3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian: Back at Book Clubs!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Back at Book Clubs!

Almost everyone has finished their book club project from the last book club rotation so we are finally ready to get rolling with another great book! The excitement the students have for book clubs is AMAZING!!! Even students who were not excited when we first started them are loving and begging to start new books. I wish I had recorded some of their comments about book clubs! That is exactly why book clubs are super for creating passion in reading! So, look for students to be bringing home new books for book clubs this week. Three groups are going strong with their new books and the other groups will get their books by tomorrow or Friday.

Some reminders about book clubs:
1. Students are building their reading skills and strategies through reading and discussion. This is not a sit and read type of reading. This is a "thinking" and "discussing" type of reading (which is what reading is).
2. When students read at home they are to be using and recording their thinking by using "Reading Tracks". Students should write and record their thoughts on post-it notes and be ready to share them the next time their book club meets.
3. Last time students had calendars to record their book club meeting dates. This time we are going to try to build some responsibility and have students try to remember or write a note on when their book club meets next. We will see how that goes. If we encounter too many students forgetting when their book club meets, we will go back to writing it on a calendar.
4. Students are responsible for doing the reading outside of class and being ready with their reading tracks every time their group meets. If they have read but have not done their reading tracks, they will not be able to join the discussion with their book club.

Again we will be enjoying juice and snacks when the book clubs meet. If any parents would like to donate a jug of juice, that would be wonderful! Just send it with your 3B student to school.

I am excited to see the students so anxious and happy to get back into book clubs! That is what reading is all about - thinking and enjoyment!!!

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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

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Back at Book Clubs!

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