Non Fiction Matters!

 

 

We are having an interesting time learning about non-fiction.  Las week we looked at several pieces of text and learned how to apply strategies to non-fiction reading.  We compared and contrasted elements of text.  We looked for cause and effect relationships.  We used a timeline to sequence events and learned what signal words signal a particular relationship. 

After learning about Jesse Owens at the wildlife off the coast of New Zealand that was exposed to an oil spill in 2010, this week we will focus on text features, and most importantly what their purpose is.  Their purpose is more than to explain something to us.  There is something specific the diagram or chart or picture is explaining to us. 

My hope is that when your child reads, they will become curious about a topic and want to find everything they can about it. 

Show and Share

After our winter break, I decided to show some of the children my new school supplies I purchased or received.  I get excited for new dry erase markers, sticky tabs, and an M and M machine!  I thought if I was excited to show and share, then they might be too!
The students were invited to bring in any object of interest, not just something new.  They worked in small groups and shared, questioned and listened. 
The "furriest" moment was when one of our friends brought in her new puppy, Emma.  The surprise is, she didn't get just one puppy over the holiday, she got two!  Brother and sister!  Chewey couldn't make it, as you can guess why!
Showing and sharing is actually a fourth grade standards: LA.4.5.2.3 and LA.4.5.2.4 The student will listen attentively to speakers to ensure accuracy of information and the student will ask questions of speakers using appropriate tone and eye contact.

Friends and Fun

Here are some pictures from November and December!  We had a wonderful time in St. Augustine seeing all we had learned about in Social Studies and exploring the fort. December was a time for read alouds, expository writing, friendships, and fun!  Happy New Year!



The Write Stuff

We finished a short genre study of expository writing in December.  Expository writing is when the writer writes to explain.  The format we use is a 5 paragrpah repsonse.  The first paragraph introduces the topic, provides the answer to the prompt, and three reasons to support that answer. 
The next 3 paragraphs are about each answer.  The writer uses 3 details to describe and support each answer. 
The final paragraph restates the prompt, the answer, and the 3 reasons.
Expository writing follows a particular format.  It is the child's voice, the vocabulary, the writing crafts like similes and personification, and the descriptive details that will enhance an expository piece.  The more specific and detailed the better.

A narrative piece is a story.  This week we are diving into characters.  It is important to use dialogue, action, and narrative text when developing a character.  Of course a story also has a clear beginning, middle, and end.  A descriptive setting and probably a problem or a very exciting event.  Narratives lend themselves beautifully to all the crafts we have learned in our poetry genre. 

We are going to begin this week spending about 5 minutes to "think and jot."  I will give them a topic, for example, "The Zoo."  They will write on their dry erase board everything they can see, touch, smell, feel, taste, and hear at the zoo.  Thinking quickly and using sensory details will strengthen their writing skills.
Below are some websites that have practive prompts and writing ideas to try at home:
http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/
http://www.storyaday.org/
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/

Carmen Agra Deedy Visits

This Friday our students are in for a special treat.  Famous author Carmen Agra Deedy is visiting Chets Creek.  She has written some of our favorite read alouds. We were touched after reading 14 Cows for America, on September 11th.  She "quacked" us up with Agatha's Featherbed!
We were "on fire" when we read Library Dragon. After reading the Tree Man we walked around saying, "Bill, just Bill!"
Her first chapter book The Cheshire Cheese Cat A Dickens of a Tale, has just been released and we can wait to read it.  She is a fabulous story teller and we are so honored that she has come to talk to us about writing and reading. 

You can learn more about her and her books by visiting her at http://www.carmenagradeedy.com/