Writer's Workshop

Last week we wrapped up opinion writing! The students were so engaged in their writing and did a wonderful job stating their opinions with strong reasons. We started off by writing opinions about anything and then moved to writing opinions about important matters of the world such as improving our country or world, or our own brains and bodies (ie: I think too much TV is not good for you.)  I will be sending home some samples of this writing next week. Opinion writing helped us to move easily into writing persuasive letters. The students are loving this. They are excited to try to persuade people (right now it is mostly parents) to do certain things such as build a tree house or sign them up for a new sports activity. We will continue with persuasive letter writing into next week and begin to write letters about important matters, just as we did with opinions. :) Here are a few pictures from opinion writing as well as some contraction kites that we made after learning about contractions today. 

 

Reading/Writing Workshop

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to post with some updates regarding what we are learning about this week! We have started some new units in both Reading and Writing Workshop.

In Reading Workshop we have continued to explore the world of nonfiction. However, students are now working in their very first book club! The students had a first and second choice for the topic that they were interested in learning more about. Students are learning about reptiles, the ocean, America, dogs, cats, and horses! I am so proud of the work that they have been doing so far. We have learned that in order for a book club to be successful, students must be active listeners and contributors. They are learning that everyone should show respect and be part of the discussions that take place. Students have also learned that they should have a plan for their learning. They worked within their group today to write down some ideas of what they hope to learn more about within their topic. Here are some pictures from some of the work in their book clubs so far. I tried uploading a video clip. I am not so sure it will work but it's worth a try. :)

In Writing Workshop the students are learning about writing opinion pieces. They are learning that a strong opinion piece will include the opinion, reasons, and a concluding statement. They are doing a great job! Within the next week we will move from writing opinion pieces to writing persuasive letters!  I will post some pictures from Writing Workshop soon.

Some Updates

Hi Families!
We have been having a nice week back at school learning about Earth Day and how we can care for the earth. Projects have been coming in and they are adorable! We are all excited to share them tomorrow morning!  We made adorable Earth Day books that are hung in the room. On each page the children wrote some facts about harming and helping the planet. We also made (some are not finished) Reduce/Reuse/Recycle mobiles. We learned about how earthworms are helpful and good for Earth!

Unfortunately when I came back from vacation our lima bean seeds had taken a turn for the worst. A few had started to sprout but they became very moldy. I had to throw them away but told the kids we would try again!

 

 

We are finishing up our unit on opinions and persuasive letters. The students did such a fabulous job writing their persuasive letters. Today we revised and edited a letter with a partner. We will finish them tomorrow and "publish" them. I hope to get them on the blog with the students reading them aloud as I did with their opinion pieces.

 

 

I can't wait to see and hear all about the projects tomorrow and I will be back to post some pictures! I will also be sending home a notice soon with two important end of year dates for our classroom. A writing celebration (during the school day) and an end of year slide show celebration (after school, 6pm).

 

I will leave you with a challenge for your children! Again, please email me the answers. 2/3 correct earn a little prize.

 

1.  Name the 3 R's!

2.  Tell something that can help Earth.

3.  Tell something that harms Earth.







Plants, Literacy Centers, Reading and Writing Workshop

Our class has been learning about plants this week in Science. We are observing our lima bean seeds each morning and recording what we notice in our lima bean journals. Today we labeled the parts of a plant in our science notebooks and then made a craft activity to go along with it.

 

Here are a few pictures of some literacy center work!

 

Using story cubes to identify character, problem and setting and then write a story to go along with those elements!

 

 



Reading and listening to stories at our own personal reading level and answering corresponding comprehension questions on the computers. The kids love this!

Working on some activities such as building long e words, sorting words, counting syllables in words, and putting words in ABC order at the Word Work center.

 

 

Reading our leveled readers and interest books from our book bags at the Read to Self center!

 

Here are some pictures of what we are working on in Reader's Workshop including an anchor chart we used to refer to for discussion when comparing and contrasting books in our book clubs! We have also been adding to ongoing "Vocabulary Word Banks" for important words related to our topics. The students identify words that they think are important to know when learning about their topic, write the word, and illustrate. Then we add it to the word bank. :)

 

 

 

 

Lastly, here are some pictures of students working hard at writing persuasive letters as well as sharing one of their favorites. They are doing such a great job! I am so impressed at how so many of them have moved beyond persuading people for things like toys and moving towards things that can help others!