Today, after our normal morning routine, we had Reader’s Workshop. The mini-lesson today was about non-fiction text features again – we reviewed what a table of contents is, as well as picture captions, and today we learned about headings (the bold type section titles in a book). When the kids went off to read (both individual reading and buddy reading), they were looking for all of the text features that we have discussed thus far. Our share was about what they found, and how headings were used in their book to divide and organize the text.
After reading, we move on to Writer’s Workshop. Today I showed then how writers often “write across their fingers” – they take a small idea and stretch it over pages. We used our five fingers to plan out a page. They worked with their writing partner again and told a story, stretched over five fingers, and then practiced giving a nice comment and a “Have you considered...?” comment to their partner. Then, of course, they wrote.
After writing, we had lunch and recess, and then back up to our room for Read Aloud. Today we read two books by Cynthia Rylant from the High Rise Private Eyes series: The Case of the Missing Monkey and The Case of the Puzzling Possum. They are really funny books – the kids love them. Unfortunately, there are only 8 in the series… After Read Aloud, we headed on down to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.
After gym, we stopped for a water and bathroom break before the second installment of our MAP assessment in the computer lab. Today it was the second half of the reading assessment. After sitting still and quiet for quite awhile, we headed out for a bit of recess – too nice out not to.
By the time we got back in, it was time to pack up and go home!
