An Update from Room 304

The field trip to Lansing was a HUGE success!  In spite of the weather, we had a great time!  The Impressions 5 Science Center, Historical Museum, and State Capitol were amazing.  Thank you to all of the parents who joined us!  A slideshow will be posted soon to give you a glimpse of our day.

We have begun a new unit in writing.  Realistic fiction is our focus.  The students have learned strategies for generating story ideas and have written a number of entries that shows their thinking.  We have a very imaginative class!  After everyone settled on their story idea, they began to develop a main character.  They got to know their character really well as they created a list of internal and external features to describe them.

This week, students will use story mountains to plan the plot of their stories.  The rising slope of the story mountain will show how the problems of their characters will get worse before they get better.  They will also work on writing the scenes that will make up their stories.

In reading workshop, students have been using a collection of poems by Nikki Grimes to learn more about the strategy of inferring.  They used a double-entry journal to record exact words from the poems and what they inferred from those word clues.

This week, students will use a strategy called “Heads Together” to talk about what they are able to infer from a new group of poems.  In groups of four, students will have an opportunity to practice sharing their thinking as well as hearing the thinking of their peers.

Other things to note for this week include:

Wednesday – Coin Wars celebration!

Thursday – Georgetown Talent Show (9:15) and health video (2:40).

Friday – Spring Break!