Week 6

This past week, we finished our map panel that covers Portland, 20,000 years ago.  The kids put their knowledge of native trees to good use!  We also made the permanent landforms, hills, cinder cones, and rivers.  These landforms will be the same in each of our maps.

We also started learning more about Portland, 200 years ago, when Native tribes lived in this area.  We used a technique called "Close" reading to create a deeper understanding of what we were reading.  We read the same passage 3 different times.  The first time, we read for the basic idea of the article.  The 2nd time we read, we look for new words, questions, and important points.  The 3rd time we read, we read for clarity....to learn the new words, and to answer our questions.

We are also continuing on with our Journey stories.  We used our maps to write our Rough Drafts of the story.  The maps helped us make sure that we wrote about each part of the journey that we went on.  Afterward, we shared our story with a partner to get feedback on what we can do to make our story better.  Students gave a wish or a wonder to each story. (I wish you would tell more about? or I wonder what happens when?)

We are using this story to teach about the writing process and the steps that every writer takes to write a story.  As students move through the writing process, their name moves to show what step they are on.

There are tips at each step to remind students of what to do during that writing step.

These are stories are going to be great!  I can't wait to share them at conferences!