Is It a Toad or a Frog?

A few weeks ago when we were studying the life cycle of frogs, the students read Frog and Toad from Reading A-Z. After reading the book several times during guided reading, the students worked in their groups to complete a Thinking Map of their choice - either a Double Bubble Map or a Venn Diagram. Both maps are used to teach the same concept - to compare and contrast two objects. The students used the reading strategy of looking back at the text to find their answers.

The National Zoo

This week we have been reading and writing about various animals. Yesterday we read "Zoo Baby Boom" about ways The National Zoo helps protect animals from endangerment. After reading, the students wrote and illustrated ways zookeepers and conservationalists help the animals. As a way to elevate the interest in the lesson, the students viewed the live webcams from The National Zoo. This is a great opportunity for students to see all types of species, including those that are endangered.

KidBlog

Our class recently started their own blog site through http://www.kidblog.org/. You can visit our class site here. Each student has a password to log in which has already been sent home. If you would like another copy, please let me know. The students have already written about 40 blog entries in one week. We are using the site as a place to journal personal narratives, to write critically about recently taught concepts, and to write affirmations to one another. Writing affirmations is a part of the Capruring Kids' Hearts program we use district wide. Parents, feel free to leave your child comments in their blog entries; please leave your name if you do. The comments are moderated before posting so you may not see it appear immediately. I encourage you to let your child blog at home through this site as it helps with their writing and spelling as well as giving them an opportunity to show what they know.

Fluency Podcasting

As guided reading today, the students practiced recording their favorite poems using Audacity software. They recorded again and again until they were happy with their recording. The poems that we typically use are from Dr. Timothy Rasinski's book Poems for Word Study. You can hear all of their recordings at my podcasting site on Podbean. You can download the podcasts to your computer, IPhone, IPod, or IPad. Below is an example of today's recordings:

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Reading Strategies

While lesson planning, I found great summaries online of the strategies we use in class to teach reading. Below are some reading strategies that we use in class each day that you can use at home as well:

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, suffixes, 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 and 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 word to see if it makes sense.

Literacy Stations

Each day while I am meeting with small groups for guided reading practice, the students rotate through two Literacy Stations. The stations we have in our class include Buddy Reading, Big Book Station, Classroom Library, Pocket Chart Station, Creation Station, Science Station, Drama and Poetry Station, Listening Station, Writing and Handwriting Station, and ABC/Word Wall Station. The stations allow students to have additional practice on reading and writing skills previously taught at an indpendent pace. The stations are designed to be interactive and to encourage students to take an active role in their learning. Below are a few pictures of the students in action!

Phonics and Reading Help

If your child is struggling with their reading or seem to have lost interest, check out the BBC's Words and Pictures website. This website has great games and printables for all of the various stages of reading learning. You can use this site to target your child's reading progress at home. For example, if you notice that your child does not consistently read the long vowels correctly, you can visit their Long Vowel Sounds page. If they are struggling with their common sight words, you can visit their High Frequency Page.

D.E.A.R.

Last week we had D.E.A.R. time in our classroom, as did all classes in Grand Prairie ISD. D.E.A.R. stands for Drop Everything And Read. The students had a great time relaxing with their favorite books. D.E.A.R time is a period of silent sustained reading where students read just for fun. Recreational reading has a proven positive correlation with a student's reading ability. As Dr. Seuss said, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." I encourage you to have your child read at home every day for at least twenty minutes outside of their guided reading homework book. In class, the students read a book of their choice silently for the first fifteen minutes of class. After reading, three volunteers share information about their book including the title, author, and their favorite part of the story. After sharing, the students answer three questions about the book from their classmates.

Fluency Work

As a part of their reading development, the students are expected to read with fluency and expression. A great way to help them practice "reading like they talk" is by using a recording software that allows them to hear themselves. At the school we use a recording software program, Audacity. Our class frequently practices reading our weekly poems into the program with a goal of becoming better with each reading. Because they get immediate feedback, the students become extremely engaged in the activity and even the most reluctant readers love to be the star of their own reading show. One of the best features about Audacity is that it is completely free to download and your child can begin immediately using it in conjunction with your computer's microphone.

Read with Roy

If you are looking for more strategies to help your child learn to read and write, visit Guided Reading and Reading Games with Roy the Zebra. The website is based on stories about Roy the Singing Zebra. This fun site offers progressive, animated stories along with matching discussion cards, worksheets, and games. The discussion cards are a great way to help your child think about what the story means in order to move beyond literal retells of the story. The games span a wide variety of topics that help in reading and writing including focuses on capital letters, punctuation, vowel sounds, blends, and rhyming words.