Good Readers always make Mental Images in their head while reading or listening to someone read! We have been illustrating our vivid visualizations in Room 305! Here is another fun song to help us to remember to create a mental image while reading!

 

You probably read the note I sent home about the kids now using the Questioning Strategy! Here is a fun song that we sing to help us to remember to ASK questions BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER reading! Make sure your children STOP and THINK while they read and are discussing the strategies that we are using in class at home too! We have really enjoyed reading out of their Reader’s Notebooks!

 Happy Reading!!!

You can see the kids with their clip boards and post its!  (which I have to tell you – they absolutely LOVE) They LOVE to record their THINKING and I LOVE that they are doing it!!!  They wanted to go to the lab and read more about African Animals, Culture, Weather, Food, HOmes ect.  It was so much fun!  Reading is sooooooo COOOOOOOL!

We have been learning all about Non Fiction texts and their Features!  We are currently creating our own “Non Fiction Feature Book.”  As we have been enjoying reading and adding new facts to our SCHEMA  with all of the fun NON Fiction we have been working with- we came up with an IDEA!  Since our Class Theme is Jungle related: we should study the continent of Africa~

So, I went to the library and checked out all the Africa topic books, videos ect. 

We started by RECORDING everything that We Already KNEW about Africa… then we charted what “Questions” we had about Africa! 

Next, we will continue to read books, and online information…and record all the NEW FACTS that we have added to our SCHEMA!

I love watching the Can Do Kids “read and think” it is so FABULOUS!  Way to go kidos!  I am so proud of you!

Please click on the links below to LEARN more about AFRICA!

http://pbskids.org/africa/

http://www.africa.mrdonn.org/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/south-africa/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/photogalleries/100917-darwins-bark-spider-new-species-spider-webs-madagascar-science-pictures-strongest/?now=2010-09-17-00:01

http://africa.mrdonn.org/animals.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Africa/

http://www.oaklandzoo.org/animals/

http://www.geographia.com/indx06.htm

 

Yeah!  Have fun learning!

This is one of my favorite books to start the school year off!  Not only do I love the illustrations, but I love thinking of the character in the story!  Day 2 of school and I am trying to teach love of reading to my sweet class!  I always model to them how important books are to me and how they are dear to my heart!  Every book is my favorite book!  In this text, I love how the character has a wild imagination with great describing words.  It really is a beautiful book!   This book is about how everyone needs a QUIET PlACE sometimes- rather to just think or to read…so after we read it we TURNed and TaLked about where OUR QuiEt PlaCe would be!  The discussions were so vivid!  I loved it!  Then we concluded with the question….Where Do GOOD Readers READ???  and this is what our FABULOUS students came up with! (check out our class comments)

In class, we are reading a Mystery book, about Detective Camp.   While we are reading it, we are also learning the PARTS and JobS  of a Literature Circle.   So, far we have discussed the responsiblity of the “Predictor” “Connector” and “Inferrer”.   We are stressing the importance of “Stopping and Thinking” while reading.   It is very easy for the kids to get reading so fluently that they do not remember what they reading, especially while reading chapter books! Ask your son or daughter what the job descriptions are of the above jobs!   I am so proud of them!