Week 2 - Literature Circles

Week of February 23 - 27

Students read "The School Play" by Gary Soto from the McDougal Littell Literature Series. Students began the week with a substitute because I had eMINTS training. Students were to apply the strategy of monitoring their reading comprehension by asking questions during this read aloud. Unfortunately, students had also had a substitute on Tuesday because my son was sick. They had a second read aloud by Gary Soto, called "The Jacket." For this they were to make connections to the text.

When I returned to school on Wednesday Literature Circles meet for Week 2. On Thursday, Literature Circles wrapped up for any group that was unable to meet on Wednesday due to time restraints. Members of each group learned more about one another as they completed two more sections on the Membership Grid. On Friday, students met in the Library. Mrs. Y. shared a photo story about the changes to our school library that included the similies and metaphors the students created earlier this month. The photo story summarized the good things going on this year in our school library. The students voted for a Truman Book Award nominee and completed a survey about the school library. Mrs. Y. will use the input from the survey to make changes to the school library. Students have 10 minutues to return/renew or check-out new books.

The last 45 minutes of the day was designated for Star Time/Learning Lab. Any student with a D or F in Science or Reading participated in Learning Lab to increase his/her grade.

Posted By: Mrs. W.

Week 1 - Literature Circles

Week of February 16 - 20

Students and staff enjoyed a long weekend, celebrating President's Day on Monday. Tuesday, classes resumed with students understanding the expectations of Literature Circles. The lesson centered around the idea of what Literature Circles "Looks Like/Sounds Like" to visitors coming into our room. Wednesday, Literature Circles met to discuss Week 1's reading assignment and comprehension strategies used. The Week 1 Meeting of Literature Circles concluded on Thursday for any group that had absent members on Wednesday or if time ran short due to longer group meetings. We also had a team-building activity designated to help each group learn more about each member of the Literature Circle. Students found out what was each person's "Favorite Fast Food/Name of Menu Item usually ordered" and "Favorite T.V. Show/Why?" Again, we ended the week in the Library where Ms. Young focused on text features of non-fiction materials. She also served quite a treat of southern cuisine, Garlic Cheese Grits. The text feature focus was photos while the non-fiction material was cook books. We appreciate all the hard work Ms. Young put into this demonstration. Students had 10 minutes at the end of class for return/renew and/or check-out books.

Posted By: Mrs. W.

Literature Circles Begin

Week of February 9 - 13

On Monday students had the chance to make any final changes to their Character Business Card. We spent the entire class period on Tuesday completing a Book Pass. Each class had a selection of books to preview and rate according to interest level and difficulty level. At the end of the previewing session students were to rate the books 1 through 8, 1 being their first choice while 8 being their last pick. I spent Tuesday evening creating a document for each class period organizing the Literature Circle groups based on student choice. It took me nearly 3 hours to organize the groups! I tried my best to honor each student's first or second choice. Wednesday, students met the members of their Literature Circle group or Book Club and the book that would become the first focus of their group. Each group agreed upon the first reading assignment which would be due the following Wednesday, February 18. Students set up a 3-braded folder that would be used throughout Literature Circles. Each folders contained a Table of Contents, February and March Calendars to record reading assignment due dates, Membership Grid and Strategy ThinkMarks. On Thursday, students listened to the short story, "A Mouthful" as a class read aloud. Students evaluated the piece and as aimed to get a score of 4 as outlined on the "Race Rubric." Our week ended with a lesson in the Library on Friday. Mrs. Y. continued having the class analyzing text features on non-fiction books. She announced a new "Star Reader." She also mention the award books for 2008. Students had approximately 10 minutes for check-out.

Posted By: Mrs. W.

Business Cards

Week of February 2 - 6

On Monday, we started the week with a new business card project and starting it with a project planner. On Tuesday, we didn't have reading class due to a short day and Star Time.

On Wednesday student "A" started their project on the computer. Students began by writing about a character from a book as well as what services he/she would offer if he/she ran a business. The card included pictures related to the text, the character's name, and job title. Thursday, student "A" finished their projects so student "B" could start on the computer.

The class had a substitute, Mr. E., since Mrs. W. was gone to an eMINTS conference in Columbia on Friday. Mrs. Y, our school librarian, designated non-fiction reading groups for the day based on choices provided by the students. The week concluded with students returning and checking out books from the library.

Look for our finished projects on our class website under the "Showcase" area.

Posted By: Cameron R., Edited By Mrs. W.

Frodo Business Card Created By: Cameron R.