Mrs. Corbitt

       

             Week 24:  This week we will return to fiction reading as we focus on determining the theme of the books and poems we read. Theme is the central idea or message in a literary work. It is not the subject of the work (students often get the two definitions of theme confused). It is a perception about human life. Themes are rarely stated directly. They usually must be inferred.  The theme is revealed by the way characters change in a story, conflicts in the story, and statements made by the narrator or characters.  Understanding theme involves understanding plot, characters, and setting.

            Week 23:  This week we will focus a little more on identifying the main idea, which is the X from the BIG FOX strategy.

            Week 22:  This week we will wrap up using the BIG FOX strategy with grade level nonfiction text.  We will also use our Scholastic News magazines to reinforce reading the nonfiction text features. 

            Week 21:  Last week we looked at a new pre-reading strategy for nonfiction known as BIG.  BIG stands for Bold, Italics, and Graphics, and these are important text features that help get us ready to read.  We will look at the second part of this strategy this week, known as FOX, which is an after reading strategy.  FOX stands for Facts, Opinions, and X marks the spot for main idea.

            Week 20:  This week we will take another look at determining the main idea.  The main idea tells what the paragraph or story is mostly about.  There are different ways of asking for the main idea.  Including:  This passage is mostly about ___.  A good title for this passage would be ____.  A good summary of this story is ____.  The author probably wrote this story in order to ____.  I would encourage you to use these phrases with your child during his/her daily at home reading.

             Week 19:  This week we will continue to look at nonfiction text features and how they can help us to comprehend what we read. 

Don’t forget this Thursday, January 19^th, is the last day to turn in book responses to reach the 14 book goal.  Meeting the book goal is essential for keeping your child on track for the end of the year goal of (at least) 25 books. As a reminder the total number of book responses that your child has written will count as a reading quiz grade.

           Week 18:  This week we will look at how understanding the structure of nonfiction (and its text features) can help us to comprehend what we read. 

***The students will also take their 2^nd round of FAIR (Florida Assessment and Instruction in Reading) testing this week.

            Week 17: This week we will begin a nonfiction reading unit.  We will study the features of nonfiction, as well as see how we can use the skills and strategies that we already know to help us read nonfiction.

         Week 16:  This week we will review finding the main idea and supporting details. This is a very important skill and is well worth another look. : )

            Week 15: This week we will continue looking at how noting important details.  The focus this week however will be to see how those details can help us determine the main idea of the texts that we read.  We will also take the second part of the winter Interim Benchmark. 

            Week 14: This week we will be looking at how noting important details can help us understand the story/book we are reading.  The ability to note important details also help readers to find the main idea in both fiction and nonfiction texts.

            Week 13: This week we will continue working on the comprehension strategy of questioning, and this week we will tackle questioning with nonfiction.  The students did very well with this last week so I am hoping for a smooth transfer of this strategy into the other genre!

           Week 12: This week we be working on the comprehension strategy of questioning.  This strategy requires your child to think deeply about what he/she is listening to and reading on his/her own.  There are four types of questions we will be exploring including:  Right There, Think and Search, Author and You, and On my Own.  It just hit me that you might be interested in the question starters that were used for each type of question . . . so here they are QUESTION STARTERS.

          Week 11: This week we will look at identifying the Author's Viewpoint.  The Author's Viewpoint is not dependent on the reader at all, which can be difficult for some students to think about.  Author's Viewpoint is what the author thinks about the subject or topic that he/she has written.  This is most easily, and often, found in nonfiction texts.  Incidentally, this is perfect timing with our persuasive writing genre.

          Week 10: This week we will look at Fact and Opinion.  The ability to work with this skill is not only important in reading but will also be helpful as we move into persuasive writing.  A fact is a factual statement that can be proven right or wrong (even if it is inaccurate, e.g. the sky is purple).  An opinion is what someone thinks about something and cannot be proven right or wrong.

            Week 9: This week we will explore Author's Purpose.  It has been said that Author's Purpose is as easy PIE because Persuade, Inform, and Entertain are the three main purposes that text is written. 

        Week 8: This week we will read several nonfiction articles and compare and contrast how reading nonfiction text is similar and different to reading fiction texts.  We will also take our first reading series benchmark tests.

           Week 7: This week we will look at the skill of compare and contrast.  We will look at how we can compare stories and/or characters to one another so that we can determine the similarities and difference among them.  One of the best ways that I know how to assess your child's knowledge of this skill is through the use of a Venn diagram. 

        Week 6: This week we will use what we learned last week with sequencing events to help us summarize the stories we read.  I will also introduce the SWBS strategy to the class.  SWBS stands for Somebody (main character), Wanted (plot), But (problem), and So (Solution).  This is a quick and easy way for the students to remember the most important elements of a summary.

        Week 5: This week we will look at sequencing the events of a story.  This will lead us perfectly into our next strategy of summarizing.  These are both very important in gauging your child's comprehension of the text that he/she is reading.

        Week 4: This week we will continue to work on Cause & Effect.  The students did very well with this last week but since two of the five days were also used for Benchmark testing we will wrap up this skill this week.  The students will also take their first round of FAIR testing this week.  It is sure to be another very busy week!!!

        Week 3: This week the students will take their first (of three) district provided benchmark tests.  The results of these tests are used as baseline information and can be extremely helpful when planning out the rest of the year (curriculum wise).  We will also be working with Cause & Effect.  In the newsletter I mentioned the importance of reading "just right" books.  I am also attaching two documents that may be helpful to your child as he/she looks for "just right" books. 

                        Leveled Book List            FROG Strategy

        Week 2: This week we will transition our focus in Reader's Workshop to working with skills and strategies that will help your child to become an even better reader.  Our first strategy that we will tackle is Inferring.  This strategy requires that your child be an active thinker while he/she is reading.  This can be a somewhat difficult concept, so I would recommend you practicing this strategy at home during your nightly reading. 

        Week 1: Reader's Workshop is up and running in our room!  The students have already begun choosing "FROG" books, started independent reading, and even learned about how they will meet the million word campaign (25 book goal) this year.  This is just the beginning!!!