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Emily Stocker » Weekly Updates (Kwame Alexander Reading Class)

Weekly Updates (Kwame Alexander Reading Class)

10/11/2022
 
This week, your children will continue to read and respond to their novels as I finish assessments for independent reading levels. We will look at the main character and specify how they think, feel, act, and speak (characterization) as well as define the conflict (thus far) in their particular novels. Students will meet together in a group to discuss their summaries and comprehension questions as well as then work independently to prepare their discussions for the next day.
8/24/2022
 
This week, we will get to know ourselves as readers by completing what is called a reading inventory. This self-reflective practice asks specific questions about reading that help to shape what books we are interested in, how we feel about reading, and why we may feel that way. This information will be used to help plan out our first few units of study.
 
8/29/2022
 
We will use two stories, Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting and A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams, to practice how to complete an appropriate reading response. We will discuss pre-reading strategies, the setting, characters, and sequencing. We will also complete an author study as the opening to our One School, One Book initiative for the novel Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate. Students will be expected to begin reading and responding to Crenshaw this week.
 
9/6/2022
 
Students will be reading chapters 4-24 of Crenshaw this week and completing their reading response journals. We will break down a reasonable timeline to read these chapters and complete the appropriate responses together, working on our organizational skills. We will also discuss the grading system for our novel studies. Students will be graded on the following:


  • Homework grade (assigned slides completed and ready for discussion)
  • Completion of Reading Response Journal according to rubric attached (a quiz grade each week)
  • At the end of the novel, the Reading Response Journal will be collected and graded as a test grade. This gives students time to add to their answers both in and out of class as we read, giving them the opportunity for full credit.
  • Classroom discussion participation
 
9/12/2022
 
This week, we will continue reading Crenshaw, finishing through chapter 45. We will discuss the Setting, Characterization (antagonist, protagonist, and how to define those in the story), Conflict, Symbolism, and Tone of the story thus far in class.
 
9/19/2022
 
We finish Crenshaw this week, plotting the major events that happened within the story, diving more into the theme of the novel as a whole, and identifying quotes that are worth keeping in our lives (what did this book teach us?). Reading Response Journals will be due at 11:59pm on Thursday, 9/22. They will be graded and submitted into Powerschool by Wednesday, October 5.
 
9/26/2022
 
This week, we will begin our independent reading. We practiced how to do appropriately respond to reading together with Crenshaw and we are ready to do it on our own! On Monday, students will do a Book Tasting, looking at 8 different books that may pique their interest. We will complete the book tasting and students will receive their first choice in books after reviewing them on Tuesday. Tuesday, we will also break down how many chapters/pages per night are appropriate for each book and discuss the corresponding reading response slides. Wednesday and Thursday, students will be offered time to read and work on these slides in the classroom while I assess students individually using our Leveled Reading Assessment, The Fountas and Pinnell. This assessment tells me where they can read independently, but more importantly, the highest instructional level at which we can read together. The novels they read from this point forward will be at an independent reading level, however, in class, we will work on short texts at their instructional level to enhance their comprehension skills. This small group and individual work will begin as soon as assessments are complete.
 
 
 
10/3/2022
 
This week, we will continue reading our novels. Students will specifically review the setting for their novel as they respond to their reading.
 
10/11/2022
 
This week, your children will continue to read and respond to their novels as I finish assessments for independent reading levels. We will look at the main character and specify how they think, feel, act, and speak (characterization) as well as define the conflict (thus far) in their particular novels. Students will meet together in a group to discuss their summaries and comprehension questions as well as then work independently to prepare their discussions for the next day.