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Excellent Student Example!
Article posted March 7, 2007 at 03:36 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 3850
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Dear 3B,
I just finished reading your wonderful blog articles that you published this week! You are using so many strategies to find the meanings of new words! You are also really thinking about reading! Some of you made predictions and shared connections.
I was most impressed though by your inferences! Some of you asked questions first and then answered your question with an inference. Good for you! I have included Nicky's latest blog article below for you to look at. It is an excellent example of what we're learning about in class right now! Here is Nicky's article...
I read "The Magic School Bus inside a hurricane" by Joanna Cole. The genre of this book is science fiction because it gives you real information about the topic but the story is fiction.
Before I read the book I had a prediction this was it, I predicted this book was going to be about Mrs.Frizzle taking her kids on a trip to a huge hurricane. All the kids are very exited but at the same time scared and althout they are in a hurricane Mrs.Frizzle is acting like they are in the beach. My prediction was half right and half wrong because, they did go on a hurricane but some kids were not exited.
While I was reading I saw a word I not understand this word was whirlwind. I decided to use smallword in a big word, the small words were whirl and wind so I think it is when the wind blows in shape of a whire.
I stared to read and I had a question. This was my question, I wonder why is arnold so, so scared. After, I had an inference to answer my question this was it, Maybe Arnold is scared because he thinks he is going to fall and because he thinks they are going to a horrible place.
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Article posted March 7, 2007 at 03:36 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 3850
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Reciprocal Teaching
Article posted February 9, 2007 at 02:32 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 62
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Hello 3B!
I am so proud of you! You have completed our unit on Reciprocal Teaching. As I walked around the classroom on Thursday and listened to you discuss your Guided Reading books, I was so impressed. Every single one of you had so many ideas to share. You used the text features to make predictions. You stopped and thought about lots of words to clarify. You also figured out their meanings by using many different strategies! Good for you! I also loved listening to the questions you asked. Last, but absolutely not least, you did a fantastic job summarizing the main ideas! This was the hardest part of Reciprocal Teaching but you did a great job! Even though we're done this unit, remember that you should use these four strategies every day of your life. From now on, remember to predict, clarify, ask questions, and summarize when you read non-fiction text!
Love from,
Ms. Rachel
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Article posted February 9, 2007 at 02:32 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 62
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Blog Instructions
Article posted December 12, 2006 at 01:57 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 68
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Hi 3B! Today, you will write your last blog article before Christmas. This is also your last article for quarter 2, so it's very important that you try your best! This is what you need to include:
1) Title, author, and genre of book
2) A NEW word and what strategy you used to figure out the meaning
3) An idea or thought you have about the book (use connections, mental images, schema, predictions)
Don't forget to write these 3 separate ideas into 3 separate paragraphs! And last but not least, remember to check your spelling, punctuation, capitals, and grammar! I can't wait to read your articles!
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Article posted December 12, 2006 at 01:57 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 68
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My Life in Dog Years
Article posted December 5, 2006 at 02:43 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 69
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I read the first short story from the book My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen to our class last week. Every story in the book is about a different dog Paulsen has had throughout his life. So each story is not only about his dogs but also about that particular time in his life.
Like most people, when I read a powerful, rich, detailed story like this one, I can create lots of mental images. The movie in my mind was especially clear during the time when his dog saved him from the snake that was hiding and slithering in the grass. I could imagine Paulsen with his barefeet walking slowly, sauntering, through the knee-high grass. I can only hear the rustles of the blades of grass against each other and his dog's paws carefully, slowly, cteeping through the grass. I can see the look on Paulsen's face and hear his gasp when he sees the snake in front of him. I also hear him let out a big sigh of relief when he sees his dog has saved him by killing the snake.
I came across lots of tricky words as I was reading. I saw the word drafted in one sentence and I wasn't sure exactly what it meant. I used contect clues and read the rest of the words in the sentence. It said that he was "drafted to serve in the Korean War". I think drafted means to be sent to fight since he was drafted to SERVE or fight in the WAR. I went back and reread the whole sentence after I thought about this and it made sense.
I'm looking forward to reading other stories in this interesting book about Gary Paulsen's life!
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Article posted December 5, 2006 at 02:43 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 69
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Thank You, Mr. Falker!
Article posted November 4, 2006 at 01:40 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 66
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We read the story Thank you, Mr Falker by Particia Polacco in class this week. I connected to this story a lot because it's about a student who has a hard time learning how to read. As a teacher, I often have to help kids understand things better. When Trisha finally learned how to read, it reminded me of how wonderful it feels when I am able to help a student to understand something better. This is the best part about teaching!
This book also reminded me of another book we read together in class called Oliver Button is a Sissy. In both stories, the main character is bullied by other kids in their school. Both characters feel horrible and very sad when the other kids bother and tease them. Both stories also end happily - Oliver performs in the talent show and Trisha learns to read.
Thank you, Mr. Falker also makes me think about how important teachers are to their students. All people always remember at least one teacher very fondly and remember how much that teacher helped them. When I think about this, it helps me to understand how important it was for Trisha to have such a wonderful teacher like Mr. Falker. He really changed Trisha's life and she will never forget it.
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Article posted November 4, 2006 at 01:40 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 66
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Making Connections!
Article posted October 15, 2006 at 09:10 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 48
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I just read the book The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. I made so many text-to-self connections as I was reading. In the story, the family wakes up REALLY early to travel to their relatives' house. I also remember the times when I have had to wake up in the middle of the night, when everyone else is still sleeping, to start my long day of traveling to Canada. I can imagine how the characters feel at that time because I feel so tired and exhausted on these mornings. Sometimes I'm so tired I don't even want to travel. I would prefer to stay in my bed sleeping! I'm sure the characters in the story also felt the same way.
I had another text-to-self connection at the part of the story when the family is hugging. They hug and hug and hug and hug when they first see each other! My family is also like this. When I see my parents at the airport in Vancouver, they always hug me for such a long time! And they don't stop hugging then. They hug me many, many times throughout my whole trip. I think they hug me so much during my visits home to make up for the all the hugs they can't give me when I'm here in Mexico! I always feel really good when my parents hug me, so I'm sure the family in the story felt the same way. I remember in the story that it was hard to get from one room in the house to another room because they to stopped to hug so much. Well, I can connect to that because I know how long it takes to hug so much!
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Article posted October 15, 2006 at 09:10 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 48
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Using Cognates
Article posted October 6, 2006 at 01:08 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 41
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Hello, Readers!
In 3B, we have been working on using different strategies to help us understand tricky words. One of my favorite strategies is COGNATES! Cognates are words that are similar in two languages. Usually they are spelled with similar letters. I was reading the book Solar System and I found many cognates that helped me to understand the story better. For example, planets is planetas in Spanish. Even the planet names are easy to remember because they're almost the same in Spanish (Saturn and Saturna, Mars and Martes). The word orbit was hard to understand but I know órbita means the same in Spanish - a path in the shape of a circle that the planets follow as they go around the sun. Using cognates really helps me to understand new words!
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Article posted October 6, 2006 at 01:08 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 41
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Stopping to Think!
Article posted September 26, 2006 at 02:01 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 39
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In class, we have been learning about MONITORING COMPREHENSION. Sometimes rereading helps us to understand parts that are tricky. Sometimes we have to stop and think about what the tricky part might mean BEFORE we reread.
This happened today during Guided Reading. We were reading the book How Big is an Elephant? There was one part that said that whales "took to the sea" a long time ago when they were land animals. We didn't know what "took to the sea" meant. We reread the sentence like 10 times and finally we realized that it meant that the whales took off to the sea or went to the sea to live. Wow - we had to reread a LOT until we figured that part out.
This is one example of when readers understand the words but they don't understand what they mean in a sentence. It's a good think we stopped to think hard about that sentence! Good job, Dana, Miguel, Gabriel, and Camila!
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Article posted September 26, 2006 at 02:01 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 39
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Moonlight Memories
Article posted September 19, 2006 at 03:49 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 36
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We have been studying how other authors write for the past few weeks in writing class. We read the story Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe. What an amazing story this is!
I love how Brinckloe uses incredible, small details to explain how the light of the fireflies changes colour from bright white to yellow to green to gray. She even describes how the lights buzz up towards the sky and then fall back down again - almost like magical flowing water. Brinckloe's details are so beautiful that they almost seem like poetry.
I could connect to this story so much. It is Realistic Fiction because the characters and events could really exist in real life. In fact, when I was walking through a trail at Chipinque late one night, I saw hundreds, maybe thousands, of fireflies floating and swimming through the dark air. I felt like I was underwater! They flickered on and off just like in the story Fireflies. I also felt like it was a special, magical moment, just like the boy in the story. I didn't have a jar with me that night though so I couldn't catch any. Maybe next time!
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Article posted September 19, 2006 at 03:49 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 36
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Welcome to Blogging!
Article posted September 19, 2006 at 03:42 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 38
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Dear 3B,
This is an exciting day for us. We are going to write our first article on our blogs! I know you have been doing a lot of reading so far this year. Now is the time to tell people about your reading! Your parents and even other students and teachers at ASFM will write back and begin great conversations with you about your reading. Good luck and have fun!
Love from,
Ms. Rachel
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Article posted September 19, 2006 at 03:42 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 38
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My Classes & Students
About the Blogger
My name is Rachel Hughes. I'm from Victoria, Canada, but I've been living and working in Monterrey, Mexico for four years. Reading is a passion of mine! I also love to talk about the stories I read with other people!
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