Monday, September 16, 2013

Welcome to the Class Blog!

I am very excited to be starting a class blog with this wonderful group of first and second graders.  My hope is that this blog will be a fun way for the children to share and celebrate their learning with you at home.  It will be a springboard for conversions with your child about their school days.  I will showcase special events, activities, writing and artwork on the blog through photographs and hopefully video too.  We will be discussing and practicing internet safety in class and any blogging done by students will be done under supervision.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.  I hope you enjoy this lens into our Grade 1/2 classroom.  It's going to be a terrific year!  Please bookmark our blog, share it with friends and family near and far, and visit us often.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                              Warm Regards,
                                                                                              Mrs. Russo





Last week we discussed what good readers do before and during reading.  They make predictions!  We practiced with a back to school favourite of mine called Wilson and Miss Lovely, by John Stadler.  The story is about a bunny named Wilson who adores his new teacher at school.  However, one morning Wilson finds himself at school all alone, carrying out his daily routines, but something mysterious is drawing ever closer and revealed bit by bit, page after page.  We stopped to predict what the mysterious creature might be.  Using clues revealed under flaps on the pages the students drew and labeled their predictions.


Some of them included...
- a dinosaur
- the ogo pogo
- a fire breathing dragon
- an iguana
- Wilson's teacher in a costume
- Miss Lovely (Wilson's teacher)



Click on the pictures for a closer look!




We also discussed story grammar and worked in small groups to create a Story Map.  We decided that the setting in a story can sometimes change and that there can be more than one problem too.  We'll continue to use this language and framework to discuss stories we read together in class.

After reading with your child, or after they've read alone, talk to them about the characters, setting, problem and solution in the story.