In Reading Workshop, we have been practicing reading with stamina. Our "read in Your Pajamas" Party was a great time to practice this. Students did a wonderful job getting settled and getting into a book for 35 minutes of non-stop reading. We also enjoyed read aloud and buddy reading. What a terrific morning celebrating books and hanging out in our pajamas. I am in my classroom surrounded by kids who are excited to read and excited to write. . . and, of course, when there is cheese anywhere nearby. Students were asked to write about what makes them feel lucky. They then made a leprechaun to go with their writing. These will be hanging up during conferences. Here are some pictures of the kids working on their writing and leprechauns. Between conferences at the ISD, jury duty, sickness with me and family members, and meetings during school hours, I feel lucky if I have a full week with my students. Hopefully things will begin to settle down!
Students are still working on their learning target of identifying if a statement is a fact or an opinion. It is proving to be tricky for many of them. A fact is something that can be proven and an opinion is a belief or what someone thinks. An opinion can change based on who you ask and a fact cannot. We are learning to look for clue words like perhaps, maybe, probably, or should to help us figure out if it is an opinion. Today we read a wonderful book that is an informational narrative called If You Decide to Go to the Moon. Students really got into it as we blasted off into space and sorted sentences from the book under fact or opinion. Even opinion statements can be found in a non-fiction or informational piece. Students volunteered to come up and stick the strip under the right column. We also are keeping in mind what the author's purpose is for writing the books that we are reading, like Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp, If you Decided to Go to the Moon, and Because of Winn Dixie. Below is an explanation of the acronym PIE. The acronym PIE is an easy way to help your child remember the three reasons authors will write a story. We had a discussion about if books could be written for more than one purpose. What do you think? Ask your child what he/she thinks is the purpose for the books that is being read at home for homework. Is it to Persuade? to Inform? Or to Entertain? |
Mrs. Ellis's Class
Learning & laughing our way through third grade. Archives
June 2020
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