 | Heroes, villians, magical powers, impossible tasks, beautiful princesses, far away places, happily ever after endings. Ah, to live in a fairy tale! For the next three weeks our class will be reading, writing, and discussing fairy tales. We will read several different stories, but our focus will be on the many versions of the Three Little Pigs. To end the unit, your child will be building a house strong enough to with stand a wind storm (actually, a fan set on high). Your child will be responsible for bringing in his/her own materials for this project, so don't recycle those card board boxes, milk jugs, and paper towel rolls this time! For the first 15 minutes of class time I read a couple of chapters from a chapter book and then hand out a quiz to check for comprehension. After the students complete a short multiple choice quiz, they are to look up a specific word in the dictionary and write the definition in their own dictionary. The class just finished hearing Wayside School gets a Little Stranger, and boy was it strange, but the kids really enjoyed it! The next book I will be reading is Thanksgiving on Thursday. This is a Magic Tree House book which offers a lot of information about the pilgrims. After they have completed all of the above, the students are required to read silently while I meet with my book clubs. Reading Groups I will begin guided reading groups on September 8. During the first couple of weeks we will be discussing what it means to be an active part of a book club, my expectations, what good readers do, and reading strategies. For some of the groups, I will be collecting data using letter sound activities and word building activities. Within the groups, I will begin by establishing prior knowledge, building background, and then introducing the book. After introducing the book, we will take a picture walk, discuss unfamiliar vocabulary, make predictions, ask questions and then read the text. Once we have finished reading the book, we will discuss reading strategies...what worked? What didn't work? And then, build comprehension through a book discussion. It is possible that your child could have homework in addition to reading the text at home. Book Club Schedule Monday-red group Tuesday-yellow, blue, green Wednesday-red and yellow Thursday-red,blue, green Friday-red, yellow | |