Yes –  you are all awesome!!! // ]]>

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!

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!!!

Guess what? 

Taylor loves to READ!  

She was interviewed by Nick Cannon yesterday at  Scholastic’s 90^th Anniversary literacy event, READ NOW! She talked all about her favorite books, the power of reading and students asked her questions about her favorite Genres and all that fun stuff! 

Next week, we will be watching her Web Cast in class!  It is great!  She is so sweet and a great role model to all of us! 

Here is a little bit about her if you do not know who she is…

Good readers INFER while they read to figure out what happens next, it is a smart guess that they make using clues from the story and their SCHEMA to figure out the answer~   You can also INFER the meaning of a word.   This happens to all of us, when we are reading a chapter book or an informational book we come to a word that we do not know the meaning of…what do we do?   Hopefully we do not skip the word, we INFER what it means… When we do that we use our schema, look at the pictures if there are any, we reread the sentence and look for clues in the text.   After doing those things, we should then come up with a good answer to the meaning of the word.   We have been using these strategies in class this week! Example:   We read the book:   and Inferred some Hawaii’n words that were in the text! The kids had a blast!   We also read,       and we all inferred a new ending to the story!   I had the children leave a comment for you to read!

We have been using our SCHEMA so much the last few weeks.   THe kids love to use their “schema” when trying to make connections with the text we read.   They also really enjoy adding NEW FACTS to their “schema” while reading informational texts!   I love seeing the excitement in their eyes when they tell me that their “schema” about a specific topic is GROWING!!!!     Nothing like getting kids excited to read!   If you would like more information about schema click here: Enjoy our SONG we sing!   It helps us to remember what “schema” is!

Wow!   Were we blessed today!   We all got to meet a famous author!   Kristen Crow came to our School with an amazing presentation on the process of writing a book.   She had the children’s attention the whole time, with an amazing ppt and musical parts!   Her books were also great!   I bought one for my children at home.   If you have not heard of her, check out her books, they are great for school and home!   The cool thing is she lives in Layton, Utah!  

Here is a video of her reading one of her books to all of the 3rd grade and the kids using some musical instruments to make the story fun!   P.S. Hopefully you have all returned your invite to the Family Literacy Night to school, they are due Monday… and it is going to be at the Treehouse on Thursday the 15th at 6:30.   We have some fun stuff planned and Kristen will be there signing books and selling them!   Don’t miss out on our School’s Literacy Fun!