Finishing Up

All Guided Reading books (Walk Two Moons, Westing Game, Number the Stars) should be COMPLETED by Tuesday, October 25!!!

We will work on book projects the week of the 25th and will start new books November 1!

Students have done a great job on their books so far.

On the Horizon: Book Conclusions!

I know it's unbelievable, but we're approaching the conclusion of our first guided reading books. All 3 novels should be finished by the end of next week. This is great for two reasons:

1. Finishing books means you get a new one--in our case a more challenging one! That way we can build upon all we learned reading this one.

2. When I finish books with groups, I like to do a fun little project. Stay tuned for info on these. I can tell you they involve an interactive map, photos from World War II-era Denmark, and talking photos. Fun projects, in case you didn't know, is the famous "Curran Way!"

Stay tuned for details!

Weekend Reading Assignments

Lots of reading to do this weekend!

Walk Two Moons: read chapters 15-22

The Westing Game: read chapters 11-13

Number the Stars: read chapters 11-13

Not too much, not too little...just the right amount, I think. Parents, here's your homework...ask your child to tell you about their book. They're really enjoying them a lot. I think they'll have a lot to say.

Students Own the Learning

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13661433@N00/97033289

This is one of my biggest goals for this year. I want students to be in charge of their learning. This is a philosophy known in education circles as "student directed learning."

The theory is that if the students direct their own learning process, they they "own it." That is, they are more invested in it, more motivated to do great job, and it's more likely that the learning will be more meaningful to them.

Of course, you can't give them total control. I have lots of things that I have to teach them. There are fifth grade standards, and it's important that they learn them. However, if I teach them in a more "student directed" manner, I think it will be more of a significant learning experience.

Here's an example of our first student-directed learning activity...learning about different types of non-fiction texts (memoir, atlas, almanac, etc.).

Here are the steps we're trying:

1. Students choose 5 types of non-fiction they want to learn about.
2. They complete the research on their own during stations time...they have to learn what they are, what you can learn from them, and any other info they feel is important.
3. Finally, they have to choose a way to demonstrate that they've learned what they're supposed to (video, podcast, digital poster, wiki page, etc.)

We're "baby-stepping" our way into student directed learning, but I already like what I see. Students are engaged, working hard, and focused. They're in charge. They're in control. They're learning.

I'll keep you posted as we surge forward into this new style of learning. I'm excited to see what it turns into. Stay tuned!

Active Learning With Stations

We're trying something new in the upper grades at UPA Elementary this year...literacy stations.

Stations make the learning that goes on in the Reading Workshop much more engaging and active. It also means is that there is very little "down time" during reading time. They're pretty much constantly working.

Students rotate each day through a different set of three stations. The stations last week and this week include:

• Independent Reading
• Guided Reading
• Writing About Reading using KidBlog.org
• Reading Skills practice (this past week we practiced summarizing)
• Listening Station (listening to an audiobook for a special project)
• Non-Fiction Reading Station
• Student Directed Learning

These will change periodically as I swap stations in and out. Soon to come will be an activity station, where they work on an activity related to their guided reading book, a fluency station, where they record themselves reading out loud, and a book review station. And also, as we get the hang of things, I'll be integrating more technology and more higher level, critical thinking activities.

I will keep you posted as we move along. Feel free to work the question "What are you doing during reading stations?" into your dinnertime conversations.

Our Books

I'm running 3 reading groups this time around. We're reading three great books: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, The Westing Game by Ellen Rankin, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. (See the cute little bookshelf in the blog sidebar --->  )

I'll be meeting with students every day to guide them through these books, providing comprehension strategies and reading tips along the way.

Since they are fifth graders, and all of them are very accomplished readers, I will be assigning longer passages for them to read than they may have been used to in fourth grade. It's REALLY important that they keep up with this reading so that they don't fall behind the rest of the group.

Sometimes, they'll have to bring their books home to complete their reading assignments. This will definitely be true during weekends. They'll almost always have a few chapters to read on Saturdays and Sundays.

So please look for these books to be coming home tonight!

Welcome!

Greetings! I'm proud and excited to introduce my newest blog, "18 Kinds of Awesome," designed especially for my reading workshop students and their families.

Here I will be posting information about assignments, sharing student work and more.

Please sign up for a subscription in the sidebar so that you can keep up with all that we'll be doing this year.

It's definitely going to be 18 kinds of awesome! (If not more.)