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| Language |
| Arts |
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| The children are beary busy during language arts time. We are lucky enough to fit in our two hour block in the morning when the buzzing is at a minimum. The program is a balanced literacy approach where all the components are researched and proven to be the most effective teaching practices for first graders. Each hive is a 30-45 minute block of time. The blocks are interconnected enough to allow for smooth transitions, yet different enough to be a refreshing change for the ever moving 6-7 year old! In my class, the reading and writing are theme based. |
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| Working With Words |
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| Read Aloud/Writer's Workshop |
| Guided Reading |
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| This page was created by Barbara Sutterlin. |
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| This is an intense time of reading instruction where the children are flexibly grouped by the strategies they are working on or are struggling with. The children read leveled text to the teacher followed by a play with words activityor a comprehension activity. Text levels range from level 1 to level 30, with 16-18 as our goal by June. The other children are be"hiving" at the literacy centers around the room such as the listening center, abc center, computers, writing center, and pocket chart center. They are heterogenously grouped for these activities and the groups rotate activities daily. Parents are also coming in two days a week to read with children in the hallway. |
| This part of our program begins with a piece of wonderful literature that ties in with our working theme of the time. Before, during and after the reading, we are checking for predictions, connections, and style of the literature. We have a mini lesson on writing two times a week and the other days lead to a bounce off a book where the children are asked to write something that bounes off the story, be it a new ending, a personal view of the story or something else exciting. The steps of the writing process are reviewed and practiced. Words on the wall are no excuse words. Music is played and the noise level is pin drop. |
| This is the first activity of our language arts program. It begins with a shared reading activity where the children read words around the room or visit old poems and stories. It then varies the activity by the day of the week. On Monday, we start off with 3-5 new words to put on the word wall. We write an interactive story using the words. We practice vowel patterns and rhymes on Tuesday. We use tongue twisters to reinforce beginning sounds on Thursday. Finally, on Friday, we make new words from one secret word. Everyday we have a daily practice of the words on the wall with a Chant/Cheer. Be sure to check out our online wordwall to practice the words so far. |