January 2015

Welcome back to school and welcome to the New Year!

3rd grade has jumped backed into learning. This first week back at school we started by revisiting expectations in the classroom and around the school. We reviewed our pillars of success:

• Be Safe
• Be Responsible
• Be Respectful
• Do Your Best

We also reviewed what that looks like in different settings.

One big change in the classroom has occurred. We are moving to The Daily 5 for Language Arts (reading, writing, spelling, grammar) and The Daily 3 for Math (once Daily 5 is up and running). The Daily 5 is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives students the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When introduced to each task, the students discuss what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the students work on building their stamina until they are successful at being independent while doing that task.

These five tasks are:

• Read to Self
• Work on Writing
• Read to someone
• Word Work
• Listen to Reading

When all five tasks have been introduce and the students are fully engaged in reading and writing, I am able to work with small groups and confer with students one-on-one. This structure is effective, the results are amazing, and your children look forward to Daily 5 time.

We have been learning some new behaviors and building reading stamina. Our goal is to be able to Read to Self for 20 focused minutes. While we build our reading stamina we are learning foundations for success such as:

• What the students’ job and the teacher’s job is during Daily 5.
• Three ways to read a book
• Read the Pictures
• Read the Words
• Retell the Story
• Choosing a Successful Spot for Daily 5
• Learning to Self-Assess behavior based on the proficiency scale 1-4
• “I Pick” Good Fit Books

I Pick Good Fit Books

This is a valuable strategy that we not only learned, but we also built an anchor chart for the classroom. In order for students to get the most of their reading for fun, they need to read books that are a good fit-the right balance between too easy and too hard and interesting. Please use this strategy to help your child pick Good Fit books at home and at the library.

I PICK

I - I select a book and look it over inside and out.

P - Purpose Why might I want to read it?

I - Interest Does it interest me?

C - Comprehend Do I understand what I am reading?

K - Know Do I know MOST of the words?

Ask your child about Daily 5 and see what he or she has to say. I anticipate that your child will tell you about the class stamina success and how we are working toward independence. You also might hear about some of the fantastic things your child has written, read, or listened to during our Daily 5 time. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Thank you for your continued support and happy reading!

Mrs. Soumokil