Friday, February 24, 2012

February 24, 2012


Ray Holland, Master Storyteller,
Reads Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by Robert McCloskey
To Mr. B’s Fundations Class

Dear Parents,

 I was talking to my Fundations class yesterday about their success on the Unit-11 tests. We were kind-of marveling at how far we have come this year.  We've moved through 11 units,   and there are only about 6 units to go.  The kids were able to talk quite thoughtfully about the gains they have made in their reading.   They also remarked on how their handwriting has improved since September. One of my Fundations students exclaimed, “That is the best “polish” I have ever written!”

With February break upon us and  report cards and conferences coming up in just a few weeks, this is a great time for all of us --  teachers,  parents, and  students,  to reflect on what's been accomplished and what still have left to master --  in the last three-or-so months.

The big thing with reading this time of year: if your child is struggling with fluency, is  reading out-loud books that are a couple of levels below their  instructional level.  Encourage your child to read those stories out loud several times to just practice hearing themselves say the words fluently and with expression. Read the book, you and your child,  as though you were a pirate family on the high seas. Then read it as though you were aliens on a far-off planet. Don’t forget to read it as though you were your dog and cat reading to each other -- whatever it takes to read and read and read. By the way, it is obvious to me as I look at those reading logs, that you all have been relentless in your support at home of your child’s reading. I am grateful to you.


By the way, another fun, and valuable thing to do for fluency is to do Reader’s Theater. Take a Shel Silverstein poem and take turns saying those silly lines. That, too, is a tried-and-true way to build that fluency.

For readers who are solidly on grade level and are reliably reading on their own, the important work now is to help them 1) develop their habit for lifelong reading: help them develop a habit of reading at a regular time every day for pleasure, and help them get used to trying out different genres.  2)  strong, young readers need help thinking about, talking about, and making sense of the more complicated themes that begin to emerge in 3rd  and 4th and 5th-grade level books like Harry Potter or Lemony Snickett.

For readers at all levels, it's so important for us to ask them what kind of books and genres and topics interest them, then try to put in the time to go on websites and talk to bookstore owners to find great books,  great new series, and great new characters that will really strike a chord with them and maybe be the series that they will look back on in twenty years as the one that really launched them as readers.

In writing, our student teacher, Ms. Jacy, is teaching a unit on poetry -- encouraging students to really close their eyes and see the pictures – see the images --  that come up for them. We want them to get used to paying very, very close attention to that internal movie. Once you get good at noticing it, watching it, and  telling about it,  then writing about it is actually pretty easy!


Four Winds:  we tested insulated and non-insulated cannisters of water, and we made mouse homes using cattail fluff and pieces of grass for insulation. We also noticed that Mr. Bolger and Sean were both not very insulated outside (not wearing jackets), so their body temperatures would probably “stabilize” at 32 degrees more quickly than the rest of the class.

Burt Dow, Deep Water Man by Robert McCloskey: We were paid a visit by  Mr. Ray Holland, master story-teller. He read about Burt Dow and his adventures on the high seas for our 2nd-grader Fundations class. We noticed that Mr. Holland puts a lot of emotion into his reading, and that makes it more fun to listen to. We noticed lots of words with vowel teams in them (like “tail”). We also noticed that Burt is an r-controlled syllable. It’d sure look funny if they’d spelled it Birt.

Friday Folders: are empty today because with report cards coming up, I need to hold onto the papers this week  to review and assess. I’ll get them to you as soon as we get back from break.

Friendship List: completed! Thank you, Jodi.  I will email it to all of you all this afternoon.

Have a wonderful break, everyone.

Mr. Bolger