Peek at My Week {9-07-14}

I'm not sure where the past week has gone, but here it is Sunday again which means it's time for another Peek at My Week!

Last week was our first week of school so we spent it learning routines, building community, and getting to know each other.  This week, we will be getting down to business.

I'm really looking forward to writing this year.  Several students have mentioned to me how much they love to write and are eager to begin.  This week, we will begin learning about workshop routines and what it means to be a writer.  I found a great resource online that includes a scope and sequence for the year of writing from Portland Schools.  It is amazing!!  If you do not have a writing curriculum and feel like you need some guidance in teaching writing, this is a must see resource!

Source

Reading workshop will begin this week as well.  We will be reading lots of picture books to review the comprehension strategies and begin working on writing response.  It's always good to have mentor texts to demonstrate what is expected and I plan on using snippets from Spaghetti Book Club and This Kid Reviews Books. These two websites are book reviews written by kids, for kids.  Check them out!

We will also begin using my Word Parts We Know program this week to learn new prefix and suffix word parts.  Each week, students learn five new word parts, working to build their vocabulary up in a slow, but steady way.  I have had HUGE success with this program in the past.  Students vocabularies explode as they are able to decode and understand longer and more difficult words.  This has also helped on assessments such as the MAP test where many of these word parts appear.  I am excited to begin!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wishing you a wonderful week!