Reading

Launching Reader's Workshop

In this unit the students are welcomed back into the structure of the Reader's Workshop. Time is spent getting to know the routines around the workshop. Students will be inspired to read through class read aloud experiences where we explore reading and responding to reading together.  I will be doing individual running records during this time to assess reading levels and to make groupings for guided reading.

Launching Reader's Workshop

• Choosing books for your book bin

• Guidelines for reader's workshop

• Why readers abandon books

• Reading is thinking

• Choosing books for home and reading homework expectations

• Creating a reading space at home

Working in our Response Journals

• Setting up the page with the date and letter format.

• Responding to what we read. Opinion vs. Information

• Looking in the book for examples to support opinions

Character Studies 

We will be reading the novel "Because of Winn Dixie" during the first part of this unit to discuss the following concepts as a whole class. We will then read "Dyamonde Daniels" as a second novel in this unit, to compare and contrast the main characters from each book.  Students will also be practicing these concepts in their own independent reading time.

Getting to Know a Character

• Notice how the character talks and acts

• Study observations to grow an idea

• Notice patterns in a character's behaviours

• Come up with a deeper theory

• Notice patterns in behaviours and wants , using them to predict

Following a Character Up and Down the Story Mountain

• Track the character's problems- and reactions to these.

• Consider what role the secondary characters play.

• Notice how the character is tested during the story's climax.

• How does the story end? Looking at the resolution.

Comparing and Contrasting Characters Across Books

• Noticing the similarities and differences between characters can help us to make stronger predictions.

• Comparing the problems the characters face...and their reactions.

• Comparing and contrasting the lessons that characters learn.

Thinking About the Story After Finishing

• Students will be creating book reports on "Because of Winn Dixie" as a final summative activity.  We will think about Opal's journey up and down the story mountain, share favourite parts, and record important book information such as title, author and setting.

Nonfiction:  Reading to Learn

Students love this unit! We get to read and explore lots of non-fiction texts.  Not only do we learn about some pretty interesting topics, we also learn HOW to read non-fiction texts.  Some of the big learnings in this unit involve noticing and using text features (graphs, maps, pictures and captions, table of contents, text boxes, headings) and finding the main idea and supporting details of a text.

Rev Up Your Mind Before Reading Non-Fiction

• Read text features and think, "What will this mostly be about?"

• Recall prior knowledge and build expectations.

To Learn From Information Texts

• Pause after a chunk to grasp the main idea and supporting details.

• If no subheadings, chunk the text yourself.  Find the main-idea and look for pop-out sentences.

• Revise your idea of the text's main idea as you read on.

Taking notes

• Bring excitement to your reading by noticing places of interest.

• Stop and jot down notes when you:

1. Learn something new.

2. See a strange image.

3. Are bursting with curiosity.

4. Meet new words.

5. Come to the end of a section.

Talking and Thinking in Response to Our Texts

• Think deeper about what you are reading.  Try these prompts:

1. I can picture how this goes...

2. The weird thing about this is...

3. This makes me think that...

4. But I wonder...

5. It is important to notice...

6. This reminds me of...

7. I used to think.... but now I'm realizing...

• Let your reading and thinking spark conversations!

Research Clubs

This is a fun unit that combines reading and writing to teach students an introduction to research skills.  In the first round of research clubs, students will work together in groups to research an animal.  Students will learn about research materials including books and online sources.  They will learn how to skim books for information, rather than reading books from cover to cover.  Taking notes is continued in this unit as well.  Students learn to note information of importance and to exclude irrelevant info.

After acquiring research skills, students will then work on their own with a new animal topic to apply their new skills.  We will put it all together in the end by creating slide shows to showcase what we learned about our topics.  Getting Ready:  Exploring the Collection

• After choosing a topic, gather a collection of research materials.  Skim your materials.

• Notice what information do the books have in common other than the main topic.

• Notice which books seem easy to read and which ones seem more challenging.

Creating Subtopics

• What subtopics are you interested in learning more about your main topic? 

• What subtopics are available in your collections?

• Make a list of possible subtopics in you research booklet.  Choose 3-4.

Researching and Making Notes

• Choose a subtopic. Use the glossary, index or headings in your collection of books to find information about this subtopic.

• Use your post it notes to write down exciting, interesting, surprising or important information about your subtopic.  

• Create a glossary of new words.

Sources for Research

• When our books don't have enough information, we can look to other sources.  The internet is a great source for information.  We can read sites and watch videos to find new information.

Mystery

In this thrilling unit, students will read mystery novels as they learn to look for clues, notice red herrings and try to solve the mystery before the characters can.  Students will hone their skills of predicting, inferring and comparing characters.  They will also keep track of clues and learn more about reading response skills.

Readers of Mystery:

• Ask "What's the mystery here?"

• Ask "Who is the crime solver?"

• Pay attention to clues

• Predict, drawing on suspects' motives and opportunities

• Take action when parts get tricky

• Collaborate with a co-detective

• Pause to retell

• Think about how mystery books go

• Look out for red herring clues

• Ask, "what mind work is this text signalling me to do?"