Great, fun events are here in celebration of literacy! reader's workshopOur readers have successfully moved from researchers to detectives! After a fun unit on animal research, we are now in book clubs, reading mystery series. Kids will get to experience at least two books from a given mystery series. Some of these include: 39 Clues, Cam Jansen, Nancy Drew and some National Parks mysteries. We are learning how to read like a detective; to sniff of the clues and decipher which ones are useful and which could be red herrings. We are learning about suspects, evidence and witnesses and how to use texted based evidence to prove our theories about the mystery. writer's workshopIn writing, we have been working on creating persuasive speeches. We will develop a seed idea into a persuasive piece that is well organized and has supporting evidence for our claims. The kids will learn how to use their voice in their own writing to make a case for an important change that they wish to see at school, in our community or the world! We will experience some other speeches made by kids around their age as examples of the true impact each one of us can have. It inspires me to see the drive and compassion our children have for so many different issues. literacy week!We have some fun events planned to celebrate literacy next week! Please read on to see the daily schedule!
Friday, February 26: Readers from Kromrey Middle School come to Elm Lawn to read with us! Monday, February 29: Author visit; Wear something you can read! Tuesday, March 1: Snuggle Up and Read! PJ Day! Wednesday, March 2: Teacher Mystery Reader: Kids will go to different rooms to have books read to them Thursday, March 3: School-Wide Read In! Friday, March 4: Character Dress Up Day! From Monday, February 8 until Friday, February 19, Elm Lawn will be practicing and celebrating kindness!
A checklist will be sent home on Monday with a list of ideas for your kids to do to show kindness in the community. For each act of kindness completed, we will add a link to a paper kindness chain. Throughout these two weeks, we will be practicing and discussing more about kindness at school as well. We will also celebrate kindness by participating in fun activities each day... Tuesday, February 9: Highlight Kindness (Neon Day) Wednesday, February 10: Dreaming of Kindness (PJ Day) Thursday, February 11: Kick into Gear and Help Someone Near (Crazy Sock Day) Friday, February 12: Love and Kindness (Wear Red/Hearts) Tuesday, February 16: Hats off to Kindness (Hat Day) Wednesday, February 17: Team Kindness (Team/Jersey Day) Thursday, February 18: Wild about Kindness (Stuffed Animal Day) Friday, February 19: School Spirit Day (Wear Blue/Elm Lawn Shirt) Also, we have a classroom kindness celebration planned for Thursday, February 11. We will pass out Valentines (or notes to friends) and share the books about friendship or kindness that the kids have brought from home. As my girls and I hiked through Indian Lake on Saturday, we got so warm we were shedding our layers and I thought, this is nearly February in Wisconsin?! If it is, I'll take it! The kids know how much I like to go on hikes with my girls and this weekend was perfect for some spectacular views, fresh air and girl talk! January was a busy month of assessing kids in reading, writing and math! We took both the reading and math MAPS assessments. I will share the results of those at our upcoming conference. I have also completed another spelling inventory and an individualized reading assessment with all the kids. It is an exciting time, getting to see so much growth! I am very proud of the kid's hard work! As we enter into February, here are a few things that are coming up: conferencesConferences will be held on March 3 and 10 from 3-6:30pm. I sent out a sign up. If you did not receive it or need an alternate time/day, please let me know! reader's workshopWe have been very busy with our animal research! Groups of kids have been researching the same animal, working together to build on their knowledge through a variety of nonfiction texts. We have been learning about note taking, comparing and contrasting information, synthesizing and working together cooperatively. writer's workshopIn the beginning of January, we immersed ourselves in poetry and experimented with writing some of our own. It is such a fun form of writing and the kids came up with some wonderful poems and ideas! We then moved into developing literary essays. We have been experiencing 'close reading.' This is to read the same text three times, each time looking deeper and deeper into different aspects of the book. We are asking questions about the characters' traits and motivations as well as the author's intentions, purpose and feelings towards their characters. So far we have used the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros and the picture book, "Fox". The second week in February, we will move into opinion writing where the kids will have an opportunity to write a persuasive essay and a petition. friendship celebrationOn February 12, we will have a small Friendship celebration. The kids are welcome to bring in notes and/or Valentine's for all of their classmates. I will send home more information soon, along with a list of names of everyone in our class.
Have a wonderful start to February! And, maybe, just maybe, wear your PJs inside out on Monday/Tuesday night :) Thank you to Mrs. McGinley for sharing a fabulous book with us today! Many kids are now interested in reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane! Check it out!
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