Life Is Full Of Small Moments

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This week in Writers Workshop we began a new unit of study. This month we will be learning how to zoom in on a small moment in time and stretch it out across a story. We have been getting inspired by reading several examples of small moment stories by famous authors like Donald Crews. We have also been helping each other to understand what a small moment is by using the analogy of a watermelon and a seed. A watermelon (or big idea) story might be one about a camping trip. The seed (or small moment) might be roasting the perfect marshmallow over a crackling fire. The young authors are creating some beautiful pieces and are beginning to understand how to create a strong picture in their readers mind by using details.

In Readers Workshop this week we began to meet in our guided reading groups. In these groups we read lots of different genres, do word work and learn comprehension skills that help us to understand what we are reading. The students also have their own reading journals where they respond to their reading. In our new unit of study we are learning about the different strategies that strong readers use to figure out tricky words. So far, we have learned that readers get their mind ready by looking at the front and back cover, they slide through the whole tricky word from beginning to end, they try different pronunciations and they use all that they know about the story. At the end of readers workshop the readers share about how they used the strategy to figure out a tricky word in their independent reading.

In math we continued to look at patterns that grow in a predictable way. We practiced discussing our mathematical observations with our dyad partners using structured math talk. The dyads are an incredible way for everyone to have their math ideas heard. Through these dyads we have realized that when it comes to patterns there may not be just one way of thinking about how they change. The dyad partners have been doing an amazing job of respecting the ideas of their fellow mathematicians and are coming up with some impressive conjectures about growing patterns.

Lastly, this week we got the opportunity to join together with Miss Kate's class of first graders for our first Four Winds Science Workshop of the year. After learning about leaf eating insects and how they are connected to the web of life, we looked closely at patterns that these animals create in the leaves that they eat. We also got an opportunity to search for some examples of these leaves on the ground at Allen Brook School. We look forward to learning more about the earth's many ecosystems throughout the year in Four Winds.

The slide show above is from our Writing Celebration with Ms. Roger's class last week. Please enjoy the photos.

Happy Fall!