a #1 and #2 next to the day/times that could work for you and send it back. I am requesting this in the event that two parents send back the schedule with the same time requested. I will try my very best to accommodate you! If none of the times work for you, Mrs. Payne and I would be happy to meet with you before school at 7:30 am or add onto the schedule and meet after 8:00 pm. Mrs. Payne and I will both be present at all conferences since we are sharing students this year. This will allow you the opportunity to hear from both of us about your child’s progress. THANK YOU so much for being willing to hold conferences two weeks early due to the pending arrival of my first grandbaby in the next two weeks. Reading Logs With the beginning of a new month upon us, September reading logs will be due this week. Please make sure your child’s name is written at the top so I can accurately attach a Pizza Hut Book It coupon for a free personal pan pizza. You will find the October reading log in the Monday folder. Quick reminder: Students are asked to read 25 minutes a night four times a week making a minimum of 100 minutes. This practice is crucial to reading improvement. There is no writing component involved—just read to enjoy. Parents, you are allowed to read with or to your child. If some nights you want to read aloud the entire 25 minutes from a chapter book that you are sharing together, please do. Talk about the text when you are finished: What is happening in this chapter? Summarize what has happened to this point. What predictions can you make for the next chapter? Can you use your schema to make any connections? How is the setting affecting the character? Is there a problem? How are the characters attempting to solve the problem? How would you solve the problem? Are there any words that the author used that strike you as interesting? Why do you think the author chose that word? Alternating between students reading independently and students reading with someone are both beneficial to building episodic memory. Learning to enjoy reading is a lifetime gift you are giving your child. And while we are on the subject of reading…the midquarter progress report listed your child’s DRA score and iReady Lexile score. These scores give me a starting off point for small group instruction. They also help students self-select books for independent reading periods. Below is an explanation of how I use the Lexile score in our classroom. Reading Range Your child was given a wide band of reading levels to choose books from to help promote the greatest reading growth. This can be considered his zone of proximal development. I set this range with your child. They are not magic numbers. I wanted to give them leeway for choice. If your child scored way above a third grade level, the reading range was set a bit lower so the student would remember to look at books that are age appropriate when in the library. To help with book selection, we teach students to read “just right” books. These are books where they can read most words on the page easily and experience comprehension. “Vacation” books are books that are below their reading range that are great for fluency practice (reading smoothly with expression). “Challenging” books are books above their reading level where students have to apply reading decoding skills often and read slower (or reread to clarify) in order to comprehend. All three book levels are valuable. Students understand that a challenging book today may become a “just right” book in a few weeks or months. You might ask, “Does my child have to read a book in his/her reading range?” No. Freedom to choose is the greatest motivator. You will have to decide if the book is age appropriate for your child. Just because a third grader can read above his grade level does not mean the child is interested in more mature themes. Suggestion: Have your child read the “classics.” Books that you read at age eight and nine. Newberry Award winners. Show Me Award winners. Authors that you know are not going to push the limit on appropriate word choice or content. Also, encourage your child to read a variety of genres. Just like food, too much of one thing is not always the best. My philosophy on choosing books: Students should be allowed to read what interests them. Can you imagine an adult being told he/she must read books in their reading level based on a one-time computer test? The DRA and iReady assessments are pieces of a larger puzzle when looking at how your child reads. The DRA breaks down how a child reads into his fluency rate and comprehension. When looking at comprehension, I evaluate the responses they make. A higher level student writes his/her response. A lower level student responds orally to questioning. When reading, I am looking at your child’s word attack skills. What strategies does this child utilize when presented with a challenging word? Does he/she chunk it? Sound it out letter by letter? When a word is said incorrectly, is it a visual problem, structure problem, or meaning problem? Where did the error occur? Beginning, middle, or end? Is there a pattern on how the errors are made? Does the child omit words or add words when reading? Does the child remember to stop at end punctuation? Does the child read in long phrases or short choppy ones? Does the child read with expression or in a mechanical way? Does the child notice when an error is made and then go back and retry the word again? Does the child recognize that what he read did not make sense? Does the child have visual problems tracking from left to right and then moving down a line? Lots to think about. Of priority along with the ability to read is the ENJOYMENT factor. Does your child enjoy reading? My goal is to make reading interesting by providing students with various genres and topics to read about. I want to spark an interest in reading to KNOW and reading to ENJOY. I will be supporting, encouraging, and celebrating their reading endeavors! Reader’s Workshop During the month of September, we set guidelines for reader’s workshop that included the following:
Next up will be a short “Visualization” unit. We will learn that good readers create mental images. They visualize what they are reading to create “mind movies.” As good readers read, they adjust the mind movies in their heads as various events take place. Our mind movies help us infer, too. Our read alouds this week will focus on great imaginations. Two of my favorite books, Miss Rumphius written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney and Roxaboxan by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney will serve as mentor texts. We will squeeze in Oxcart Man by Donald Hall since it is also illustrated by Barbara Cooney so the artists in our room can examine the style of her paintings. Looking ahead the following week, we will begin an intense “Narrative Elements” study which will take us through the month of October. Each reading group will begin a fantasy chapter book. Vocabulary Development In addition to vocabulary that is pulled from read alouds and guided reading texts, we are completing an intense vocabulary development program. I participated in a webinar this summer by a teacher who studied with Irene Fauntas, a well-respected, prolific literacy writer/trainer, for a year before she began writing curriculum for teachers of reading. I’ve participated in two previous webinars a year ago so I am familiar with her philosophy of language arts instruction. I agree with her philosophy on why teaching vocabulary is important:
Phonics and Spelling Patterns We are systematically reviewing letter-sound relationships and spelling patterns. We’ve covered closed syllables (cvc pattern) which have short vowel sounds, the cvce pattern which has long vowel sounds, and ew/oo as in new and zoo. This month we will move to /ou/ and /oi/, /ai/ and /ay/, /ee/ and /ea/, and /i/ and /igh/. We will move to the morphology of words second semester. Writer’s Workshop We have been busy this month learning to write different kinds of sentences, stretching sentences to include more detail, and doing Power Writes to build writing stamina by increasing the length of writing time allotted. We’ve shared many read alouds to support our writing focus of the day. Students have also enjoyed sharing their writing with classmates. In our writing (seeds) journal we have generated topics by creating a heart map, likes/dislikes chart, four-square topics, and memory map. We learned how to harvest a seed and apply a questioning strategy to make sure our writing covers the 5W’s and 1H along with including sensory details. Students then did Power Writes over seeds of their choice. During the next two weeks we will move to paragraph writing beginning with descriptive paragraphs. We’ll talk about paragraph format for the descriptive paragraph: topic sentence, sensory details, and wrap-up sentence. We’ll start off looking at a few mentor texts that include sensory imagery and figurative language. We will look at figurative language in both prose and poetry to help us in our writing. We will take our descriptive paragraphs through the writing process—prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish. We will continue the use of mentor sentences to look at grammar and author’s craft. We take one sentence a week from a book we’ve shared and color code the parts of speech. We revise the sentence keeping the author’s meaning but using different word choice. Finally, we write our own sentence imitating the style of the mentor sentence but using our own content. So far we are able to spot nouns, verbs, adjectives, and conjunctions. We will continue this practice all year. We will also focus on nouns and adjectives with activities during this month of descriptive writing. Technology Students have access to chromebooks during Liberator Time. I’ve uploaded several links to the class website for easy access during Liberator Time and at home. If you go to the Home heading at the top of the screen, use the drop down box and click on a subject area. Students can access Scholastic News magazine online. Our password is explorers. Please do not encourage your child to read the upcoming issue but ask him/her to read a previous issue such as from the 2016-2017 school year. There are additional articles and videos that go with each magazine. These articles are engaging! Also under Reading, you will see a link for readworks.org. This is a site that has articles assigned by me for them to read each week during Liberator Time. I am requiring one article or story to be read each week and the comprehension questions to be answered and submitted by Friday. These articles/stories will be on a theme that goes along with a unit of study or a topic that the class is interested in learning more about. Students are welcome to do the assignment at home if they would like, but it is not required. Under the Math box, you will see links to a multiplication website and a link to xtramath.org where your child can practice basic math facts. Under Social Studies, I’ve added two links for practicing naming the states and then matching state capitals. I will continue to add websites for your child’s enrichment and enjoyment as the year progresses. Right now we are mastering how to visit readworks.org and complete an online assignment. Thank you, parents, for your continued support! I look forward to seeing you at conferences the second week of October!
Joyfully, Mrs. Endres
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AuthorHello! My name is Heidi…I love my family, the Lord, and chai tea lattes! I’m a wife to an amazing husband, mama to four wonderful kids, new Grammy to a cute baby boy, and a chubby 3rd grade teacher. (I've eaten too many birthday cupcakes!) I love people, learning, and creating. Thanks for stopping by! May you be blessed today as you bless others. Archives
March 2020
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