Mrs. Anderson's Blog

Tuesday:  Writing

The kids will read their cartoon connections aloud.  They will also organize the 1″ binder for Comm. Arts by making dividers to separate Language from Reading and creating a section for graded work.  I ask students to keep graded papers until I give them progress reports.  Once the progress reports are handed out they should check each paper to verify that I have entered their grades correctly.

T-shirt money is due Sept. 1.

August Reading Log is due Sept. 2.

Book orders are due Sept. 11.  Parents can now order books on-line!  Your child received an information letter regarding the sign in and password.  I just gave the information to students who thought their parents would be interested in ordering on-line.  If your child didn’t get one for you and you would like that info, just let me know.

Reading:  This week we’ll start Making Meaning after doing one lesson on genre.

MONDAY: Genre pretest and genre Power Point presentation. 

After genre we’ll start Making Meaning with a Power Point  explaining what Making Meaning is and what the behavior expectaion is.  If time allows I’ll read the first book to the kids.

Sorry to not get the whole week typed up Sunday night.  I’ll get the rest of the week’s plans on the blog on Monday. My eyes started closing earlier Sunday night than I thought they would!

We will finish putting information about Book Talks and discussing in detail what is information is required.  The first Book Talk book needs to be chosen by Monday, September 28, 2009.  The books need to be chosen by then so that the students will have time to read their chosen books and prepare. 

I’m doing something new with Book Talks this year.  Students will have the opportunity to record their Book Talk and I will show the recording to the class and grade it then.  I’m sure that some students will jump at this chance.

August Reading Log is due September 2, 2009.  I will continue filling my own log out so the students can view what is expected of them.

Monday:  Reading-Students will finish putting information in the Communication Arts Notebook and completing a survey about themselves for me.

Tuesday: Language- Students will complete a writing survey for me.  Then they will identify a cartoon that represents their lives and write about it.

Wednesday:  Library

Students will take a reading survey.  I will begin conferencing with each student.

Thursday:  Lesson one for writing.  Students will begin to get comfortable with the structure that we will follow all year long.

Friday:  9 different genres will be reintroduced to the kids through a power point presentation.

Aug. 18-21

Welcome to the 2009-2010 School Year!!

I teach Communication Arts, which is grammar, writing, and reading. 

 I’ll teach reading Mon., Wed., and Fri. and grammar and writing on Tues. and Thursday.  This schedule is not set in stone; it’ll be flexible.

Each student needs a 3 ring binder for my class.  Your child will also need a Communication Arts notebook to be used for both grammar notes and reading notes.  This can by a spiral notebook, a composition notebook or a folder with paper.  A spiral notebook, comp book or folder with paper is also needed for a Reading Response Journal.

This first week of school will be setting up procedures and talking about expectations.  The only assignment my students need to be doing outside of school right now is reading and completing the information for the August Reading Log. 

I am filling out my August Reading Log each day so that the kids can see what theirs is supposed to look like.  150 minutes are required for August, and they can start filling in the days starting with Aug. 18.  I have given some information about how to notate different reading materials on the back of the log.  This list can’t cover all different types of material, so I have told the kids to ask about anything else that they may read. 

The one important aspect of the reading logs that I am stressing is that if the students have any questions they need to ask me before the day the reading log is due.  I will help them in any way needed before the day the reading log is due, but if they ask for help on the day the log is due I will not assist them. 

The reading logs will need to be signed by a parent or guardian.  This verifies that the parent or guardian knows that the minutes listed are acurate.