Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Back to School!
We're back from our spring trip to Washington, D.C! It was a great trip. We visited the Newseum, the International Spy Museum, a few Smithsonians, the monuments along the Mall and the National Gallery of Art (where some of us saw an actual Da Vinci painting and a few Vermeers!). The hostel is always a wonderful place to stay; the kitchen and dining area makes it easy for us to make breakfasts and pack our lunches. The students had many opportunities to interact with different groups of friends and I truly appreciate being able to see first hand how CS kids value one another.
Monday was a very productive day, despite the fact that so many kids are focused on Spring Break! To expand on our study of heroes, I read three children's books to the classea and we discussed which characters were heroes and why. I read The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, The Lorax, by Dr. Suess and Smoky Night, by Eve Bunting. Today, we are reading articles from CNN's Hero Project. and sharing about real-life heroes.
This week's small writing is a free choice, but I've asked the students to focus on last week's trip. Spring Break starts on Friday (No school!) and we'll return on Monday, April 12th.
Monday was a very productive day, despite the fact that so many kids are focused on Spring Break! To expand on our study of heroes, I read three children's books to the classea and we discussed which characters were heroes and why. I read The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, The Lorax, by Dr. Suess and Smoky Night, by Eve Bunting. Today, we are reading articles from CNN's Hero Project. and sharing about real-life heroes.
This week's small writing is a free choice, but I've asked the students to focus on last week's trip. Spring Break starts on Friday (No school!) and we'll return on Monday, April 12th.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Scholastic Book Orders!
Scholastic book orders are a great, easy and affordable way to build up your library! The selection is varied and I offer both Arrow (grades 4-6) and Tab (grades 7-9) to meet all reading levels. I send home a paper flyer each month, but you can also order online. One perk of ordering online is that we get extra FREE books for our classroom! In addition, you can use your credit or debit card and don't need to worry about writing a check. I encourage you all to browse the flyer, either the paper one or online, and order books for your reader.
When you go to the Scholastic webpage (http://www.scholastic.com/), our class user name is KatrinaLangArts and our password is lovetoread.
Thanks for all of your support!
When you go to the Scholastic webpage (http://www.scholastic.com/), our class user name is KatrinaLangArts and our password is lovetoread.
Thanks for all of your support!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Links for Rome Research
First Years:
Please use these links as you work on your research for our project on Ancient Rome.
History For Kids- Romans
Kids Konnect-- Ancient Rome
PBS on Ancient Rome
Remember, Wikipedia is okay as a place to start, but it's not a reputable site! You may NOT use it as one of your sources! You can find infomation there and verify it on another site!
Please use these links as you work on your research for our project on Ancient Rome.
History For Kids- Romans
Kids Konnect-- Ancient Rome
PBS on Ancient Rome
Remember, Wikipedia is okay as a place to start, but it's not a reputable site! You may NOT use it as one of your sources! You can find infomation there and verify it on another site!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Individual Book Suggestions
Parents and Caregivers,
Today I handed out book suggestion lists, personalized for each student. Last week, each student completed an interest survey. Based on these surveys and on what I already know about them as a reader, I created a list of books that I think they may be interested in. Some of the books are directly related to topics they mentioned-- a lot of students like to read books about vampires!-- while other books are ones that will expand their literary horizons.
We are so fortunate here at Community School that loving to read is considered "cool," and that so many of our students include reading as a favorite pasttime. My goal, as a language arts teacher, is to encourage our readers to try new books (new authors, new genres, etc.) and to also build up those who either struggle to read or don't find reading pleasurable. To this end, I often read books, or chapters out loud to them, I hand out and go over in detail the Scholastic book order forms and I give the students ample time to share what they are currently reading with their peers. My hope is that by the time they enter Seminar, they are excited about books.
Two reading specialists I often look to are Esme Codell and Donalyn Miller. Please check out their blogs for more information.
As always, please get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions, or even if you just want to share your favorite book!
-Katrina
Esme Codell
http://www.planetesme.com/
Donalyn Miller
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1970104.Donalyn_Miller/blog
Today I handed out book suggestion lists, personalized for each student. Last week, each student completed an interest survey. Based on these surveys and on what I already know about them as a reader, I created a list of books that I think they may be interested in. Some of the books are directly related to topics they mentioned-- a lot of students like to read books about vampires!-- while other books are ones that will expand their literary horizons.
We are so fortunate here at Community School that loving to read is considered "cool," and that so many of our students include reading as a favorite pasttime. My goal, as a language arts teacher, is to encourage our readers to try new books (new authors, new genres, etc.) and to also build up those who either struggle to read or don't find reading pleasurable. To this end, I often read books, or chapters out loud to them, I hand out and go over in detail the Scholastic book order forms and I give the students ample time to share what they are currently reading with their peers. My hope is that by the time they enter Seminar, they are excited about books.
Two reading specialists I often look to are Esme Codell and Donalyn Miller. Please check out their blogs for more information.
As always, please get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions, or even if you just want to share your favorite book!
-Katrina
Esme Codell
http://www.planetesme.com/
Donalyn Miller
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1970104.Donalyn_Miller/blog
Monday, February 22, 2010
Last week of February
The end of February is here and hopefully it will be a week without snow and a five whole days of school!
Here's what's going in language arts:
Small Writings continue; this week is free choice and next week (due on March 4th) is a narrative. An expository essay is due on March 11th and a persuasive essay will be due on March 18th. There is no small writing due on March 25th, as we will be on our spring trip to Washington, D.C.
We are reading Tiger, Tiger, by Lynn Reid Banks. This exciting novel takes place in ancient Rome, which coincides with our social studies unit. I am reading the book out loud to students who are interested; other students who prefer to read independently are given that choice as well. The students have been given several questions (10) related to the multiple themes in the book-- humans' relationships with animals, thinking for yourself, doing the 'right thing'-- and will choose 4-6 questions to answer. They will also respond to each other's writing.
Although it may seem uncommon to read out to middle school aged students, it's actually a beneficial practice. It meets the needs of auditory learners and allows for students to work on their active listening skills. Below is a link to an article by Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, about why reading out loud is still important.
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2009/03/never_too_old_reading_aloud_to_1.html
Students: the first two people (CS students!) to comment on this blog will recieve a book of their choice from the next Scholastic book order!
Here's what's going in language arts:
Small Writings continue; this week is free choice and next week (due on March 4th) is a narrative. An expository essay is due on March 11th and a persuasive essay will be due on March 18th. There is no small writing due on March 25th, as we will be on our spring trip to Washington, D.C.
We are reading Tiger, Tiger, by Lynn Reid Banks. This exciting novel takes place in ancient Rome, which coincides with our social studies unit. I am reading the book out loud to students who are interested; other students who prefer to read independently are given that choice as well. The students have been given several questions (10) related to the multiple themes in the book-- humans' relationships with animals, thinking for yourself, doing the 'right thing'-- and will choose 4-6 questions to answer. They will also respond to each other's writing.
Although it may seem uncommon to read out to middle school aged students, it's actually a beneficial practice. It meets the needs of auditory learners and allows for students to work on their active listening skills. Below is a link to an article by Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, about why reading out loud is still important.
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2009/03/never_too_old_reading_aloud_to_1.html
Students: the first two people (CS students!) to comment on this blog will recieve a book of their choice from the next Scholastic book order!
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