Realistic Fiction Publishers!

        I have attached a letter that was sent home with students on Friday.  I wanted them to be able to work on their final copies of their fictional narratives if they had time this weekend.  Thank you for your support with this.

Dear Families,

          Your child is ready to publish their realistic fictional narrative!  We have been learning lots of great strategies that writers use to create realistic fiction stories.  For the past few days we have been starting to type these stories in the computer lab on Google Docs.  It is now your child’s responsibility to finish typing these at home. 

          I have explained to the kids that they can have someone help them type, but it should be typed exactly as they have written it.  I want this to be a reflection and a celebration of what they can do as a writer. 

          These narratives need to be typed by Wednesday, December 17^th.  Your child DOES NOT have to print them as we will print them in school. 

          They are very proud of their work.  They are going to be placing these stories in the Farley School Library for other children to see and learn from!

          Thank you for your support with this assignment.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lewis

Mystery Reader Reminder….

On Tuesday, December 23^rd we have a full day of school.  To kick start our winter vacation, we are going to be participating in a fun reading activity called, “Booked In.”   We are going to spend a large part of that day reading some great books.  To add to the fun, I thought it would be great if we could host some MYSTERY READERS. 

What is a MYSTERY Reader?

We are looking for parents, grandparents, or siblings to volunteer to read a favorite picture book or poem to our class on the morning of Tuesday, December 23^rd.  The mystery will be that the students will not know who is coming in to read to our class.  It will be a great surprise for all of the kids. 

Here is what you can do….

J  Volunteer as a mystery reader…let me know via email or a sealed envelope if you are available to read a picture book or poem on the morning of Tuesday, December 23^rd. 

J  Shhh….keep this a secret from the students!  J

If you can’t volunteer to read that day, it is completely fine.  I know that this is a very busy time of year.  Please let me know if you are available to be a Mystery Reader by Thursday, December 18^th  so that I can put together a schedule.

Coming up this week….

MATH

We will continue to work on division this week.  By the end of the week we will be learning about double digit by double digit multiplication.  They students continue to impress me with their understanding of division and multiplication.  We will be wrapping up Unit 3 by next week!

READING WORKSHOP

       We are continuing to talk about theme in reading.  We have talked about how theme is like an umbrella and is the big idea, and the lesson of the story falls under the umbrella or theme.  We have also talked about how books can have more than one theme or lesson.

       While your child is reading at home, you can check in with him or her and talk about what the theme of the story might be.  Students should also be able to back up their thinking with evidence (words right from the text) from the story.

WRITING WORKSHOP

        In writing, we are starting a new unit on Literary Essay.  The kids will be able to take what they learned from our personal essay unit back in September and apply it to talking and writing about books.  We will spend a lot of time this week reading picture books to get a better idea of the types of books that we like and which books get us thinking more deeply about the story.

I hope everyone has a great week! 

~Mrs. Lewis J  

Just a reminder:   Report Cards go home with students on Friday, December 19^th!