September 18, 2014

Check those agenda pockets for spelling test results!  There are some pretty talented students in here who even got the bonus word (school) right!  (I sometimes give the students a surprise word - one that they haven't been able to prepare for - at the end of the test. One of these days you can expect "Constantinople" to appear - ha!)

The students all brought home plastic book bags for the long weekend.  They also brought home the book they authored on Iggy and Jelly.  They are supposed to read the book to a parent - or a sibling, or even a stuffed toy! If they get stuck on a word, one of the best things you can do to help them is to give them time to process the word, then ask, "What do you know about this word?" or prompt them to use the picture to help figure it out or to ask, "What word would make sense here?"  Some of the students were reading the book very well already, even with expressive, fluent performances - great to report!  (We try to avoid "robot reading", which sounds very halting and mechanical.  We're striving to make the reading sound like someone is talking in a normal conversation.)

Here are some photos of our scarecrow construction day.  (Thanks, Mrs. C, for doing this for us!)