Book Clubs!

Today during Reading, we started the first of a series of lessons that will teach students how to be active members of a Book Club.  Book Clubs will occur throughout the school year.  During Book Clubs, students will read and discuss a book together that connects to our learning theme, genre, or strategy.  Reader's Workshop will include the following pieces: a minilesson at the rug area, Book Clubs, independent reading, then conclude with Reader's Round-Up.  Check out the video we watched and discussed today to learn what Books Clubs are all about!

Great first week!

We had a great first week of 3rd grade together!  I hope all of the students enjoyed it while adjusting to the schedule and routines in room 23.  In reading, we read lots of great books already that revolve around the theme of feelings, including how to treat others and stay true to yourself.  These books included:  First Day Jitters, Chrysanthemum, Don't Laugh At Me, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, and A Bad Case of the Stripes.  These books helped to lay the foundation for how I expect my students to treat one another in our classroom.  We will read more of these themed books this week, including my personal favorite Thank You, Mr. Falker, Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, and Do Unto Otters.  Check out some of these stories on storylineonline.net.  All students finally got to choose a book from our classroom library, and learned what independent readers do at reader's workshop.  Beofre picking, students learned the "I PICK" chant to help them choose a good book!  Check out the chart below for tips on how readers choose a book!  We developed it together after students picked out their first independent reading book of the year.  Stay tuned as I share with you more good reads from our first unit, Building a Reading Life.

Our Classroom Library

Way Readers Choose Books anchor chart

I Pick!

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

Welcome to 3rd grade!  Thanks for visiting my blog.  Here you will find weekly blog entries, photos, and videos connected to what is happening in our classroom.  Today, I want to share a little bit about myself.  This is my tenth year of teaching!  I currently live in Newington with my husband and two daughters.  You will get to hear a lot about them during the school year!  Brooklyn is 3 and Camryn is 1.  During the summer, we spent everyday doing something FUN!  We spent two weeks at our beach cottage, days at the local park, evenings getting ice cream at Carvel,  a day at the farm, and we read lots and LOTS of books!  Both of my daughters love to "read!"  I am sharing a summer mosaic of pictures from our beach vacation of Brooklyn, Camryn, my cousins Emi and Dori, and my nephew Mason.  Enjoy!  I look forward to a SUPER school year with all of you!

Also, check out a video of myself that I created last year!

 

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today I have two great books to share with you!  The first one is a collection of poetry that we will study throughout the week as part of our morning work.  It is from a book called Mirror Mirror and it features poetry written in "reversible verse."  Ask your child what this means!  Today we read "In Reverse," which introduces the craft of the book to readers.  Throughout the rest of the week, we will read, study, and reread "Cinderella's Double Life," as another exposure to a version of Cinderella and two different point of views on the fairy tale.  At Reader's Workshop time, we started the book The Egyptian Cinderella.  As we read this text we are noticing how culture impacts the setting, characters, archetypes, and events of a fairy tale.  Throughout this week, our focus will be noticing cultural effects on fairy tales.  Happy Reading!   

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today we did a variety of activities during reader's workshop.  First, we read and explicated the "May" John Updike poem.  We are certainly ready for spring and this warm weather that has finally arrived!  Mr. Updike does a beautiful job describing the "growing season" that spring is!  We then started the fractured fairy tale, Sidney Rella and the Glass Sneaker.  We read chapter 1 and we are already noticing the changes that the author makes compared to the original version and what she keeps the same.  Tomorrow we will organize our thoughts on a Venn Diagram.  Happy Reading!
 

Math Centers

"It's Monday...What Are You Reading?"

Today students took the Blue Ribbon reading test, so we did not get to share a good book.  However, we did have the end of our Reader's Workshop block of time to begin our new genre study of fairy tales!  We will end the school year with a close study of the fairy tale genre, including a study of its special elements, fractured fairy tales, and even spend some time rewriting fairy tales!  It will be a fun, magical way to end the year!