January Summary 2019
This was a short month, with only 2-3 classes, depending on which site your child is attending. However, we covered some big concepts and jumped right in!
Lessons:
- A story has a beginning, middle, and end. We read Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One by Kate Duke to find out the key things that belong in each section of a story.
- How to write the beginning – hooks and introducing your character(s) and setting.
- How to write the middle – bringing in a problem/conflict, explaining the character’s attempts to solve it, and using transition words to move the story along.
Students keep a journal in which they do free writing at the beginning of each class. After the lesson, I have them do a short practice exercise of what they learned. At the end of class, they usually have 15-20 minutes to work on their own stories, poetry, etc. (it is their choice what they write).
On a related note, I often get questions about spelling. Although we don’t correct spelling until the final stages of the writing process, both reading and writing are great for spelling. I see students attempt a word, stare at it, and then fix it. Sometimes the fix is not correct either, but they are starting to notice that something is not right. If a student is really stuck, I will tell them how to spell something. I often put it on the board and we have a little discussion about the word’s spelling. The other children end up joining in. We had quite a discussion about the different forms of “there” (or their or they’re) last week in San Jose, and how you know what meaning they each have. I believe a useful, teachable moment like this is going to stick with them more than a word list – unless the list is of words they want to learn, are struggling with, or words that follow the same phonetic pattern.
Finally, here is an article with a list of games that help with spelling.
Feel free to contact me with any questions: b11ankoff@gmail.com
