Keep Boredom at Bay...Spring Packets will Save the Day!

Check out the spring packets, prepared by the district.  They are full of activities to keep boredom away, and best of all...they will give your brain just the boost it needs before FCAT!

The Kitchen Sink for the Week of 3/18/13

Readers’ Workshop

We are continuing our study of Allen Say.  In studying the works of one author we are able to recognize common themes and trends.  We can consider how his books are similar, as well as the differences. 

Writers’ Workshop

Students are still working to finish up simile and metaphor poems from last week, so we will study personification and onomatopoeia this week. Personification is when you give human traits to something that is not human, and in fact, may not even be alive.  For example, the donuts called out to me.  What you are really saying is that you were very tempted to eat the donuts, but because they aren't alive, they can't actually yell at you to eat them.  An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it is describing.  For instance, boo, honk, sizzle, and pop!

Biography presentations are complete, and we are very proud of the hard work that students put into this project!

Skills Block

Our spelling homework and test will be based on List 19.

The Kitchen Sink for the Week of 3/11/13

Readers’ Workshop

We are focusing the beginning of our Allen Say study on three things: noticing what’s important, recognizing the main idea, and identifying the theme.  When noticing what’s important we want to focus on things like character traits, character motivations, inferring character feelings, recognizing patterns, and making predictions about the future.  All of these noticings must be based on, and supported by evidence from the text.  To practice recognizing the main idea, we have been summarizing the text in one sentence, for instance the book Tree of Cranes, we summarized as “A young Japanese boy recovering from a bad chill, learns about Christmas traditions from his mother.” The theme of the story is the most important lesson(s) that can be learned from the text.  The theme should not be an exact replica of a situation in the text, but rather a broader lesson that can apply to everyone.  Practice these three skills with your child during their nightly reading.

Writers’ Workshop

We will finish up our study of similes and metaphors before moving on to two other forms of figurative language:  personification and onomatopoeia.  Personification is when you give human traits to something that is not human, and in fact, may not even be alive.  For example, the donuts called out to me.  What you are really saying is that you were very tempted to eat the donuts, but because they aren't alive, they can't actually yell at you to eat them.  An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it is describing.  For instance, boo, honk, sizzle, beep, and pop!

Biography presentations will continue, according to the classroom schedule.

Skills Block

Our spelling homework and test will be based on List 18.

Kitchen Sink for the Week of 3/4/13

Readers’ Workshop

We are beginning our study of author and illustrator, Allen Say.  Check out the blog for information about this talented man!  We will be revisiting narrative features, focusing on character motivation and theme.  We will be pushing ourselves to think beyond the text, asking and answering higher level questions. This higher level thinking should also be evident in our weekly reader’s responses.  Take a look at your child’s recent responses to see if they are challenging themselves to think deeply about their books and including evidence from the text to support their ideas. 

Writers’ Workshop

This week we will divide our workshop time between a study of figurative language and our biography presentations.  Your child should have recorded their presentation date in their planner.  If your child is absent on their presentation day, we will do our best to schedule a make up presentation date.

We will learn the difference between similes and metaphors this week.  A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things, usually utilizing the words "like" or "as."  For example, Miss Hoffmann is as lovely as a flower.  A metaphor is a figure of speech where a resemblance to something else is suggested but not meant literally.  For example, you could call your house a fortress if it was very secure, even though it is not actually a fortress/castle.

Skills Block

Our spelling homework and test will be based on List 17.