LA: Reading and Writing

With conferences behind us we have talked with all families about Newsela.com.

Currently your child has a new reading log that covers 2 weeks of nightly reading Monday-Thursday. It is double-sided and requires them to respond to a specific newsela article that they have also been assigned to reading in their reading groups in the classroom. They also need to fill out observation sheets that go with each article. If there is not an assigned article or you would like your child to read more from Friday-Sunday, they can also read at least 1 article at their level and one level above. They need to then write about what they read in their writers notebook OR have a conversation with their parent/guardian about the article.

We have finished reading this novel but the message is still quite important. You children have lots of access to the internet and it is easy to get carried away and think, write and say things to one another that are very difficult to take back. Please make wise choices and consider other people's feelings before talking to or about them.

Here are some extra websites you can visit for extra practice for reading and writing.

Writer's Notebook: Students are currently writing during school hours in a writer's notebook (similar to a journal). Eventually this notebook will also come home and they will be encouraged to write in it regularly their observations about their surroundings. It should be written in pen and not pencil. Mistakes during the writing process are always encouraged, and being able to look back at the process and not erase is an important skill. They can write or even draw and choose the style of writing. It can be thinking maps, bullet points, paragraphs, essays or even their own stories.