We LOVE reading - a LOT!

Balanced Literacy

It is essential that everyone is reading EVERY SINGLE NIGHT at home.  I understand that schedules are busy, but without practicing, we won’t get any better.  Read to self, read to someone, or listen to a book!!  We will continue to meet in our reading groups and everyone is expected to finish their assignments.  Here is a reminder of our reading group expectations.

Thank you for helping them to remember to do their assignments! 

These are our reading group expectations:

1. Bring your reading group folder, current book, Dear Mrs. McGee, and a pencil to reading group every time we meet.
2. Students will keep track of their assignments on the assignment pages provided in their reading group folders (gold folders).
3. Students who do not bring their books back to school or complete the assignment will lose their entire recess. 

Some kids are having a hard time keeping track of their reading books and assignments.  I am hoping that this will help everyone!  Thank you for your continued help at home.

Here are some of the things we are discussing in our reading groups:

Personal connections, text to text connections, vocabulary words, character traits, setting, conflict and so much more!  Non-fiction elements: headings, bold letters, glossary, table of contents, index, photographs, graphs, charts, maps, etc..  Some groups have begun Literature Circles and are having a great time.  Reading groups are so FUN!  We are reading BIOGRAPHIES and learning about some very interesting people.  In the next few weeks, we will work on creating reports to share what we’ve learned about these amazing and interesting people.

We use a wide variety of strategies every day in third and fourth grade.  We are learning many ways to solve addition and subtraction problems in math, and there is a wide variety of strategies to use while reading as well.  These are some of the ways we learn to read unknown or difficult words while in our reading groups.  Here are some reading strategies you can use at home:

Word-Attack Strategies:

Help students decode, pronounce, and understand unfamiliar words.  They help students attack words piece by piece or from a different angle.

Use Picture Clues:

Look at the picture.  Are there people, objects, or actions in the picture that might make sense in the sentence?

Sound Out the Word:

Start with the first letter, and say each letter-sound out loud.  Blend the sounds together and try to say the word.  Does the word make sense in the sentence?

Look for Chunks in the Word:

Look for familiar letter chunks.  They may be sound/symbols, prefixes, suffices, endings, whole words or base words.  Read each chunk by itself.  Then blend the chunks together and sound out the word.  Does that word make sense in the sentence? 

Connect to a Word You Know:

Think of a word that looks like the unfamiliar word.  Compare the familiar word to the unfamiliar word.  Decide if the familiar word is a chunk or form of the unfamiliar word.  Use the known word in the sentence to see if it makes sense.  If so, the meanings of the two words are close enough for understanding.

Reread the Sentence:

Read the sentence more than once.  Think about what word might make sense in the sentence.  Try the word and see if the sentence makes sense. 

Keep Reading:

Read past the unfamiliar word or look for clues.  If the word is repeated, compare the second sentence to the first.  What word might make sense in both?

Use Prior Knowledge:

Think about what you know about the subject of the book, paragraph, or sentence.  Do you know anything that might make sense in the sentence?  Read the sentence with the new word to see if it makes sense.