Stepping Into New Discoveries in Reading/Writing Workshop

Reading/Writing Workshop: Non-Fiction Unit

(November/December)

   After two months of escaping into some amazing stories during our fiction unit in Reading and Writing Workshop, we are moving into a new unit focusing on non-fiction text.  
   The unit will begin with mini-lessons and conferences focusing on reading strategies that will help us navigate this new type of text.  We will learn about the variety of text features that help us identify the big ideas and topics that the author is sharing with us. We will also learn how to "chunk" text into smaller pieces so that we can "recollect" the information we have learned and discuss our discoveries with classmates. 
  (During our first non-fiction day of Reading Workshop, I was impressed to see how eager the students were to ask questions and use their prior knowledge about topics to take what they already know and grow.) 
   We will continue to work on building our understanding of how to complete "boxes and bullets" to further understand the concept of main idea and supporting details. This will be an ongoing learning experience as we move into more complex texts as the unit gets underway.
  We are using our Reading Journals to record our discoveries, ask questions (and try to answer them), record things we are wondering about, predict, and continue to make connections to understand topics on a deeper level. 
  As with our fiction unit, the Reading and Writing Workshop will mirror each other during our literacy block. We will be reading (independently and in pairs) a variety of non-fiction texts and writing about what we are discovering. We will also begin researching topics of personal interest in books and on appropriate websites using our iPads. As we move through our research, we will begin drafting a research paper on our chosen topics. By the end of the unit, we will each create a research project that reflects everything we have learned about the topic using the reading strategies we have learned for navigating non-fiction text.   

October Update

                                                               October Update
            
 We are having a wonderful third grade year. The students are working hard in Reading and Writing Workshop and becoming deeper thinkers about the stories they are enjoying. We are exploring characters in stories and how they are so much like people in our lives. I am so proud of these kids for being so engaged and excited about being readers, writers, and thinkers! 

  In history, we just finished our lap books on Rivers of The World. The students explored several rivers and created projects that integrated reading, writing, and art. The lap books will be on display in the library "foyer" this week.

  During our lunch-time Read Aloud Club, we have finished reading Because of Winn Dixie and are in the middle of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. These students are such amazing book club members, and I have really enjoyed listening to their insightful connections as the stories unfold.   

  The third grade will begin creating a bulletin board between our classrooms that will share fun pictures of projects that the students are working on during the year. We have found how much fun the panoramic camera view is when it comes to capturing our students working hard.  :) We look forward to sharing these great moments with you as well. 

                                          Getting to Know You Acrostic Poems/3-D People

                                                                      I Am Poems

                                                                     Silly Similes

Welcome New Third Grade Students

   I hope everyone is enjoying the summer break! Even though we are out of school, it is really important that you keep up your summer reading. Many students think that they just need to read their 2 required books and no more.  If you want to become a stronger reader, you must escape into a wonderful book for 20 minutes every night! You can read independently, but it is always so much fun to snuggle up with one of your parents before bed to enjoy a great story.

  Next year will be filled with LOTS of EXCITING reading.  We will be reading novels in class, and you will be required to read each night and write down your thoughts on what you have read.  This encourages you to be an active reader who lives the story instead of skimming over it. 

  So...... even though you think that your brain needs to take a summer break, remember this...

THE MORE YOU READ = THE MORE ADVENTURES YOU WILL TAKE

THE MORE YOU READ = THE STRONGER READER YOU BECOME

THE MORE YOU READ = THE MORE EXCITING YOUR SUMMER WILL BECOME

READ FOR 20 MINUTES EVERY NIGHT AND DON'T FORGET TO WRITE THE BOOK TITLES ON YOUR READING LOG.

** I sent out the correct Summer Reading Handout on report card pick-up day. If you were not able to open the email and print off the new Summer Reading information, please email me so that I can get it out to you right away. Please don't wait until the end of the summer to do your reading. You should be READING ALL SUMMER. :)

Thanks,

Mrs. Schlosser

rschlosser@stpeters.org 

Spring Break Is On The Way!

  It is hard to believe that we are moving into the middle of March already!!  The students have been working hard and exploring so many new ideas.  Below you will see a short breakdown of what we are doing throughout our day as we move into Spring Break on Friday at noon.  :)


Reading:
  The students continue to escape into amazing worlds throughout our reading blocks. We have made our second rotation in book clubs and have several new stories underway.  
  This group of students is always eager to read independently too!  I am so happy to see how many enthusiastic readers we have this year.  They are always excited to share their ideas and connections as their stories unfold.
  We just finished Tiger Rising for our Read Aloud book together. I think we all shared a few tears together as we saw Rob and Sistine grow in so many ways. We are currently reading one of my favorite books, Tuck Everlasting. I know the students will quickly be captured and drawn into the everlasting journey of the Tuck family.  
  Our students are still working hard on peeling away the layers of the stories they are reading. Their reading notebooks continue to be filled with thoughts, connections, ideas, feelings, visualizations, and questions that help them bring their stories to life.


Writing/History:  
  We are integrating our writing and history blocks so that the students have an opportunity to think a little deeper about what we are learning in our history units.  The students are using what they have discovered about the Native Americans to create lap books filled with journals, mini books, and a variety of other writing projects.  
  Now that the computer lab is open with our new iMacs, we will continue our Monday Poetry Day in the lab every Monday morning.  Our students are in the midst of writing a birthday acrostic poem for a special someone in third grade. :)   


Art:
  We have so many wonderful art projects that are hanging in the art gallery right now. The students have studied Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keefe, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse over the past few weeks.  Our students created beautiful masterpieces inspired by each artist. We hope you will be able to take a walk through the gallery to enjoy our work. :)


  Spelling/Grammar:  
  The students are almost done with their spelling books.  We have been focusing a great deal on proofreading over the past few weeks because we noticed that our students needed extra practice in this area.  Many of our grammar concepts fall in line with our remaining spelling lessons, and we hope to see our students become more confident and comfortable with using these skills in their everyday writing.   


 Vocabulary:
  We are on Unit 12 in vocab, and our test is on Thursday.  As the year comes to a close, the students will have nightly study assignments to insure they are using the entire two week period to become familiar with the words and their synonyms/antonyms.  Please make sure that your child is taking their time to truly learn the words so that they can use them in sentences and understand them in their reading. 
   Our students are vocabulary detectives during our reading blocks and often locate their words within the text.  This book is building their foundation in vocabulary and helping them to become stronger readers and writers. :)    

Working on Homophones

Homophone List: 


Your child will need to be able to use each homophone in a stretched sentence. These are the words that your child should use when working on SpellingCity.com this week.


wood/would
to/too/two
their/there/they're
bare/bear
hare/hair
whole/hole
hour/our
its/it's
your/you're
pain/pane
plane/plain
weather/whether
pail/pale
ceiling/sealing

Moving into February

  The third graders have been working hard, but having fun.  We love to explore new ideas in creative ways and look forward to diving into new units of study in history and science. 

  In reading, students can be found in their comfy spots as they enjoy books clubs and escaping into their individual stories.  We have just started the Secret Garden as our whole grade read-aloud and are eager to find out more about this mysterious book.  

  In writing, the students have been challenging themselves to continue painting pictures with their words as we become stronger authors.  We enjoy writing poetry on Mondays and Tuesdays in the computer lab and practicing other forms of writing throughout the week that are integrated with our reading, history/science, and art. 


  We have also started working on our auction project.  The students are working on a beautiful art piece which is a collage of Chattanooga.  Mini self-portraits of the students will stand together as a community in the front of the piece.  We will continue to post pictures of the collage in its different stages.  

Book Clubs

                                                               Book Clubs

   We are enjoying some wonderful novels in our book clubs this month.  The students were given a choice of several books to enjoy in a book club setting during our reading block.  We ended up with three wonderful novels for our first book club session.  One group is reading Poppy, another group is reading Tale of Despereaux, and three groups are reading Holes.  Each group is working together to peel back the layers within the story and discussing how each one sees the story unfolding. The students are also jotting down thoughts, ideas, questions, predictions, and connections into their individual Reading Journals.  I am so pleased to see the students working together to discover the life lessons within each of these amazing novels. 

Holes

                  Tale of Despereaux

Holes

     










                                                                      Poppy




  Merry Christmas to all of our magnificent families! Enjoy a wonderful holiday break with your family and sit down to a great story together.  I encourage all of the students to pick up a book to read over the Christmas break.  Winter is a wonderful time to snuggle up on the couch and escape into a magical story! I look forward to talking about all of the books that everyone read once we return in January!