Reader's Workshop

The students have been practicing the Goldilocks Rule when helping them find books.  They have been using their Response Journals to respond to and think about the literature.  We have been focusing on character analysis so far this month.  The children will link the main characters in their book selections to various character traits and are able to explain why those traits apply.  (Ex:  Arthur proved he was responsible because he was able to take care of many different pets.)

We are also in the middle of our theme Pet Show Today in our anthology.  Though the stories in this theme are funny, the underlying message is how to properly take care of pets.  Throughout all of the books we read, we will focus on making connections from text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to world.  Also during this time, the children will learn a new phonics program that involves many fun chants.

Writer's Workshop

In Writer's Workshop, the students are zooming in on small moments in their lives.  These narratives will be full of adjectives that help make the stories come alive.  The students will create maps of their hearts, which will be full of people and events that are important to them.  We will end this unit with a publishing celebration.