Teacher Read Alouds/Guided Reading/Whole Class Books-

Shiloh  by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Crash by Jerry Spinelli - (focus - character development/change)

Monster's Ring by Bruce Coville - Oct. (Listening to the CD)  Wow, there is a lot of description in this book!

Flying Solo - by Ralph Fletcher - (This book lends to wonderful class discussions and writing connections-all students will have a book in hand)

Because of Mr. Terupt - 

Trouble Don't Last - (Historical Fiction - 1800's Underground Railroad) Black History Month Connection

No Talking by Andrew Clements -

?Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix - (all students will have books in hand)--great start to an amazing series!

Home of the Brave

Fish in a Tree

The One and Only Ivan

Larger Than Life Lara

One for the Murphy's

*More to come...

CONTINUOUS READING - Fables (understanding various themes and how they connect to our own lives) and Poetry

IMPORTANT Pieces of our Language Arts Experience:

DIRT (Daily Independent Reading Time) - Everyday we spend about 20 minutes pleasure reading in class! This is a great time for the students to get "In the Reading ZONE" and READ! This time allows me to talk (conference) with the students about their book!  Students choose their OWN reading material at this time!! Choice reading is important for student engagement and creating an environment where students WANT to read.  We will log our reading as we complete a book! It is very important that each student has a book to read!

Book Bingo - The bingo board motivates students to read from a variety of genres. Rewards can be earned for all of their reading!

Reading- Students should be reading their set time at home!!! This set time is a minimum of 10 minutes and allows the students freedom to read their chosen time. This can be done independently, listening to a book on 'tape', aloud with a buddy, or aloud (taking turns) with a parent.  Reading aloud is very important - try reading 2 pages/day aloud. This will improve their reading fluency and comprehension.

Students are setting reading goals! . They will also need to write a response to their reading. I will provide the prompt. The response to literature should be a quality response with at least 4 sentences in length.  Students should proofread their work for capitalization, end punctuation, comma, and sentence structure errors prior to turning in for a grade! Reading your writing out loud helps!

Poetry Reading - Reading poems aloud is a quick and easy way to practice fluency. It's a good time to work on expression, rate, and accuracy!

Cursive Writing - We will be spending some time reviewing our cursive letters!  We will take it slow... FYI: There is a free app for cursive writing for an Ipad user. Practice is key! If the students don't practice they will never feel more comfortable and write faster.

Word Study 

*Greek/Latin Roots- The students will be introduced to one new root each week. They will practice the root at home using notes and Quizlets and take the Google Form Assessment to show their knowledge.

*Grammar - using DLR's (Daily Language Reviews) and other resources

*Spelling - working on various skills: contractions, vowels, plural nouns, multisyllabic words, etc.

We also spend time in class and during our STAR period participating in various activities to help review the skill. An assessment is given and retakes if needed.  Practice is KEY!!

The more you read the more you know, so read to find out more!!