We finished our first stories and they did a great job. They definitely had fun with the assignment and enjoyed being creative. Students chose a penguin or polar bear as their main character. In the opening sentence, they were encouraged to introduce the main character and setting. The story needed to have a problem and a solution. We focused on making sure that each sentence was a complete thought and began with a capital letter and included end punctuation. I look forward to doing another story soon!
Reading groups have been going so well. This is the time of year where we feel like we make the most gains. At this point we really know our students, routines are solid, and instruction is intense. They are doing a great job. Students are given a text at their reading level (actually slightly above their level) and we apply word attack strategies and comprehension strategies. All groups are working on answering comprehension questions using text evidence. We review the phonics skill in small group as well. Please make sure when your child is doing their daily at home reading that you talk to them about what their books is about. One of the easiest ways is after they read a page or two, ask them to stop and summarize what they have just read. If they can't, encourage them to reread it. Of course, specific questions about details in the story/selection is always helpful as well.