Peek at the Week and Upcoming

We had another great week Rooted in Reading! We worked on adjectives, -r controlled words and visualizing the text. 

On Monday we started off with an intro to adjectives. We learned that adjectives are words that describe nouns. They created a bubble map with adjectives that describe themselves. To learn about visualization, we read a poem and then drew what our mental images are. I explained that good readers can visualize in their minds what is happening in the text to better understand the story. Our focus story for the week was "The Salamander Room." For our first read I did not show them the pictures. Then in their spirals they had to draw what they visualized after we read. 

On Tuesday we continued our work with adjectives, discussing that adjectives can describe the size, shape, color, texture of a noun. In their spirals they sorted adjectives into the correct categories. We also continued practicing visualization with another poem, but this time we learned that our mental images change throughout a story. They read a poem that had 5 stanzas, and after each stanza they drew their mental pictures. They were able to see how their mental images changed throughout the story. We read "The Salamander Room" for the second time and I showed them the pictures. 

On Wednesday it was time to learn about salamanders. We read a nonfiction story and they watched a video on YouTube. After the story and video they had to write one fact about salamanders on a sticky note and add it to the class anchor chart. Then we went over the facts and they recorded four in their spirals. 

On Thursday we took our facts and turned it into a paragraph. Each week I am teaching them one new writing skill. Last week we discussed starting a paragraph with an introduction sentence. In their paragraph last week they had to include the intro sentence. This week I taught them that their sentences had to have at least 7 words. We practiced taking a short sentence and making it "longer and stronger" by adding more detail to it. They are starting to learn how to combine sentences to make them more meaningful rather than just writing a lot of short sentences. This will take a lot of practice! When they finished they got to make a cute little salamander to go with their writing. 

We started with a basic sentence, then brainstormed how we could make it longer and stronger. 

We ended our week with our second parent reader! Thanks Mrs. Buchanan! If you haven't signed up yet, please do! 

Here's a look at what's coming up this week:

Contractions, verbs, and inferencing 

Spelling words: haven't, it's, he's, I'm, didn't, who's, she's, can't, isn't, aren't, hadn't, I'll

Wish List items!

Parents, thank you SO much for the items we've received so far from our Amazon wish list!! These are classroom items that we need in our classroom (for language arts). There are still plenty of items left if you'd like to donate!

https://amzn.com/w/1JGPGJKKELQAS

Here are the items we've received so far:

Peek at the Week

I want to begin by giving you an overview of my language arts program. Never in my entire teaching career have I solely taught from one textbook. I have always used author studies, thematic units, novel studies, or something else to guide my week. I always cover every standard throughout the year, but I do not rely solely on a textbook to do it! This year I have adopted a new reading program called Rooted in Reading. It was created by a group of teachers, not a textbook company, so we know they "get it!" I launched the program this week, and oh my goodness, I have seen SUCH a huge difference in my ELA classes. It's only been four days and we've learned a ton! They students have been engaged, focused, and excited about reading! YES! The program focuses on reading comprehension, grammar, and my favorite part, vocabulary. I can already see the students using their new vocab words in context and it is so exciting. I even had one student today call out that he made another connection to our story! I was so happy I didn't even care that he called out!

Anyway, each week during the language arts block we will have a focus story that centers around our comprehension skill. I don't have many of these books yet, so they are listed on the Amazon wish list. I would be so grateful to collect as many as possible! In addition to the comprehension skill we will focus on grammar, vocab and phonics. I will continue to use our Scott Foresman textbook for phonics, leveled readers, and fluency. 

This week in reading comprehension our focus has been on the setting of a story (when and where it takes place) and making connections to the story. Our focus story was "When I Was Young in the Mountains" by Cynthia Rylant. I love this story because it's not a typical book that the students would pick out to read for themselves, but they've really enjoyed it. In grammar we introduced nouns and our spelling pattern is inflected endings.


We started on Monday with an introduction to the first three vocab words: pasture, mound, and and heat. We discussed the words, wrote a definition and then the students drew a picture that will help them remember the word's meaning. The vocab words come from our focus story.

We continued with an intro to nouns and did a noun hunt in the spirals (our readers notebook). We then read "When I Was Young in the Mountains" and discussed the setting of a story. They made their own little books about the setting in their favorite stories. 


On Tuesday we continued our vocab study with the next three words: shiver, dusk and threaten. We also reviewed the different types of nouns and read our focus story for the second time. We focused on how the setting impacts the plot and characters.

On Wednesday we learned how to make connections with a story and why it's important. They made a flapbook with their own connections to the story.

Today we shifted gears and I read them a nonfiction story about the Appalachian Mountains. We watched a YouTube video and they had to take notes as they watched. They recorded three interesting facts from the video. We did a directed drawing and they used their notes to write an informational paragraph about the Appalachian Mountains. I love ending the week with a fun craft or project. It only takes ten minutes and it's such a treat for them. 

In small groups we focused on inflected endings, which are very, very hard for them! Do not worry if your child struggled this week, it's normal and we will continue to practice all year. 


Fridays I give the assessments and then the students have an opportunity to finish up any work that needs to be finished, read, shop for books, or take Reading Counts quizzes.

Thanks to our first parent reader, Mrs Sullivan (and company!)! If you haven't signed up yet, don't forget to do so!

Everything you need to know about Reading Counts!

For my Sunday night post, I'm going to focus on Reading Counts because I have been getting so many emails! Hoping to clear up a few things and alleviate some of the questions.  

What is a Lexile? 
First, your child took the Lexile test the second week of school. The Lexile test gives your child a Lexile measure, which is their reading ability. It can be anywhere from BR (beginning reader) to 1500. Students use their Lexile measure to find books at an appropriate level of difficulty. I will give the Lexile test at the end of every trimester to monitor your child's reading growth. By the end of second grade your child's Lexile should be between 300 and 600. 

How do the Lexile test and Reading Counts go together? 
Students should be reading books that are within their Lexile range, 100 points below to 50 points above. Once they've read a book, they can take a Reading Counts quiz on it. Now, unfortunately not every single book has a Reading Counts quiz. Most books that are Lexiled have a Reading Counts quiz, but not all. 

How do I know if a book has a Reading Counts quiz? 
Step 1. Visit www.scholastic.com/bookwizard 

Make sure you click Lexile Measure, then type the name of your book and click "Find Books."  

I am going to search for Pete the Cat.

You will see that 32 results come up. Information is provided for each book listed. You can see the book's Lexile measure, but more importantly you will be able to tell if the book has a Reading Counts Quiz. It may be hard to see from the screen shot, but look where it says "Reading Motivation Program. If it has Scholastic Reading Counts! beside it, then it has a quiz. If it only says Accelerated Reader, then it does not have a RC quiz. If it does not list any motivation program, it does not have a RC quiz. 

Where do I find books for my child to read?
DO NOT feel like you need to go out and buy a bunch of books! We have a ton of Reading Counts books at school. I have taught your children how to pick out books in their Lexile level that have RC quizzes. They can bring these books home. You will have to remind them to bring the books home if you want them to read at home. Whenever they finish reading a book, they can take the quiz at school. They do not need to tell me that they are ready to take the quiz, they do it independently. If you want to buy books or check them out from your library, visit www.lexile.com for ideas of books in your child's lexile. Once you've found some books, don't forget to check on Book Wizard if they have a RC quiz. 

Should you email me when your child is ready to take a quiz? 
No, please :) We are teaching them to be independent and responsible. If they need to be reminded, please write them a note in their planners. I have told them many times that they are responsible reading, bringing books home if needed, and taking quizzes. Remember, RC is optional, they do not have to do it. 

What is the Reading Counts goal? 
To motivate your child to read, I give them a Reading Counts goal. If they reach their goal by the date, they can have a picnic lunch with me. It is not the end of the world if they don't reach the goal, and remember the RC program is just extra. It's not graded. 

How do I know how many points each book is worth? 
Visit www.scholastic.com/bookexpert 
Type the name of the book, and you will see SRC! points. Chapter books are generally worth more points. 

How do I know how many points my child has?
Every other Friday I will send home a reading report that lists all of the quizzes they've taken. Your child also knows how to check their progress on their own. 

I hope this helps! I will continue to add to this post as more questions arise. But please, remember Reading Counts is nothing to stress about. The fluency passages, spelling homework and IXL are much more important to focus on. 

I will add a peek at the week by Wednesday. 

First Day of 2nd Grade!

Welcome to our class blog! Here you will find pictures, updates, peek at the week and important information for language arts and our homeroom. I update the blog on Sunday nights. I hope you enjoy! And thanks for being patient while I got it up and running :)