Newsletter: Week Nine

Dear Families,

I hope you all have enjoyed this rainy, rainy week. Most of the kids were awfully excited to have our first indoor recess of the year on Tuesday. I rarely believe it’s too hot or too cold to go outside and play. However, elephant-sized mud puddles are enough to keep me away. The kids had fun playing games, drawing pictures, and playing games on the computer.

In reading workshop Ms. Brinson, our MAT, helped launch a study of the inner conversations we have when reading a text. She modeled this inner conversation for the kids and then scaffolded them into noticing their own thinking around texts. We pushed this a bit further later in the week and began to turn and talk with our neighbors about the texts we have been reading. Often, when reading a book, I will stop and say “Turn to your partner and tell them something you’re thinking right now.” We are working hard to come to understand that reading is all about thinking and interacting with the text.

During this study we’ve come to notice that many of the thoughts we’re sharing begin with sentence starters such as:

I think…, I was thinking…, I was imagining…, You know how…, I bet…, I have a connection to…, I thought maybe…, or That makes me remember earlier in the book when…

Getting to see the kids engage in a book and excitedly turn to talk about it is among my very favorite moments of teaching. These are the moments that will prepare them to make giant leaps in their reading. Before long we’ll all be amazed to see them talking so passionately about their books. It’s definitely something worth waiting for!

Speaking of reading, please continue to ensure that the kids are reading at least twenty minutes each night. Reading is SO, SO important and comes into play in nearly all parts of our lives. While we do a lot of reading in the classroom there is just not enough time in our day to provide the full amount of time our developing readers truly need. I generally read to the kids for about twenty or thirty minutes each day and they spend twenty to twenty-five minutes reading independently (of course, there are other times we are reading other types of things as well). The more they can add to this at home the better. No amount of mini-lessons, conferencing, or tutoring can possibly compare to the power of time spent reading. If you want to grow a strong reader then believe me when I say the very best thing you can do is keep them reading, reading, reading!

In math this week we’ve been exploring place value using the base-10 blocks. These are blocks that come in the 1, 10, 100, and 1000 variety. We use these to construct and add numbers. Soon we’ll be adding numbers that require regrouping (you may remember this as “carrying”). Beginning with the blocks allows the kids an opportunity to construct a conceptual understanding of these problems before switching to the traditional method.

Finally, thanks to everyone who made it out to Curriculum Night and/or Gathering last week. The kids enjoyed performing. I don’t know how my guitar got turned up that loud (I had set the levels earlier in the afternoon) but, all the same, it was a proud moment for us all. We’ll present our next Gathering the week we return from Winter Break.

Have a great weekend,

Chris