We started our Battle of the Picture Books last week. The kids were very excited to start reading the picture books. Many of them are really starting to think about the characters in the books and are taking notes about their thinking around these books. As I was checking in with groups on Friday, I stopped by one group. They had just finished one of the books called Testing the Ice. When I asked how it was going, one of the students said "Wow, that was powerful!" This goes to show how deeply these kids are thinking about the books and just how captivating a picture book can be! This type of motivation and excitement is great to see!
We will continue to read the picture books this week. While reading we are going to be discussing the inferences that we can make when reading. We have talked about how an inference is when we take the evidence (words) in the text and our own background knowledge to determine what is probably true (an inference). Much of our focus during the inferring unit will be to think about the character traits that the characters in our books possess. We will also talk about themes and lessons in these picture books as well.
Writing Workshop
Last week the kids worked on editing and revising their personal narrative story. They were excited to reach the last step of the writing process...PUBLISHING! You should have received a letter from me last week describing the expectations that I have for published writing. Many students have already finished their final copies. Each student needs to bring back the folder that held their rough draft.
Just a reminder that published writing is due on TUESDAY!
Math Workshop
We have continued our first module with working our way through word problems. We have talked a lot about how we are readers first when working through a word problem. We have practiced this in class for several weeks.
Here are some of the steps that we typically follow as Readers first:
~ Read the problem
~ Determine any unknown words
~ Visualize what the problem is telling us
~ Draw out our visualization or create a tape diagram
~Underline/circle important numbers or words
Then Mathematicians...
~ Think of the math strategy that I have learned to solve this problem
~ Solve the problem
~ Check that I have answered the question
~ Write my answer as a statement!
In class we have talked about the purpose of following the steps to solve a word problem. We have also talked about the importance of using these steps every time we solve word problems since it is a strategy that will help us! It will also become even more helpful as the word problems get increasingly difficult.
Accountability
Over the past few weeks we have talked about taking responsibility for our own learning and choices. We have also talked about taking pride in our work.
For example, we reviewed editing earlier in the week. In earlier grades, the kids were taught how to correctly capitalize and punctuate sentences. After the review, I shared that this is going to be something that everyone is going to be held accountable for. If a student chooses not to take their time and use correct capitals, they will need to fix the mistake. This is another way to show a growth mindset!
If students aren't taking that pride in their work and showing what they have learned, they will need to make those changes to their work for homework. These papers will often be sent home on Mondays. They need to be returned the next school day. I am also asking that parents sign the paper stating they have seen it.
I hope everyone has a great week!
~Jen
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