Art Quest

The children were so excited to participate in the Art Quest program.  It was a wonderful way to continue our study of then and now. Here is a sample of some of the art the children discussed.

Art Quest is a program that will present your students with a unique opportunity to learn. There are multiple educational objectives. We strive to introduce art history and art appreciation, to integrate the history of art with classroom curriculum and to enhance critical and creative thinking skills. Students will learn how art can communicate through visual images. The process of learning through the arts provides students with in-depth knowledge of subject matter.

FUNDATIONS- VOWEL TEAMS AND "R" CONTROLLED VOWELS

In Fundations, we continue to practice using our knowledge of the vowel teams to spell. We had fun searching for vowel teams in the print in our environment.

Genre Study

We have been studying biographies. On Friday, we each chose a biography and summarized the person's life in our reader's notebook. Also, we used evidence from the text to prove that it was from the biography genre. The children have been invested in their work and have enjoyed learning about many famous artists, authors, scientists and world leaders.

June 11, 2013

The Power of Engaging in Genre Study as Readers

by Toni Czekanski, Intermediate/Middle School Trainer

Noticing, sorting, and classifying.  We start doing this when we are toddlers: putting red blocks in one pile and blue in another.  We call the piles by their names:  “the blue blocks,”  “the red blocks.”  Later on we notice that there are some letters of the alphabet that have tails and some that have stems.  Some have neither, and we sort them into groups as we learn to copy them and name them.  When people read to us, we begin to notice that some books have similarities, and understand that there are happy endings, villains, heroes, and magic.  We come to expect these things and even predict who will appear next or what the outcome will be.  We know it will be a happy ending no matter what.

Genre study is like that.  You collect many examples of texts within a genre and each day read one aloud to your students, allowing them time to enjoy the text and talk about what they are thinking about it.  Later, you come back to consider what they have been noticing about the books they’ve heard.  What are the similarities?  What are the differences?  You begin to create a list of common traits.  Once they begin to notice these characteristics, you provide even more texts within the genre that they can explore on their own.  They cannot help but notice even more.  You have activated their thinking and together you work to form a working definition of what a particular kind of text is.  Together, you define the genre.  How is this helpful to them as readers?

In their text, Genre Study: Teaching with Fiction and Nonfiction Books, Fountas and Pinnell say, “Through experience with texts, readers recognize common elements, as well as ways that texts in the same genre can vary.  They use their knowledge of the predictable elements as a road map to anticipate the structures and elements of the text they are reading”  (2012, p. 11).  Think back to your own experiences as a reader.  If you loved mysteries and read a lot of them, it was not long before you were spotting clues and differentiating between those that mattered and those that were potential red herrings designed to lead you off the track.

Readers who are hooked on one genre and read many texts come to learn the bones of that genre and anticipate what they will encounter even before they begin to read.  Being able to anticipate the structure or other elements of a text frees the mind to look more closely at other aspects of the text.  For readers, this is a helpful tool that can enhance not only what the they understand about the author’s message or meaning, but also how the author crafted the text to support and develop that meaning within the structure of the text.

If you make time in your reading instruction to delve into genre study, you will be helping students to investigate texts more closely.  This close reading and rethinking will help them consider how and why authors write books.  “Knowing these features helps you begin to comprehend a text even before starting to read.  You have expectations and a kind of in-the-head graphic representation of what the text will be like – how the information will be presented and organized” (Fountas and Pinnell, 2012, p. 11).  These expectations are not only applied to this text, but to other similar texts.

When studying genre in the classroom, many teachers do so through inquiry as outlined above.  This process of inquiry in itself teaches students that they can apply these steps to analyzing other genres as well.  Students learn that if they examine several texts from a particular genre, they will begin to notice characteristics that are true across the genre.

Even without your help, they will form conclusions about how the genre works and what to look for and expect as they read other texts that are similar.  “Taking an inquiry stance enables students to learn how to learn.  They become empowered and develop a sense of agency…they believe in themselves and their ability to find out, and the process itself is inherently pleasing to human beings” (2012, p. 5-6).

Learning about genre with your students can have far-reaching benefits.  As readers it helps them to look at texts more closely, and have meaningful discussions with one another about how the author’s decisions affect the way the text works.  Students can use specific examples to support their thinking about the text as they write about it.  As a teacher, you build the confidence in understanding the genre that will help you take your students deeper through your modeling and prompting as you engage in the work together.

Help Wanted- A Home Project

I would love to have someone make this table for our classroom. I think it would be a great alternative workspace. I am happy to purchase the materials if someone is willing to put it together and paint it. Please let me know if you are interested. Here is a link that will give you the general directions.

http://www.upcyclethat.com/crate-coffee-table/

Thanks
Mary

LABELS FOR EDUCATION-LAST CALL!!!

FREE Money Committee is collecting your Labels for Education for the final time. As the Labels for Education program comes to a permanent close we would like to maximize our points by participating in a Double Point Promotion. We will get double points on every Label that is submitted in May. Please send your clipped Labels for Education to school by Friday, May 27th. Remember you can find Labels for Education on Campbell's, Prego, Pace, V-8, and BIC products.

Seeking Placement Input from Parents for Next Year

Seeking Placement Input from Parents for Next Year

Dear Parents,

Each spring we begin to think about the placement of students for next fall. This process is complex and takes into consideration a number of factors. Classroom teachers and I will soon begin to discuss the academic and social/emotional progress of students and how this affects their placement for next year.  Your child’s teacher has a wealth of knowledge about each student.  Consultation with the specialists gives us more information about your child and how s/he interacts in different instructional settings. We seek to create balanced groupings at each grade level. All of us recognize this complex process as an important part of our professional responsibility to your children.

If you would like to offer your thoughts about your child’s placement with us, please respond in writing to the questions below and submit your response by May 13 to your child’s teacher. This information will be helpful to us as we work to create classes that best match your child’s learning style and personality. We ask that you refrain from requesting a specific teacher by name. Please understand that the entire placement team will view the information you share.

We recognize that the partnership between home and school is vital to your child’s educational success. Your continued support makes our school an exciting and enriching learning environment. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Clifford

1. What are your child’s greatest areas of success in school?
2. What are your child’s greatest challenges in school?
3. What does your child like most about coming to school?
4. How would you describe your child’s learning style?
5. What type of learning environment would provide your child with the best opportunity for success?
6. Is there anything else that you would like us to know about your child?

Our Small Moments- April Vacation

Today, we wrote about one small moment of our vacation. We discussed how to capture that moment with details. Do you know which experience was your child's? Scroll down: the texts are after the photos.

Over April vacation, I went to Laura's birthday party. They spelled everyone's name wrong except mine and it was so funny.

On vacation, I got to see the capital in Washington, D.C. It was beautiful and elegant. The building was made of white and gray marble.

I watched three movies. My favorite was Big Hero 6. I watched the movies with my mom, It was very special to see Big Hero 6 because my mom almost never lets me watch it because it is two hours and 30 minutes long. It was on Sunday night. It was a school night.


My cousins came over and when it was dark, we played Haunted House. We had powers and a magic lamp. But suddenly, the lamp fell and it broke and it was my uncle's lamp. The lamps batteries fell, they were ginormous.The lamp stopped working so my mom had to come and fix it. We knew how to fix it, too.

On my vacation, I went to Singing Beach with Megan, Emily and Grace. We got to climb the rocks. The rocks felt cold. It was fun. I want to do it again.

On the vacation, I did a 5K run that was called Chase The Gorilla Down Argilla. I ran at top speed. I saw the finishing line and crossed the finish line. It felt so good to have run a 5K. I went to the snack table and for a bagel and a banana. I will definitely run that race again.

On April vacation, I went to the circus with Ceci. My favorite was of the circus was the motorcycle in the circle. It was very fun.

I saw Dustin Pedroia in Boston when we were walking out of the aquarium. I wanted to go to the gift shop and my mom spotted him. We asked for a picture and he said yes. It was exciting to see Dustin Pedroia.

My April vacation was awesome. One of the highlights of my week was going to the Red Sox game. My favorite player is Mookie Betts and he hit a HOME RUN! Hanley Ramirez hut a bat into the stands and we were really close. I was so happy after that amazing trip to Boston.

At Walt Disney World, on the second day at the Magic Kingdom, I wen to the town square. I saw Pluto and Minnie. I went in the line for Pluto and met Pluto. I loved the picture that they took because I love dogs.

I went snorkeling with my dad and I saw a Puffer fish. We followed it for an hour until we saw that we were far from the beach. I had a great time.

On my April vacation, I learned how to ride my bike, My mom said "How did you do that?" and I said "I don't know how I did that." I felt very proud.

On Wednesday, I went to the Big Apple Circus. My favorite part was when one clown splashed a bucket of water in another clown's face. My two dads were there with my sister and brother. There were no tight rope walkers and no acrobats but it was still fun.

I went to the beach with my friend Chloe. We dig and hole and put water in it. When we put the water in it, the water dried up. The water in the hole was cold. We looked for sea creatures but we could not find any. It was warm at the beach.

I went to Orange Leaf and on the way I saw a lot of my friends. When I got there, I saw my friend Jane. Also, there were unicorn cups. I got a medium cup and so did my sister. I got cookies and cream and my toppings were sweedish fish, marshmallows, m & m's, gummy bears, Reeses peanut butter m&ms and chocolate chips. Then when I was leaving, Chloe came with a friend.

I loved playing water guns with my brothers. I went outside to see what they were doing and we played with water guns. We pushed one of my brothers into the mud. Then we started squirting him all over until he was soaked. Then, we wanted to get soaked, too. So we dumped water on our heads. Then the handle for the faucet came off and we over-watered the garden. Then, we went inside and we changed our clothes. Then we took one of the couch cushions and we slid down the furniture. It was so fun!