BOOKS &
READING
This is an example of our matchbook summaries. Kids wrote a short summary of the chapter called The Cave. They designed the cover too. Amazing work.
The BFG has a difficult time with words. Here are things we've been keeping track of as we read...words he doesn't quite get right.
Our thoughts, ideas, predictions, inferences, etc. as we read. We take a lot of notes!
Reading group discussion!
CLOSE READING!
They are amazing. We are doing a lot of reading in room
306. One of my absolute favorite parts
of my job is reading out loud to your children.
The looks on their faces, the gasps, the giggles and the groans when I have
to stop reading…it’s all an amazing part of my
day. We are currently reading The BFG
by Roald Dahl. He’s a gifted writer and
we do a lot of laughing while reading this book. The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) is a bumbling
and goofy character and everyone LOVES him from the moment we meet him. He has taken Sophie, a nine year-old girl,
from her village in the middle of the night.
Ask your kids what is happening in the book! Ask for DETAILS. Ask them to tell you about Sophie. What is she like? Have them tell you about the NINE other
giants (they are twice the size of the BFG!) that live in giant country. Talk to them about the books we read in
class. We write about these books, so it
will help them to discuss the books with you at home too!
In our reading groups, we are ALL
reading nonfiction books. We are
starting something called CLOSE READING. This strategy has you read a short book or
passage THREE times. The first time we
read, we students should be able to find the main idea of the text and
summarize what they’ve read. The second
time they read, they will be able to notice text structure, author’s purpose
and word choice. By the third time, they
will be able to clearly inference and give key points about the text. We are reading a RAZ book, so it was copied
and allows them to write things directly on their books. They can also highlight, use sticky notes and
make marks in the margins. We started
with a few symbols that everyone will begin using this week. UNDERLING a word means that it’s an important
word. CIRCLING a word means that it’s an
unknown word. Drawing a HEART near a
word or sentence means it’s a favorite part.
These notations will also help them find things they will include in
their paragraph in the Writing about Reading section of their Reader’s
Notebook. We also took a moment to talk
about the responsibilities they have when it comes to reading groups. They LOVE to meet (yay!) but kids were having
a hard time remembering what to bring with them. We worked on an anchor chart and they have
done a great job remembering! There’s a
lot to bring and do in our reading groups.
Ask them about what we are doing in our reading group. What are they learning? What have we discussed?
