Jenna is our super hero of the week! She did amazing work on her poster and seems to enjoy wearing the cape around. Jenna to the rescue!
Our school, along with many others across the county, participated in trying to beat the record of the most people crunching into an apple at the same time. At 1:00 we all crunched into an apple! Ben M. is our super hero of the week! It was wonderful to hear how special his cousins are to him, so special, in fact, that he chose them for his sidekicks and his heroes! We are looking forward to hearing the book he chose to read us today. Students needed more practice with book discussions and summarizing books by using the Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then strategy. I put kids in groups to read books at their level and then they discussed the book as they filled out their summarizing flap books. I think they are getting it! Remember, this is a great strategy to have your child try after a book is finished. We have been reading a ton of books and beginning to have book talks with reading partners. One thing that will help us with our book talks is using sticky notes to leave tracks of our thinking as we read our books. We want to write on our sticky notes any time we have a vivid picture in our minds, have questions or wonderings, have a strong reaction (good or bad), make a connection, have a predictions, or come across a favorite line or quote. Thank you for all your post-it note contributions. We have a lot of good thinkers and readers in here, so they will get used! After your child finishes a book, a real easy activity to check his/her comprehension is to ask for a summary. In class, we learned that a summary can easily be done by thinking of a hand and the letters SWBST. In every fiction book somebody wants something, but something gets in the way, so the character has to do try something else, and then the problem is resolved. Try having your child do this after he/she finishes the next book!
In writing, we have taken a close look at how authors have started some of our favorite books. We noticed that many, many authors use the same techniques. They often start with a character speaking, a sound, an action, or a description of the setting.
After we looked at the many different ways we can start our stories, students had to play around with three different beginnings for their one seed (small moment) story. They had to try a lead (beginning) with dialogue, with action, a description of the setting, a sound, or, if they wanted a challenge, a combination of those. Students then had to decide which ones they liked the best because they were the stronger lead and will make their audience want to read more. Students circled their favorite lead. Coming home soon, are the students' leads and a paper attached letting them know if they hit the target, or if they didn't, what they could do to fix it. Next, we will be working on telling the rest of our story bit by bit and zooming in on details. I can't wait to read the rest of their stories! We have been working on our personal narratives and learning about the power of using strong verbs in our writing. Students then went through their writing and looked for two weak verbs. They circled those two weak verbs and then wrote stronger verbs above them. Students then made their Action Heroes with strong verbs all around the outside. They turned out great! |
Mrs. Ellis's Class
Learning & laughing our way through third grade. Archives
June 2020
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