3rd graders - please comment on my paragraph or add your own as you write about the solar system!

   A Life-Giving Light

By Mrs. Huntress

      Our sun is the key to life on Earth.  It allows us to eat, grow, sleep, run, and walk all over our great planet!  How does it do that, you ask?  Well, the sun is a huge sphere of ionized gas, and it is ultimately the source of all food on our planet.  Due to photosynthesis in plant life, sunlight helps plants grow, and many plants later becomes food for us or for the unfortunate members of our food chain.   The sun is about 93,000,000 miles from our planet, which is a perfect distance!  If it were closer, it would actually boil the seas – not to mention those of us who live on the continents!  Since the sun’s warmth and light reaches the Earth in a mere 500 seconds, humans are able to enjoy the seasons and gifts that each brings. Whether it is when walking in the crisp autumn leaves or when watching snowflakes glisten like diamonds, most people would agree that the sun truly is the light of their lives!

Vocabulary Word Walls!

This is an example of a word wall in a 2nd grade.  We often post words we are teaching to help our learners revisit them, think about their meanings, and use them in their speaking and writing.

These are pictures from our Fall Family Fun Night.  Another is scheduled for April 4th from 6:00-7:30.  Mark your calendars now to attend!!

Ways for Parents to Support Reading and Writing Development at Home!

Are you looking for some ways to help your child at home?  Here are a few things to try:

1.  Read great books together!  Whether it is a picture book or a longer text,  take turns reading pages and discussing the ideas.  Point out words you like and talk about why you like them.  Help your child learn how exciting and rewarding reading can be!  Note things authors did intentionally that help you as a reader - sentence structures, descriptive words, captions, titles, illustrations.  Great writers read a lot and study the craft of other writers.  Help your child tune in to some great writing today!  Look for books that exemplify the 5 A's of quality text - Accuracy, Appealing, Artistry, Age-Appropriate, and Authority of the Author (does the author site an expert if this is non-fiction?). 

Keep in mind that certain books are appropriate for certain ages-

* Under 2 - choose a board book that can take a little wear and tear.
*Ages 3-5 - choose great picture books, non-fiction books, and stories with lots of great picture support.
*Ages 6-8 - choose books with a few lines of print on each page that still offer picture support.
*Ages 9-12 - choose easy chapter books or non-fiction for younger children, and select topics of interest. 
*Ages 12 and up - ask your child to identify favorite authors, series, or books on a certain topic that are of interest.  Some magazines may be appealing as well - fishing, sports, etc. are popular with these ages.

2.  Write together about a recent event, trip, or favorite place.  Make a paper book that your child can illustrate,  or try it on the computer if you enjoy using technology.

3.  Allow your child to search supervised websites to learn about topics he or she may be interested in - National Geographic, Scholastic, NASA, etc. all have great sites for children!  Encourage your child to write about what he/ she learned.

4.  Consider ways to enhance learning through technology!  Kindles, Sony Readers, or other devices allow you to download text for a fraction of the cost of books,  and they read to your child.  You can also download stories on MP3 players or Ipods.  IPads are becoming another popular way to download texts for reading.  For younger children,  Leapsters and other Leapfrog products teach letters, sounds, tracking, and sight words. 

5.  Find ways to read for real! Read recipes and cook together, read craft books or activities and make something together, or take up a new hobby and research it together on-line. 

If you have found other great ways to read and write with your child at home,  please add a comment to this blog and share your ideas with others! 

Happy Reading and Writing!!  Mrs. Huntress

Assessing and Teaching Writing at Storm Lake Elementary School

                                        

     Our staff is implementing a writing assessment this year in grades K-4.   Several staff members have attended the statewide PWIM initiative and have learned how to administer writing probes and score them to determine student strengths in writing and student needs.  We have also learned strategies such as Talk Alouds and Composing Think Alouds which enable us to model for students well-written texts.

     At a staff development session on January 13th,  our teachers scored  mid-year writing prompts and compared them to fall writing samples to determine growth and continued needs of our students.  We will continue to work hard to help our students learn about the components of great descriptive paragraphs -  great titles, introductory sentences, meaningful sentences with pertinent details, and concluding sentences.  In addition,  we will ensure that our teaching ties to the Iowa Core Curriculum. We will strive to teach all of the necessary skills related to grammar and mechanics that students need to clearly convey messages in writing.  We will also help students use and understand parts of speech, similies, metaphors, and analogies in their writing as appropriate, and we will strive to integrate technology into written work whenever possible. 

Parents are encouraged to ask teachers to see fall and winter writing probes, and discuss ways to support writing development at home.  It is a skill we all need to be successful in the 21st Century!