Week 9

We started our book clubs this week.  We had about 7 books to choose from, and kids were very excited to choose the books.   We discussed how to make a "Just Right" choice for books, choosing a book that was interesting, while at the same time, a good level for each person.  For the most part, the kids were very good at choosing books at their reading level.

They started by creating their cover page.

They worked on their Info artifact.....noting the setting, characters and their predictions about the story.

Then each child got to reading.  They read their book to a set stopping point, where they will have their first meeting.

This week, we also took some time to investigate types of sentences.  We created a foldable about the 4 types of sentences.....declarative, command, interrogative, exclamatory.  We looked at each sentence, and how they are different from each other.  The foldable is a reference tool we can use when we need some reminders about sentences.

Then, we took this information and went on a sentence "treasure" hunt.  We chose  a book from our library and looked for each type of sentence.  

We had a great class discussion about why authors use ending punctuation, and why an author would use different types of sentences.  We decided that it makes stories more interesting to read when their it has a variety of sentences to read.  It also makes it easier to read a story out loud because you know what to do with your voice.

We also challenged ourselves to "fix-up" 3 sentences that were run-ons.  The kids developed their own working definition of how to tell when a sentence ends.  They talked about how your voice stops naturally at the end of the sentence.  We also talked about how each sentence has one complete idea.  When the idea changes, a new sentence begins.