Read With Me

Did you know that Bill Peet used to be an animator for Walt Disney?  We were so excited to learn that!  In fact, it made total sense to us after we saw pictures from Ella,

and compared them to what we remembered of Disney’s Dumbo.

Bill Peet was one of the animators that worked on this famous movie!

As we learned about Bill Peet’s life on his website, we were very interested in what we learned!

Click on one of the links below to read some of the facts we recorded as we learned about his life:

bill-peet-notes-blue-team 

red-team-bill-peet-notes

Check back soon for more Bill Peet projects and information!

We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you?

Did you hear it?  Did you hear the noise?

On Friday afternoon, all of the third, fourth, and fifth graders met in the dining room for a brief (yet fun) FCAT Pep Rally.   We HAVE spirit.  We ARE ready.  We WILL rock that test.  If you don’t believe me, take a moment to watch for a second…

FCAT Pep Rally from Jenny Nash on Vimeo.

Remember to help your child do their best on the FCAT this coming week by remembering a few simple things:

1.  Eat a good dinner and get to bed early each night.

2.  Wake up early enough to eat a healthy, filling breakfast.

3.  Be on time to school each day.  (Students will not be permitted into the room tardy.)

4.  Help your child stay relaxed at home throughout the week.  Help them keep a positive outlook by cheering them on daily with lots of love and encouragement.

This week we will not be assigning homework, but we WILL expect you to continue to read nightly.  Also, feel free to continue to practice nightly on FCAT Explorer….it’s fun and focused!

Better late than never, right? Nothing was holding these authors back as they turned in their reports last month.  Here’s a few pictures of our published authors that exciting Friday…

Last week, Kyle was our Adventurer of the Week.  As you know, this lucky student has the opportunity to bring in something special to share with the class.  Kyle’s “show and tell” captured our attention - and our hearts.  Here’s a quick clip of the cutie-pie we met.

chinchilla from Jenny Nash on Vimeo.

We’ve been learning a lot lately about test-taking.  We’ve had so much to do, it’s been hard to keep you all up-to-date.  So, we’ve decided to “kill two birds with one stone”.  Please take a moment to welcome our newest addition — our Test-Taking Genre Study Wiki! 

We’re using this as a whole group tool to record our findings as we analyze tests and test questions, review our test-taking strategies, and, in general, become EXPERT testers. 

Take a few moments to investigate what we’ve worked on so far.  Be sure to come back soon to stay informed!

“The right action of all of us is made up of the right action of each one of us. Unless each of us is determined to meet the duty that comes to us, we can have no right to expect that others will meet the duties that come to them.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

No one can deny that we are living in trying times. All around the country, our friends, relatives and acquaintances are suffering. On Monday, your friend was laid off. Last Friday, you heard about your relatives living without power and water as their homes are buried in ice. Two weeks ago, your neighbor left with his unit for a tour in Iraq. Your spouse is worried about their job security. Discount stores are advertising entire store clearance sales. We are all hurting in some way. If we are not yet hurting, we are just waiting for it to trickle down to our house, our job, our bank account. We know it is coming.

Your child’s school is not immune.

Duval County expects to suffer from a $170 million budget deficit for the 2009-2010 academic year. All the facts tell us there is NO WAY to “trim the fat” and balance this budget crisis without affecting the classroom. In short, your child will suffer.

It is important to understand that this problem, this CRISIS, is not limited to Duval County alone. This fiscal crisis is statewide. The state of Florida was ranked 47^th out of 50 states in tax revenue prior to the passing of Amendment One, which served to further reduce our state taxes. Regarding the total amount of funds allocated and spent on education, the state of Florida is ranked 50^th in the nation. I ask you, does this represent your priorities? I doubt it.

As voters, we share a heavy burden. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves with accurate facts. It is our responsibility to make our voices heard. It is our responsibility to act.

As parents, we are alone in our burden. It is our responsibility to advocate for our children. It is our responsibility to fight for their rights, for today and for their future. If not us, then who?

If we do not meet our duties, we cannot expect others to meet theirs.

I urge you. Educate yourselves. Research the facts. Go to the source. Ask questions. Speak out. Make demands. Do not accept it as fact because others believe it to be true. Ask yourself, is 50^th good enough for your child?

Recommended Resources:

Critical Focus: DCPS Education Budget

School Matters on WJCT

50th No More (A nonpartisan organization)

Want to know what other Floridians are saying?  This was frightening…be sure to read the article AND the comments.

Plan to attend the community budget meeting at Fletcher High School on Wed., February 11th at 6 PM.

As a young reader, the assignment to “take notes” can be rather overwhelming.  (In fact, that assignment can be overwhelming to even a mature reader!  I have very vivid memories of sitting with a college textbook - by the pool - highlighting practically everything in the book, thinking to myself, “It’s in there. It must be important!”) In short, study skills do not come naturally to most people.

This week, as students have begun to dive into their research for their reports, we have employed a 4-step note-taking strategy called “Read - Reflect - Write - Review”. 

1.  Read - Students should read the a paragraph or small section of the text about their topic.

2. Reflect - Readers stop reading and think about what they’ve just read.  In fact, it is helpful sometimes to actually look away from (or cover up) the text to force the reader to process their reading.  (If they look away and can’t think of anything, they should reread.)

3.  Write - Based on this thinking, students should take the time now to jot notes about what they’ve read.  These thoughts can be facts/details from the text or ideas/questions/thoughts from their inner voice.  (Note: a good note-taker will have roughly an even balanced amount of thoughts and facts.)

4.  Review - At this time, a good note-taker double-checks their notes against the text.  It is important to make sure key terms are spelled correctly, and dates, names, facts are accurate. 

After our initial trial with this strategy, we quickly realized our questions were easily lost in the list of facts and details.  This was a problem for us, as we’ve just learned that our questions are so key to our understanding.  Consequently, we called upon an old, familiar friend for help: two-column notes.  

By organizing our notes into two columns, we can quickly and easily see our questions for future reference.  It’s simple to do, too.  The left column is headed “Facts/Details“, while the right column is reserved for “Thoughts/Questions“.  We even found that it worked best to keep facts and questions about the same topic grouped side-by-side.  Here’s two examples:

 As you’re at home this week, readers, working hard on your research, remember to use the good thinking and note-taking strategies we’ve been practicing in class.  Don’t forget to go back and review your notes and questions periodically, remembering to keep your questions in mind as you read. 

Happy researching!

It took some time, I apologize.  However, I’ve finally been successful in getting our next chapter of Poppy, written by Avi, delivered to you this weekend.  Enjoy!

Your readers and I have talked a lot this year about listening to our inner voices as we read.  We’ve referred to these wise words once spoken by LaKeisha, a 9th grade reader from San Fransisco, many times.

“There should be a little voice in your head like the storyteller is saying it.  And if there’s not, then you’re just lookin’ at the words.”

This week, we’ve been focusing on what to do when that inner voice asks questions.  We know we shouldn’t ignore it…but what should we do?

1.  Good readers listen to those questions.

2.  Good readers RECORD those questions.  We’ve practiced using sticky notes or writing them in our reader’s notebook.

3.  Good readers keep those questions in mind as they continue to read, using those questions as a purpose for reading.

4.  Good readers understand that you don’t always find all the answers in the text.  Don’t be discouraged by this.  Remember your strategies to find answers and try something new.

Now, please take a moment to view the embedded voicethread to learn a little more about questioning as you read.  I hope you find some useful information!