Newsletter: September 20, 2013

Dear Families,

This week he have been accessing our work last week around the question "What does reading aloud sound like" to support us in our work as actors, actresses, and narrators. I pulled out a number of Readers Theater scripts and shared them with the class. Readers Theater is a fun structure where you take the text from a book and rewrite it as a script. Our scripts have been adapted from favorites such as Frog and Toad, Arthur, Henry and Mudge, Owen, and The Little Red Hen. Readers Theater gives us an opportunity to put into action all we are learning about reading in a such a way that allows us to better imagine and understand the text. Teachers refer to this as reading fluency. We want to help the kids develop the ability to read with rhythm and inflection. Rehearsing our scripts (both silently and out loud within a group) gives everyone the opportunity to feel successful while having a great time.

Of course, a big part of performing is knowing you are in a safe environment. We've discussed very explicitly what we can do to help others when they come to a word or a passage they are unsure of. Just as with actors on a television set or a Broadway stage, we can offer help and encouragement. Reading aloud can be a very stressful act for some. This is why I never ask the kids to read anything "cold" in front of the class. Just as when they were first learning to speak and making all sorts of miscues (such as, "I goed to the bathroom") we are building an environment in our classroom where miscues are seen as a natural part of learning and thinking about ways we can all help one another.

 We've also been doing a lot of talk about the conventions of writing. While the kids work each day to create fairy tales, true stories, how to guides, and more they are also beginning to think more about the use of capital letters and end marks. As we get closer to publishing these stories we are trying to go back and consider what needs to be edited and revised. The fourth graders came in today to help us with that work. After reading over their second grade buddy's piece they told them what they liked, what they could tell their partner already knew about writing, and what they'd consider adding or revising. Each partnership then went through the piece one more time looking for capitals, misspelled or omitted words, and missing end marks. The goal of writing workshop is to get our ideas down on the paper as clearly as possible. The goal of editing and revising is to fix it up before it goes out to an audience. Here are some pics of our fourth grade friends working with us...

That's all for this week. Next week I will share much more - including the work we are doing in our Math Workshop. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of that work...