The book club basically uses everything that my teacher uses in our classroom so far. We have launched the Daily 5, C.A.F.E., and Making Meaning, although she has used the Daily 5 the most. There are mornings in the classroom that are solely focused on reading and writing. My teacher seems to use other resources to MEAP prep so we have also been looking at narratives, stories, and poetry. My teacher has been great with launching these programs at the same time without confusing the kids, but rather infusing them together to make them work.
We have reader’s workshop every day where the students have learned how to be good readers. We started by building up our reading stamina, then went into learning how to read with partners, and then reading out loud to partners in an appropriate voice that still has tone and inflection. We have also worked further on individual reading with the C.A.F.E. so the students have had to work on being good readers with comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. My CT has given out “word detective” sheets, taught the kids how to pull out details to summarize a story, and reading out loud to foster fluency and accuracy. She might call on people who aren’t paying attention to tell her what she just said, or even have them speak out loud a summary. She has done an activity where she filled in a summary worksheet while the children are telling her what to write.
Writing is another thing that we do everyday in the classroom. We do writer’s workshop where we practice becoming better writers who can write for a long time. The students have a math journal, science journal, and idea notebook, which is where we practice the most writing. It’s a notebook that my teacher might give a prompt and have the students write as much as they can for 15 minutes. We also fill out summary worksheets that teach them how to write a summary that is not only in order, but filled with detail. Another form of writing we do is handwriting. We make sure that when the students are writing that they not only have quality sentences and details, but also quality penmanship. We have them write about their favorite books as well so that is writing into or through a text.
My classroom also incorporates all of the programs Book Club Plus discussed. You said your teacher also uses Daily 5 and C.A.F.E., we do not use those in our classroom however I know that our kindergarten classrooms do utilize them. Just curious what grade your placed in? My CT started launched all the programs around the same time as well and does a great job of infusing them so that they all work together. Writer's Workshop is devoted a 50 minute block everyday as well. The students are also practicing at becoming better writers who can write for longer periods of time. The students have a writers notebook and writers binder. We do a lot of writing throughout the day so I am always surprised how much students enjoy this writers block. My students also love making meaning. They get excited to work with their partners. Most of our students have been at the school throughout their elementary career and are familiar with these programs so they run very smoothly. The students who are new have caught on very quickly.
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