Synonym BINGO

Friday we reviewed synonyms from last week. This week students had a choice of playing Synonym BINGO or Synonym Go Fish.

For synonym BINGO I gave students some very challenging words to write on their BINGO board. I would then call out a synonym and use it in a sentence that would help them determine its meaning. We had several BINGOs.

Idioms

This week we studied idioms. Idioms are so much fun and we had a blast reading examples of them and using them in our daily conversations.

We made an idiom picture in a frame. Each student selected two idioms. They wrote the idiom at the top of their paper, illustrated the idiom's literal meaning, and then wrote its actual meaning. 

They turned out so cute!  Here are a few examples:

iPick - Good Fit Books

One of my students most challenging activities is that of selecting a good fit book for themselves. I enjoy doing a fun lesson using shoes to talk about how to select appropriate books.

The cast of characters for the lesson:  

I begin by putting on Mr. Upton's shoes. Obviously these are much too large for my small foot.  They students always begin giggling as I try to walk around in his gigantic shoes. 

I ask if they would mind if I played bombardee with them on Friday wearing Mr. Upton's shoes. Of course they're not a big fan of that idea and as I ask why they tell me that I wouldn't be any good because my shoes wouldn't allow me to play well. 

This leads into an awesome conversation about how some books may be too big for them. I do not mean too big in actual size of the book, I mean too big in ideas and plots that may affect their comprehension. We talk about how difficult it would be for me to be successful at playing  bombardee in shoes that are too big, and likewise, it would be hard for a reader to be successful in a book that is too big. 

Next up, I put on my heels. I tell them these are my Turkey Bowl and Sheff Cup shoes. Of course they think I'm crazy, again!  This leads to a conversation about purpose.  I explain that my heels have a purpose and that purpose is dressing up. If I need shoes for Turkey Bowl or Sheff Cup then I should choose tennis shoes or cleats.  I also use my rain boots to discuss purpose. My rain boots are for the rain. That is their purpose. 

We talk about selecting books based on our purpose for reading. Are we reading to learn about something or someone?  Are we reading instructions?  Are we reading for pleasure?  Our purpose in reading should affect our book choice!

At the end I ask them if they see any cleats on the table. They, of course, do not. I ask them why and usually someone figures out that I do not have any because I do not play sports. I explain that they are correct and there would be no need for me to have cleats because sports do not interest me. I buy shoes for things I am interested in. 

They learn that just because one of their friends LOVES Percy Jackson they may not like it. We are all made differently and we all like different books. A good fit for Johnny may not be a good fit for Jim because they have different interests and different levels. 

Here is the chart they received for their SOAR Binder to help them remember how to select a good fit book.

Synonym Memory

One of our recent reading skills was synonyms. In the past, your child has studied fairly simple synonyms. Each year synonyms/vocabulary should get increasingly more difficult. This year one of the main synonym skills they will work on is using context clues in reading to determine a synonym for a given term.

Ex:  The driver if the car was in despair following the wreck. 

Which word means the SAME as despair?

a.). trouble

b.). shock

c.). hopelessness

To practice this skill, each student made a stack of synonym cards. The students numbered off 1 & 2 and the ones made one stack and the twos made a different stack. I gave them 8 words for their list and they had to use their brain, or a thesaurus, to find a synonym for each word I gave them. Following this they had a set of cards they could use to play a matching game or go fish. 

For our first round of play the 1s paired up with the 2s and played synonym memory. 

Sequencing - Where The Wild Things Are

Today we began working on a new comprehension skill. This skill is sequencing. 

I chose to use one of my all time favorite books, Where The Wild Things Are, to teach this skill. 

Where the wild things are begins with a little boy acting like a wild boy in his house. His mother sends him to bed with out dinner and while he is in his room his imagination runs wild. 

Before we read I told the students to be thinking about what their favorite part of the book is. 

After we read I asked them to illustrate their favorite part of the story.  The illustrations were great. We were able to create a time line of events in the story using their illustrations. 

The series of events moves from top left to top right, bottom left to bottom right. 

This set of illustrations moves the same direction as the previous set. 

These are now displayed in the hallway. Tomorrow we will use order of time words to captions each group of illustrations. 

Predicting - The Mitten

Wednesday we read The Mitten to practice our comprehension skill, predicting. 

Prior to reading each student was given a mitten template. I showed them the cover of the book and asked them to predict what they thought the book would be about and to provide reasons based on the illustration as to why they made their prediction. 

As I read the book I would pause occasionally and ask the students to predict what they thought would happen next. 

They added all of their predictions to their mitten. 

We finished the book, which we all enjoyed, and cut our mittens out to use as a decoration in our room. 

Predicting -Henry's Freedom Box

This week I used the book Henry's Freedom Box to teach the skill of predicting. Predicting falls under the C on our CRAFT board because predicting helps us understand what we read. 

Prior to reading the book I showed the cover and gave each student a piece of paper.  On their paper they drew what they thought a freedom box was. We shared several predictions and then read the book. 

As we read we checked for understanding to continue practicing our previous comprehension strategy. 

After reading we discovered that many of our predictions were correct. Ask your child what a freedom box is. 

Launching Read to Self

Monday morning we began our Daily 5 and CRAFT reading skills.  We began by learning 3 ways to read a book. First, I told them the story of The 3 Little Pigs and then I told them the story of Cinderella. The students learned that there are times that we tell stories by word of mouth only. Next, we took a picture walk using the book Koala Lou. We were able to figure out what was happening on each page based on the illustrations. Finally, we read the book. 

Did you know there were 3 ways to read a book?

We read Koala Lou to learn our first comprehension strategy, checking for understanding. We talked about how sometimes our minds wander while we read. When this happens we often forget what we have read.  We learned a way to help solve this problem is  to think back over a chapter, or a few pages, once we've read them to be sure we've comprehended the information. 

Following Koala Lou we began talking about what a visitor should see and hear if they were to come in during our Read to Self time. We made a list of what students should do and a list of what I should be doing. 

After we compiled our list we modeled the right and wrong ways to read to self. Ask your child about my modeling :). They got a big kick out of it!

After we learned ALL about how to read to self it was finally time to practice building our stamina.  The students scattered around the room and began practicing our new read to self behaviors. 

Building Stamina

Following the STAR Reading Test, students headed to the Book Nook for a little Independent Reading.  Next week we will begin calling Independent Reading time Read to Self time.

Each student found a cozy little place to begin reading and read independently for about 10 minutes.

I know 10 minutes does not sound like a long time, but many students need to build up their independent reading stamina.  We took a few minutes to learn about the word stamina and what it means to our reading ability.

 I used my marathon training as an example of stamina.  I explained that if I went out on week 1 and was expected to run 26.2 miles that I would be setting myself up for failure.  Running 26.2 miles takes a lot of training and practice.  I must start out with low mileage and slowly increase my distance, or stamina, until I reach my goal.

Students must do the same thing when reading.  I cannot sit them down during the first week of school, following months of summer vacation and freedom, and expect them to read independently, silently, and still for 45 minutes.  If I expect them to do that then I am setting them up for immediate failure.  In order to build confidence in their ability to read I must first provide them with opportunities to feel successful!

Today most of us read for the full 10 minutes without moving or becoming distracted.  We will try again tomorrow and Friday until we master the art of reading for 10 uninterrupted minutes.  Next week we will begin increasing our stamina by 2 minutes every other day :)

STAR Testing

Each student in the school system, K - 12, is taking the STAR Assessment this year.  The STAR tests students in both reading and math.  We took the reading portion today so that I will know what books are appropriate for your child, and which strategies and skills I need to focus on when teaching.

Paper Airplanes

Our reading lesson Monday was on functional reading.  I gave each student a set of instructions for making a paper airplane.  They were to carefully study the directions, synergize with their neighbor to be sure they understood the directions, and check with me with any further questions they had.  Following a 10 - 15 minute study of the directions they were asked to make their paper airplane.  We flew the airplanes to see whose plane went the farthest.  This was a fun way to practice our reading skills and Habit #6 - Synergize!

Number The Stars

Our first read aloud for the second semester was Number the Stars.  Number the Stars is a historical fiction novel that takes place in Denmark during World War II.  Hitler and his Nazi regime have taken over Denmark and are driving the Jews out.  

While reading this novel the students were able to learn a little about life for Jews during World War II. They loved the novel and hated for it to end.  This picture was taken on the day we finished the book.  They all wanted to gather around my desk because a book is a whole lot better when you're super close to the reader :).

Theme

Last week we began focusing on a new CAFE strategy.  Our new strategy is Universal Theme.  We read a few picture books to learn how to determine what the universal theme of a book is.

The first book we read was Alexander Who's Not Going To Move.  We decided that the theme of that book was moving isn't too bad.  We also learned that every book has a theme.  We brainstormed a list of possible themes.

The next day we read The Empty Pot which taught us about integrity.

Book Talks Galore

We have learned about a few fabulous books this week.

Shamaree shared with us about Hamsters.  He even brought his hamster, Gibby, in to share with us.

Hannah shared a book called The Gold Cadillac.  It was about the Civil Rights Movement.

Samira shared her book, Clementine, with us.

Mary Bradford encouraged us to read one of her favorites, Loser.

And Lawren shared Bad Kitty For President.

I have enjoyed hearing about each of these wonderful books.