Week 10: A word feast

Picking up ideas from last week's literacy review, this week we started working with the sounds of vowels and consonants and then delving deeper into why these letter sounds start to change when we put them into words and speak them. 

Students began dividing words into bites and then with more practice, discovered why we can't separate words into any bite size we want to, that we must take bites in certain ways; just like we can't eat in the same way we did as babies. Now, at mealtimes, we are expected to eat in a mannerly fashion, and doing so helps us get what food we need (and be good table guests). We've grown out of that way of eating and grown into new ways, just as students are growing into new ways of reading words. Breaking words into specific syllables (in class we are calling them bites), helps us understand more about the word, and how its letter combinations work together, which lets the words come together into a tasty meal on the book's page.

The saint story for this week was about Hubert, an avid outdoorsman who overcame tragedy and grief to advocate for animal rights. The fable, The Stag and His Reflection, was brought in juxtaposition.

On Friday, we harvested seeds from a pumpkin grown by Mrs. Bowers' third-grade class, who generously shared their bounty with us.  We enjoyed watching their garden grow and look forward to planting ours at the end of the year.

Daily dictation, besides providing math and literacy practice, introduced ten new sight words and a new writing idea this week.  Students received sections of a short story that stopped on a cliffhanger. On Friday, they independently wrote an ending to the story.

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Week 9: Literacy

In our first literacy block this year, we started working on what I consider a foundational idea for students: understanding and accepting that learning, especially learning to read, takes a lot of time, patience, and practice.

We did this in several different ways and student discussion was very lively! Ideas about things that take time and patience were plentiful, such as gardening,  growing a tree that will bear fruit or grow big enough to climb, learning to drive, knitting, studying for a job, building a house, and saving money. 

We also noticed what students have already learned that is essential for reading. They shared that knowing the letters, vowels, consonants, and the many different letter sounds is important to what they are working on now with reading. Through our activities, students had a new idea that much of what they did in Kindergarten was helpful too; like rhyming word games and rich stories they heard, told, and acted out. Our activities also reviewed the major components of the literacy work we did in first grade and refreshed key ideas we will draw on this year.

This week students heard the fable story first, so the saint story could coincide with the Lantern Walk because both have a similar theme.

The story, the North Wind and the Sun, was brought to life on our woven lanterns this year.  This a fable collected by Aesop that highlights the importance of gentleness and kindness over boasting and force.

This fable was counterbalanced by the saint story for the week; Martin, a Roman man whose compassionate gesture of sharing his warm cloak with a needy person led to a life of service and care for others. We were lucky to have two of my former students and Windsong alumni, Adele Beach and Emma Agee, as helpers in the class on Friday. They helped second graders get extra one-on-one practice time, supported students as they worked through tricky bits of the lantern weaving, and drew a lovely chalkboard drawing from the Saint Martin story.

On Friday we also welcomed Mukogawa students for Kamishibai (Kah-me-she-bye) which is a Japanese storytelling technique where narrators read through a story they have illustrated.

Second graders got the chance to teach some of the Mukogawa students a hand-clapping game we've been using to practice the 3s times tables, too.

 

During daily dictation this month, students have been getting sections of a riddle that they piece together as the week goes on. On Fridays, they guess at the answer. This week, I didn't want to share the correct answer because their responses blew the jokey answer out of the park. 

 Q: When things go wrong what can you always count on? A: Your fingers!

Their guesses were heartfelt and sweet; really highlighting how important the people in our lives are. Their guesses included drawings of moms and dads, families, teachers, and friends.

What a nice reminder that all your hard work is making a positive difference for your child!

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