At least that's what we are noticing, now that we are studying them! We are using an 'inquiry approach' to deepen our understanding of this often neglected punctuation mark. Students went on a 'comma hunt', and made many interesting discoveries about the unique powers of this little punctuation mark. Who needs grammar worksheets when you can be a 'punctuation detective'? Next week, we will form study groups to see what we can learn about many other punctuation marks as well.
We are in the process of finishing up our study of music videos and song lyrics. Earlier this week, students worked in partnerships to 'deconstruct' the lyrics for the song Big Yellow Taxi by the The Counting Crows. Partnerships highlighted song lines, and then used their inferring skills to annotate what they felt the artist meant by the words. We then gathered together as a whole class to discuss possible messages for the song itself. As always, the thinking was rich! Our anchor chart below shows how we were not only able to infer 'hidden messages' within this song, but also how we are becoming quite skilled at attaching proof (text evidence) in order to justify our thinking.
We are no longer using the Words Their Way spelling program as part of our language block. Instead, we are experimenting with a new approach! 'Word Observations' are a powerful tool in helping students become more aware of the way in which letters and sounds work together. Each student has a "Word Work" book where he/she records observations about different words we are studying in class. These words are chosen based on what I am noticing in the spelling patterns I am seeing in the classroom, and the next steps we need to take towards using more conventional spellings. Beginning next week, we will also be supplementing this work with at-home spelling activities that will help to build up your child's personal bank of words (e.g., said, because, etc.).
Earlier this week we discovered how breaking a word into syllables can actually help us hear the sounds better, and allow us greater success when spelling unfamiliar words. We also noticed that every syllable had a vowel - another great observation for increasing our spelling accuracy! We are also creating opportunities where we 'Give It a Go'. This is when we use what we''ve learned in previous observations, to spell unfamiliar words (yesterday's word was 'deconstruct)'. We also discussed the criteria for an effective entry in this notebook so that students may begin personalizing their entries to better match what they are learning and observing. |
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April 2012
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