Reading StrategiesWe are learning about predicting, which is part of inferring.
Inferring
Authors don't always tell us everything. Sometimes you have to infer details - use your schema (what you already know) and clues in the text to figure something out. Retell & Summarize When you retell a story, you tell the events of the story in the order they happened. A summary is a shorter, less detailed version, in which you capture the main events and theme (message) of the story. Main Idea Used most often with nonfiction texts, the main idea is what the entire story is about. Other facts and details in the story tell you more about the main idea. Visualize When you visualize, you are imagining the story in your mind as it happens. You have a "movie" in your head. Make Connections You make connections to the story when you think about what it reminds you of. You can connect to your experiences (text-to-self), other texts (text-to-text), or events in the world (text-to-world). Ask Questions As you read, you ask yourself questions about things that you have read and things you will read about next. "I wonder" is a great question starter. Synthesize When you synthesize, you are putting all of the strategies together. You synthesize when you change your thinking as the story unfolds based on new events or facts. Reading SkillsWe are learning about story elements.
Story Elements
Fiction stories have characters, a setting, and a plot (events in the story). Most have a problem and a solution. Nonfiction Features Nonfiction texts have a lot of information, so there are some features to help us learn it. Some features include table of contents, headings, captions, glossary, and index. Theme The theme is the moral, or lesson, of the story. We can learn from the characters' mistakes and lessons and apply them to our own lives. Genre Genre is the type of story. Some categories include fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction, biography, informational, traditional literature, and poetry. Compare & Contrast When you compare, you tell how things are similar. Contrast is telling how things are different. We often use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast. Fact & Opinion A fact is a statement we can research and prove. An opinion is a person's feelings toward something. Author's Purpose Authors write texts for a variety of reasons. The three main reasons are to inform (teach something), entertain (just for fun), or persuade (get us to think like them). |
Word Work
Spelling and Sight Words
Students must be able to spell and read the following words. 7 new words are introduced each week. Unit 1 - Week of Sept. 5 goes, we, give, can, same, your, only Unit 2 - Week of Sept. 11 always, which, their, work, if, do, us Unit 3 - Week of Sept. 18 drink, will, each, first, how, up, our Unit 4 - Week of Sept. 25 once, out, them, then, she, does, keep Unit 5 - Week of Oct. 2 soon, some, open, these, write, other, try Unit 6 - Week of Oct. 10 run, into, has, made, her, new, start Phonics skills Each week a new phonics sound is introduced. Students must be able to use these patterns in their reading and writing. Unit 1 - Week of Sept. 5 Short vowels with the CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) pattern with a focus on A, E, and O Unit 2 - Week of Sept. 11 Short vowels with the CVC pattern with a focus on I and U Unit 3 - Week of Sept. 18 Long vowels with the CVCe (consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e) pattern with a focus on A, E, and O Unit 4 - Week of Sept. 25 Long vowels with the CVCe pattern with a focus on I and U Unit 5 - Week of Oct. 2 Blends (two consonants together that both make their own sound blended together) at the beginning of words Unit 6 - Week of Oct. 10 Blends at the ending of words |
GrammarWe will start with complete sentences.
Complete sentences
A sentence tells a complete idea. It has a subject ("who" the sentence is about) and a predicate (what that subject is doing). It begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. Types of Sentences A statement is a telling sentence and ends with a period. A question asks something and ends with a question mark. An exclamation is a sentence with strong emotion and ends with an exclamation mark. A command tells someone to do something. Commands can end with periods or exclamation marks. Nouns A noun is a person, place, animal, or thing. Proper nouns are the names of specific nouns and are always capitalized. Singular nouns name one thing; plural nouns name more than one thing. Verbs A verb is an action word. If you can do it, it's a verb. Verbs can happen in the past, present, and future tense. A set of special verbs, called linking verbs, aren't action words (am, is, are, was, and were). Adjectives Adjectives are describing words. They tell you more about nouns. They can tell you size, color, how many, and much more. Adverbs Adverbs are describing words for the verb. They tell you how, when, or where the verb happened. Many adverbs end with -ly. WritingAfter we learn about good writing traits and how to write a paragraph, our first writing project will be a personal narrative.
Personal Narrative
A personal narrative is a story of something that has happened in your life. A narrative captures a "tiny moment" in time. Good narratives have descriptive words and beginning, middle, and ending events. Procedural Writing Procedural writing is teaching someone how to do something. Good procedural writing has specific, detailed explanations and good transition words (first, next, then, etc.) Persuasive Writing When you persuade someone, you want to get them to think like you or do something you want them to do. Good persuasive writing has strong reasons to back up the writer's opinion. Response Writing A response is like a movie review. The author os rating something and explains why he/she gave that rating. Good responses include the writer's favorite and least favorite parts, personal connections, and emotions. Biography A biography is a nonfiction account of another person's life. A biography can be an overall account of the person or about a specific event in that person's life. Research Report A research report requires the writer to use books or the internet to learn about a single topic. The writer organizes the facts into categories and writes a report based on what he/she learned. Friendly Letters A friendly letter is sent to someone you know. It includes the date, greeting, body, closing, and signature. |