3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian: Almost December! Wow!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Almost December! Wow!

I can't believe it is almost December! Wow! Where does the time go? Hopefully you had an enjoyable break for Thanksgiving! I did! It was nice to have a little break after ITBS, but I did miss the students as well. We have a lot to do before the semester ends and the new calendar year begins. As always. . .we are busy . . . .having fun as well.

The students were excited to see that Mrs. Hartberg had returned from her maternity leave! We are all glad that she is back! She will be co-teaching some literacy and writing time with me so the students will be seeing her in the room more and more as the year goes along.

I will be posting pictures from our Character Counts celebration that was held last Tuesday. The new Character Counts mascots are already displayed in the hallway and look great! It was nice to see parents and students working together on something that is stressed in our school, good character. I hope that each of you had an enjoyable time also. Thanks to our parents who brought in snacks! Yumm! Our tummies thank you also! Be looking for the pictures either tomorrow or Wednesday (I can't find my camera cord to download them to the computer. :))

If your child did not return his/her reading calendar for the month of November, he/she may do so tomorrow. I will be sending home reading calendars for the month of December as well as pizza coupons for those that met their goal in November. I was very impressed with how many students read in October so I am hoping I will be amazed with the November calendars also! Keep it up 3B!

Today students in 3B turned in their effort coupons from ITBS towards something in my prize box. They have been waiting for this day. . . . so excited! This was just a little extra for students trying so hard on ITBS. Everyone needs a little pat on the back once and a while right? So, look for your child to bring his/her prize home today.

This week we will be moving into more measurement activities in math, more discussion on the types of communities with a tour of these communities through Goggle Earth, getting more students on Edmodo (which is a way of communicating about reading without opening mouth- also known on online chatting), reviewing nouns and noun types in writing, and working on more fluency and accuracy strategies in reading. We just wrapped up some great discussion and review of the comprehension strategy of "retelling" using shapes as our guide. Maybe ask your 3B student about what shapes we use to remind us how to retell something we have read.

Have a great week! It is suppose to be chilly by the end of the week so encourage your 3B student to dress warm for recess!

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Reading Comprehension Strategies

Inferencing: Experienced readers make inferences as they read. Readers use what they already know and think about what they have read to construct meaning. The reader should ask themselves, "What I already know in my brain" and "What did I just read or see?" to make an inferences that is not stated by the author of person.

Determining Important Information: Determining important information is a strategy that helps us pick out the most important ideas we read. The first line of a paragraph may say the main idea of the page, but a reader should read through the details to decide what is the important information. The reader should ask themselves, "What is the author trying to teach me?"

Summarize: A summary is a paragraph or a statement in your own words that gives the most important ideas from what you have read. Readers determine important information, make inferences, and visualize when summarizing. We use the graphic organizer of "Somebody....Wanted....But....So.....Then....". "Somebody" is the character. "Wanted" would be the what the character wanted. "But" would be the problem. "So" would be how the problem was solved, and "Then" would be the resolution or end.

Predicting:When a reader predicts, they use information from the text along with their own knowledge and experiences to make thoughtful or informed guesses about what will happen in the text. When your child is reading at home, encourage them to stop and share predictions he/she may have as they are reading.

Identifying Text Structure: Recognizing how a piece of writing is organized can help readers understand what is happening. There can be different ways a text is structured.

* Sequential - in order

* Cause and Effect

* Question / Answer

* Steps in a Process

When reading at home, discuss how the text is organized and structure.

Ask and Answer Questions: Experienced readers ask questions about the text in order to understand what they are reading. Asking questions helps readers visualize, monitor comprehension and determine important information. Answers to these questions may be found in the text, or put together from the reader's own experience. At home, parents can encourage students to stop and ask questions while they read and recognize when answers are within the text or needed to be answered by own experience.

Paraphrasing: When readers paraphrase, they tell main ideas using their own words. This helps them check their understanding of what they have read. At home, parents can encourage their student to read a selection, flip the book over, and tell them main ideas from their reading in their own words. Flip the book back over and read another section or page before flipping it over again and paraphrasing his/her reading.

3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian

Monday, November 30, 2009

Almost December! Wow!

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