Our students did a fabulous job with their plays!! Way to go!! We are so proud of you!

In case you missed them, you can watch my NOT so professional recording!! 

Yes –  you are all awesome!!! // ]]>

One of the latest comprehension strategies we have been using in class! These kids are amazing! Thank you so much for being so Fabulous and Perfect today when Mrs. Newton came in to observe! I am so proud of each of you!!!

Every day Reading Workshop in our class is so amazing. (and, no two days are ever alike) I group the kids according to what Reading Strategy or Skill they need to improve on. Sometimes they work in goups of like 6, sometimes they work with partners. The reading goals are not always grouped, sometimes they are individual. It all depends on what I observe while reading with them. I love to work in small groups, but I also love to conference with them individually. This video, is just a peak of what was happening yesterday… some people were working on finished projects, others were silent reading. I have a parent volunteer that comes to work with my Fluency Goal group. They work on Read Naturally out in the hall. The best part about Reading Workshop, is all the great Vocabulary terms that they use while reading, discussing and sharing. I am so proud of all my Can Do Kids!

We have really enjoyed reading informational texts this past week. As we were reading we focused on our new READING STRATEGY… “Making AHA’s!” I was so proud of the kids, as they were reading a selected text from the library about our topic, they were recording their “Aha’s!” I LOVED seeing that light in their eyes as they were reading! There was so much excitement and learning in our classroom!

We have talked about Reading Workshop before…for the past couple months the kids have been working on individual goals, while they READ to SELF.  The teacher would then walk around and conference with each child to make sure he or she is understanding their new goal and achieving success. 

This time, we are working on a Strategy Goal with a group.  In this group, the kids will be Reading, Writing, Thinking and/or Researching to complete their Goal.  I am so excited to watch the kids participate in this!  THey will work with a teacher, as well as in the group to acheive their goal.

We are going to try out our First INQUIRY Circle of the year (Synthesizing), our First Literature Circle (applying Reading Strategies while reading a chapter book, Author’s Purpose), we will be working on some Fluency Goals, and using Read Naturally and finally one group will work hard on Retelling a Fiction Text!  

(Basically, I am integrating all the ideas from my favorite prof. books presented in them and trying to create my own ADvenTurE in learning!) In case you are a teacher reading this and you have not read any of these books…below check them out! I wish I could teach every day, all day sometimes so I could follow all of their amazing suggestions!) (I am obsessed with Debbie Miller & Stephanie Harvey’s reading strategies, I love Harvey Daniels take on Literature Circles, my new WOW book is Inquiry Circles by Harvey & Daniels and I love the “SISTERS” take on assessment and centers!”

Pics and vids we be posted so that you can see how this process works!  I am so excited to see all of the THINKING and Reading going on in ROOM 305!

We are going to try out a new testing format to help us get ready for the Core Test.  Students will take part of their Vocabulary & Comprehension tests on the computer during class! Students: Click on the link to take the test http://www.quia.com/pages/kpeterson520/page1

HI, I have so much to say…so here is one more post!  Today-  We talked about another fantastic Reading Strategy!  I modeled the strategy with the class and had them participate in the lesson!  It went really well!  I can tell that they are sooo excited to use it!  They had time to create their own MY FILE… also!  But, next week they will have the opportunity to dive into a good INFORMATIONAL text and try it out on their own~!

Here is a sneak peak with info on what a MY FILE is!  More POSTS will be coming soon with footage from our 2010-2011 Can Do Kid class!  This was from a couple years ago!  I called these two students, my MY FILE GALS because they just loved it so much!!! 

http://mrsslaugh.com/myfile.htm

Maybe you know who these girls are 🙂 They still go to our Fabulous School!!!

The latest reading strategy that we have been using in class in called inferring!  Inferring actually has 2 meanings.  We can INFER what is going to happen next…how the problem is solved…it is basically a smart guess or like a prediction!!! The other way that we infer…is when we come to a word that we do not know the meaning of the word… This happens alot to us 3rd Graders…we are great readers, but we always come to a new word that we can pronounce just fine, but we really do not know what the word MEANS…so instead of just skipping the word…we STOP AND THINK!  and follow these steps…to help us infer what that word means to help us better understand the text we are reading! Look at the picture, Reread the Sentence and Use your SCHEMA!  We practiced both of these strategies with 2 amazing books!

Ask your children to explain what INFERRING really means or have them sing your our song!!! Happy Inferring!!!

Here is a link that provides more information on Inferring!!!

 http://www.mrsslaugh.com/inferring.htm