Student will be finishing up their Book Club books on Wednesday, October 10th. If they do not have then done, they need to take them home over the long weekend and finish reading. They will be assigned a project the week of October 15th. Please ask your child to tell them about the book they are reading for their Book Club.
Reading Workshop
This year's reading curriculum will be guided by Lucy Calkin's Units of Study. We will be implementing the Units of Study through a reader's workshop which is an instructional model that blends explicit instruction with opportunities for students to practice reading and comprehension strategies with "just right" books that
they have chosen for themselves. I am excited to see student's progress as readers this year!!
What does a reading workshop look like in the classroom?
Starts with a mini lesson that is focused on a specific topic or skill.
Students have independent reading time. They keep a journal and respond to what they are reading. During this time, the teacher works with small groups or confers with individual students.
This year's reading curriculum will be guided by Lucy Calkin's Units of Study. We will be implementing the Units of Study through a reader's workshop which is an instructional model that blends explicit instruction with opportunities for students to practice reading and comprehension strategies with "just right" books that
they have chosen for themselves. I am excited to see student's progress as readers this year!!
What does a reading workshop look like in the classroom?
Starts with a mini lesson that is focused on a specific topic or skill.
Students have independent reading time. They keep a journal and respond to what they are reading. During this time, the teacher works with small groups or confers with individual students.
- Mid workshop teaching point where teachers encourage students to write in their journals or to go beyond what they learned in the mini lesson.
- Teaching share ends the workshop and allows for additional discussions with reading partners about the daily reading, journal entries, mini lesson, etc...
- Launching Book Clubs (Unit #1) - September - Please have your child read 20-25 minutes each night a fictional book during September and October.
- Tackling Text Complexity (BEND 1 only) (Unit #2) - November
- Argument and Advocacy (Unit #3) - January
- TEST PREP- Late February
- Fantasy Book Clubs (Unit #4) - April
Writing Workshop
I’m very excited to be able to share our new writing curriculum for the 2017-2018 school year. The writing workshop Units of Study, written by Lucy Calkins, is based on 35 years of research and adheres to the Common Core State Standards. Through this model, students will become better readers and writers with hard work and practice because writing will happen everyday in the classroom. We want students to care about their writing, so they will not be "assigned" specific topics to write about. Instead, students will have the flexibility to choose to write about what matters most to them within the guidelines of the specific genre of study.What does a writing workshop look like in the classroom?
- The workshop begins with a mini lesson that connects to the teaching point of the day.
- Charts are placed around the classroom to reinforce a specific strategy.
- Students are given the majority of the block to write.
- Students generate and develop ideas. They choose a good "seed idea" by asking themselves questions such as, Do I remember it well? Is this a moment that taught me something? and so on...
- Students learn to make a writing plan in the following ways:
- Jot ideas and place on a timeline that tracks the story and their emotions.
- Break small moments into a beginning, middle, and end. Develop the tension (problem). Draw pictures inside boxes and label them with words to formulate the story.
- Make a story booklet with illustrations of major events.
- Students tell their story to a writing partner, showing their sketches. Their partner asks questions to generate more thinking.
- Students write a draft. They ask themselves...what am I trying to say? What is my story about?
- Revision occurs over several days. Students learn that good stories have dialogue, details, and a setting. They eventually look at grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
- Students will publish some of their writing. This will be the student's opportunity to celebrate their achievements!
- Narrative Craft (Unit #1) - September
- The Research-Based Argument Essay (Unit #3)- November
- Lense of History (Informational) Unit # 2- January
- Test Prep - February
- Fantasy Book Clubs (Unit #4) - April