C'mon Parents, I Need Your Help

I have been pleased with the participation of students this year on The Reading Workshop blog. Their comments have been well-written, with their thoughts, ideas, and opinions shared for all to read. They have posted comments openly and honestly.

I have tried to write regularly, sharing events from the class and our school. I have also tried to share some of the interactions with students that make teaching interesting and challenging. I have tried to respond to some comments, with answers to questions, and discussion of opinions.

Teachers and other visitors jump in and comment occasionally. Nothing makes me happier than to see a teacher share her thoughts and opinions about issues and education in Laurelville.

Now, I need parents to jump in and comment. The purpose of the blog is a three-way conversation between teachers, students, and parents. This is the only format I know of where we can have an open dialogue about school, our class, and issues in education. BUT, for this to happen, we need parents to join us. Please help make this a valuable learning tool for your child. I would be thrilled to read comments from parents on every post. If you are reading, and have a thought, idea, question, comment, or concern, please post it. Let your child, and all of the students from Laurelville know that you are reading, and that their comments have an audience.

Writer's Block

When I have writer's block, I just write some hooey. I just put some words down, knowing that it ain't gonna be to good. What the heck, it's just a first draft, so it don't really matter. First drafts are supposed to suck.

Sometimes I will crank up the music. Sometimes I will read a little, or surf the net. But the main thing I do is just keep trying to get words down. Good, bad, or ugly, I just keep adding a word here, and then a word there until I have a sentence. Before I know it, I have written another post on the blog.

Now, my brilliant young students, I am sure you are asking, "what does this have to do with me and Reading Workshop?"

I have noticed that some of you are sitting there, looking like the keyboard might electrocute you. It won't. I promise. Just put down some words. Any words. You are allowed to make mistakes. You are allowed to not make sense. Go ahead, screw up. We can fix it. If you are not sure about the assignment, ask.

If you are not quite sure, just throw some words out there. Before you know it, the assignment will be done. You will be a success. Your teacher and your parents will be proud. They will smile and tell you that you are wonderful. You will get A's and be on the honor roll. You will win all of the awards.


P.S. Even if all of that doesn't happen, at least you will get the assignment done.

Welcome Parents

Welcome to The Reading Workshop. I hope you will visit often, and comment about what you read.

This blog serves several functions in Reading Workshop.

1. It is the main communication tool for anyone who wants to know what we are doing in class.

2. Students can share their thoughts, ideas, and opinions, and receive extra credit in language arts by doing so. Check out this post by Shayna--How do You Feel About Reading?

3. Teachers from other classes and other schools read it to see what type of activities we are doing in Reading Workshop.

4. A calendar is posted on the upper left side so students and parents have a handy resource for knowing about events, and homework due dates.

5. The blog serves as a way to keep the history from the past, and you can use it to see some of the types of activities ahead. An example of this is the post about two-person journals.

6. I share my thoughts and opinions for anyone who cares to read them.

7. There are links on most posts to help find more information, or the source of a fact, statement, picture, etc.

8. Students can read and write about themselves and topics that matter to them.

9. And, most importantly, anyone can join us in our class, by posting comments.

So parents, teachers, family, and friends, thank you for visiting. Please join us by commenting about what you see and read.

Responding to a Prompt

In every class, in every subject, throughout their education, students will be required to respond to a prompt or question, especially on tests. They will need to support their answer/position/opinion/idea with details from a text. In sixth grade Reading Workshop, we will spend a lot of time learning how to write a detailed reply that will make sense and score well.

The first prompt focused on the book I am reading aloud, Swear to Howdy.

The questions were:

1. Why did Joey befriend Rusty when he first moved next door?

2. How would your response to a new neighbor be different?


We discussed the need to rewrite the question as a topic sentence. Also, we talked about how a two part question should be a minimum of two paragraphs. Supporting details from the book, and from personal experiences are needed to support the answer.

Below is an essay turned in by James E. that serves as a good example for a beginning sixth grader.

Rusty and Joey became best friends because they were a lot alike. I think they were friends the first day they met because Rusty liked playing with Joey. Rusty thought Joey was playful and adventurous. Joey liked taking Rusty places like fishing and he likes that. Rusty liked having someone to play with.

My response to a new neighbor would be that I might not like him and would not play with him. The new neighbor might not want to do anything I do. I might want to go outside he wouldn't.

Another response to a new neighbor might be that the neighbor and I would like to play together. We might like playing outside with each other. We could ride bikes down the road and have fun. We would play in the woods and become good friends.

James does a good job of turning the questions into topic sentences for each paragraph. He explained his answers by providing details so the reader can understand his points. He might have improved by just picking the one difference and expanding on that, but he does a good job of supporting both parts of the second answer.

Reading Workshop Notes

1/21/09 Correct Commenting
Thanks to Sister Salad,

1. Use correct punctuation
2. Capitalize proper nouns
3. Don't write run-on sentences (put in periods)
4. Spell correctly
5. Use apostrophes only when you need them
6. Write so people can understand
7. Turn off Caps lock
8. Don't use letters to abbreviate words
9. Use correct grammar
10. Choose correct homophone
11. Don't use foul or insulting language
12. Be respectful
13. Make sense, write something worthwhile
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12/8/08 Pronouns

Beware of the evil pronouns. Destroy the evil comprehension confusers. Do not say, “it, she, he, they, we, us, etc. in each paragraph without first telling whom you are talking.

Wrong—It belonged to them.
Right—The treasure belonged to the evil pirate crew.

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11/18/08 Predicting is Like Being a Detective
1. Look for clues.
2. Make a guess.
3. Prove it right or wrong.
4. Repeat
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11/17/08 Making Predictions

Effective readers use pictures, titles, headings, and text—as well as personal experiences—to make predictions before they begin to read. They think ahead while reading and anticipate what will happen in the text. After making predictions, they read the text, decide if they were right or not, and revise, making new predictions.
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10/23/08 When Reading Nonfiction What is Important & What is Not

What is Important
1. W's
2. Main Points
3. Ideas that relate to the gist

What is Not
1. Supporting Details
2. Examples
3. Interesting Stories or Opinions
4. Most Adverbs and Adjectives

But remember anything that helps you understand what you are reading is ALWAYS IMPORTANT!
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10/21/08 Reading Rate

The pace of your reading should match your purpose. When reading for information, you must slow down and search for the W's and important details.

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10/10/08 Parts of Speech and Reading

Adverbs
Reading—Cut it out to simplify
Writing—Add to tell how

Adjectives
Reading—Cut it out to make easier to read
Writing—Add to tell what kind

Pronouns
Reading—Change to proper to be more exact
Writing—Change to give the reader variety

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10/9/08 Reading Nonfiction

1. Skim
2. Read & Highlight
3. List W’s
4. List facts
5. Write a topic sentence/Gist Statement

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10/8/08 Highlighting

1. Look closely at the first and last sentence in each paragraph
2. HL the W's
3. HL only necessary words or phrases
4. Don't HL more than ½ of each paragraph
5. Don't get thrown off by interesting details or opinions

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10/7/08 Is or Are, Was or Were
Use is/was for one
Use are/were for two or more

Jill is going home.
Jill and Dave are going home.

He was going home.
They were going home.
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10/6/08 Adding a Suffix to a one syllable word with a short vowel

Double the consonant

run—running
wrap—wrapper
pit—pitted

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9/30/08 A & An

Use A before a consonant

Use an before a vowel

A car went by.

An apple fell off the tree.

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9/24/08 Reading Aloud to Revise

To revise your content, read an essay aloud. Have the listener alert you at any time when your writing does not make sense, or they have a question. Highlight that part, and after you are finished, go back and rewrite. Then read aloud again. Repeat the process until your essay is easy to understand.

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9/23/08 Spelling when adding ed & ing

Double the consonant with a short vowel: slip—slipped

Don't double with a long vowel: pile—piled

Drop the e and add ing write—writing

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09/18/08 Spelling with Y

For plural with a word ending in “Y” change the "y" to "i" and add es.

Cry—cries Carry—carries

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09/17/08 For More Details, Ask Yourself

1. What kind?

2. Whose?

3. When?

4. Where?

5. Why?

6. How?

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9/16/08 Thoughts and Feelings in Writing

Teetor-totter

Stuff

∆

Thoughts and Feelings

To write well, thoughts and feelings must carry more weight in your writing.

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9/4/08 Capitalize

1. first word in a sentence

2. proper nouns—names of people, places, and things

3. first letter of words in a title

4. I

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9/3/08 Letter Writing

1st Paragraph—set the tone

2nd Paragraph—info, facts,

3rd Paragraph—closing, request, message, etc.

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8/29/08 Writing to a Prompt

When responding to a prompt, you should address the question or topic, and then give facts, reasons, and/or details to support your position or answer.

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8/28/08 Notes Format

Notes should be dated in the left margin. At the end of the notes, draw a line across the page. The next day, notes go under the line. _____________________________________________________________________

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