August-September 20/21

Post date: Aug 05, 2020 8:11:58 PM

Welcome, 5th Grade Readers! We are going to have a wonderful year together :)

Essential Question: What reading techniques and/or skills do readers use to deepen their understanding of the text?

4C/21st Century Skill: Creativity & Resiliency

We will begin the year by focusing on reading skills that help young readers develop a deeper understanding of the purpose of reading. These concepts include making connections, character development, theme, inferencing, and many more! At the beginning of September we will also begin our first novel study that will allow students to work together in virtual "book club" groups to discuss the material on a deeper level. In addition to reading the novels, students will work on adding sticky notes to their book as they read to collect their thoughts as they read. This is a new concept for many young readers, but I have found it helps tremendously with their levels of understanding and forces each individual reader to personalize their reading experience. I cannot wait to see what they come up with. The novels will be assigned based on reading level to ensure each student is appropriately challenged.

To MEET the Sticky-Note Expectation:

*Summaries:

*End of each chapter, highlighting the most important information from that chapter, and the major events that are occurring

*Character:

*Who is the character? (main character (protagonist), supporting character, villain (antagonist)

*What is happening to them? (conflicts, attempts at overcoming an obstacle, relationships with other characters, etc.)

*How are they growing and changing throughout the story? (learning lessons, resolving conflict, etc.)

*Personality Traits/ Characteristics

***Any additional work that is added can be a way for students to EXCEED expectations. Sticky note ideas to exceed expectations include: vocabulary, theme analysis, connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world), other??***

Novels:

*Poppy

*Bridge to Terabithia

*Island of the Blue Dolphins

*Twenty-One Balloons