Our comprehension skill was sequence of events. To get kids thinking, talking, working, and learning together to retell the sequence of events, each student was given a plain white sheet of paper, folded into 4ths. They each met in their guided reading groups to work on sequencing events using their leveled reader.
We completed this little project over the course of 3 days as a “cap off” to our mini-lessons. Students illustrated the cover and discussed the jobs of the author and illustrator. Next, transition words were cut and glued, in order, to the top of the book pages. Students met and discussed the sequence of events, wrote one sentence on the bottom of each page and drew a picture to match the sentence. We did 2 pages at a time.
After completing retelling in small groups, students were asked to put themselves in the story! Boy, did they love this part! Their task? Write 1 question you’d ask the main character. One of the groups’ books had a fox in it. You know where that one went, right? Ha!
Lastly, students went on a hunt for digraphs. We’ve been working with digraphs and focused on words ending with -ch or -tch. 3 tasks, 1 book……lots of discussions filled with accountable talk! Admittedly, I struggle to find time for us to share our writing aloud. I’m working on it. I’m working on it! BUT, because I knew they were so proud of these, we made sure to share them at the carpet.
AND you want to know what happened?! They WERE beyond proud of themselves. As we were finishing up……they began to chant…Encore! Encore! Encore! {Point taken……I will make more time for sharing.}
….so I’ll continue to see smiles as big as this one!
….and have kid’s happy and excited about reading and writing like Len Leopard was about getting his spots! I apologize for the picture being blurry…I snapped it on the way out on Friday.
In between the writing and discussions lots of learning was had in small groups and stations. Click the pictures below to check out the activities we used.
Do you keep track of what stations your students have visited throughout the week? Here’s the simple system we use in our classroom to do just that. We call it, “Must-Do/Can-Do”.
Every week, a “must do” star is placed on a bin at stations. This activity must be completed by Friday. It is the students’ responsibility to make sure they’ve visited the station some time throughout the week to complete the required task. Do I remind them; yes! Do I make sure they visit the station…no. Again, it is their responsibility. So, how do I know they’ve completed each “must do”?
Students turn in their stations work on Fridays. If the “must do” activity is not in their folder, they must go to the station(s) and complete it, while the class completes a fun Friday activity. This is usually a game or art activity…something they won’t want to miss!
If you can use them, feel free to click the pic to grab them! How do you make sure your students visit all stations during the week?
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful ideas! (My problem is finding SO many things I want to do ~ I wish I could do them all with my students!)
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