Connecting Reading, Writing and Science

Well, it is officially spring in Colorado (even though it has been snowing all day) and that means it is time for my favorite unit of the year, Incredible Insects.  I love teaching about insects.  This is the unit that my students get the most excited about.  It gives me a chance to go back to teaching science, which is the one thing I miss most about be a regular classroom teacher.  The students get so engaged in this unit they don't want to leave the room.

We began the unit last week and have learned what an insect is and what it is not.  We watched fascinating videos about insects and have read several books.   Thanks to the Westminster Butterfly Pavilion  we have all kinds of cool objects to look at.  Here they are sorting insects and non-insects.

 They used what they learned in the books we have read to classify insects.  The post it notes are all the important ideas they are getting from their reading.

We ended this week with a fictional story about an insect, The Grouchy Ladybug.  This was a great opportunity to add some discussion of The Seven Habits into our unit.  The students discussed attitude and the need for the ladybug to choose her own weather rather than being grouchy.

Now that we have learned the basics about insects we will begin going more in depth.  Each student has selected an insect to study and will complete a webquest next week.  I can't wait to learn more about the Giant Weta from Julian!

Summary Writing

My second graders are working on learning how to write a summary.  Our first summary was of A Chair For My Mother by Vera B Williams.  The first step in our process was to read the book in sections and to write the main idea of each section on a sticky note.

After each student determined the main idea for each of the four sections of the book we worked together to determine how we could put our ideas together as a group.

Finally, each student used their own notes and wrote a summary paragraph.  They did a great job on their first summary paragraphs.  Samples will come soon.

Close Reading

Recently there has been a lot more focus put on close reading.  This is especially true in districts using the Common Core Standards.  Close reading can be an important tool when teaching comprehension.  When doing a close read students are taught to return to the text over and over again.  They learn to use evidence from the text to support answers.  This rereading allows students to focus on content and develop a deeper understanding.

Some things to consider when choosing a text for close reading are…

ü  Passages should be short- Remember your students are going to be reading this multiple times you do not want it to be too much.

ü  Passages need to have content worthy of close reading- Not all passages are created equal and not all passages require close reading.   Make sure there is enough in the passage to engage and challenge your students.

Teaching your students to “Read with a Pencil”

Reading with a pencil helps students to pay attention to the text and helps them to use evidence when answering questions.  When reading with a pencil students are more active.  This is not a skill that young students pick up on their own.  It has to be modeled.  Help your students learn to be reading detectives by guiding them through this process.

Discovering Mysteries

The second graders have moved on to the mystery genre.  They are really enjoying their detective books where they are recording the suspects and clues in The Case of the Missing Cookie.  Tomorrow we will be creating mystery cubes (pictures will be coming).  The mystery genre fits in so well with our current comprehension focus, questioning.  Nothing creates better questions than true curiosity.Mystery Genre Reading and Writing

Focus on Comprehension

This week my second graders are working on building their comprehension skills by doing some close reading.  They are excited to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr.  Today they got to be reading detectives and use evidence from their text to support their responses to questions about MLK.

Martin Luther King Jr Close Reading

New Office

I finally was able to make space in my very small home for a mini office.  Thank you to my husband for getting me a computer to help complete it.  Now, if I could only decide on a paint color.  I am thinking something bright to keep me motivated.  I am ready to begin my big project for this year.    I am going back through all of my work on my Masters to research reading interventions. Hopefully, I will have it complete by spring.

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