Literacy

This year we will read a variety of texts in large and small groups. The focus will be to encourage students to think about their thinking while reading.  I aim to improve/deepen comprehension as well as foster opportunities to discover themes and patterns in the text.  We will explore many different genres and work though skills such as, predicting, inferring, questioning, summarizing, making connections, analyzing characters and conflicts, visualizing, and using context clues. Students will be given opportunities to hold book discussions with peers to share their thoughts and opinions.  They will keep a reader's notebook to record thinking and maintain a record of progress. 

Notice and Note

We will use the notice and note signposts below as a way to read more deeply and interpret a text.  

Some books that may be used in book group or for read aloud: 

In addition, students will be learning how to annotate/close read) a text using different symbols.  Annotation allows students to consider their thoughts on a deeper level.  Thoughtful discussions and questions come from doing a close read of a text. 

Picture Book-a-Day 

Every morning we start the day with a fiction or non-fiction picture book exploring social/emotional issues, curriculum connections, or story structure.  We use these books to discuss author's purpose, theme, and style.  It's amazing what you can learn from such seemingly simple stories!