Today we learned to ask questions while we read non-fiction books. We learned to stick sticky notes down on the page and then write the question we had or what we were thinking.
I was reading about snakes and what they eat. I learned that they like to eat small animals like mice and chipmunks. I made the sticky note because I was surprised that snakes only eat 30 meals a year.
Stepping into our character’s shoes and experiencing their feelings is a powerful strategy for developing comprehension, or understanding, of text. We are getting connected with our characters and reading with EXPRESSION! If a character is sad, we read in a sad voice. When a character is excited, we read in an exciting voice. Our little second grade readers are absolute precious and stepped into their character’s shoes beautifully!
Our readers began investigating the genre of fairy tales and the ingredients all fairy tales have, including: good/evil characters, once upon a time, happily ever after, magic, royalty and maybe even a lesson that was learned. Today we looked at a website called Speakaboos where children can read different genres of text including fairy tales. We will have an opportunity to review comprehension strategies, reading with expression (getting into character) and word decoding skills through our study. Looking forward to diving into this imaginative group of books!
Our readers are getting connected to the characters in their books! We are paying careful attention to how our character’s act to identify their feelings and traits. Using sticky notes to mark where a character has a strong feeling or if the character does something unpredictable helps our readers connect to characters.
We are also growing our conversations during our partner talk. We leave thinking tracks through our reading and come prepared to share with our partner a thought, an interesting character behavior, a lesson or what they would do if they were the character.
It is amazing to see and hear the conversations that are happening as well as the care and attention the children give to their reading. *proud teacher :)*
We have a wonderful group of readers! As we take Reading Counts quizzes, the amount of words that are read are calculated. I am pleased to say that our second graders have read almost 1,900,00 words through Reading Counts just in this last trimester ( since March)! This makes my reading heart SO HAPPY! The reading that occurs in the classroom and at home in other texts isn’t included in this number… which means that the total is even higher!
Reading opens the door to new adventures and extended learning. This chart is an example of why reading at home and throughout the summer is so very important.
This week our second graders have been diving into non fiction books. It has been amazing to see the new learning that has occured as well as the non fiction comprehension strategies that are being used.
A non fiction retell is different from a fiction retell in that we retell the facts that we have learned not a sequence of events. For that reason, we use a very important tool called a sticky note ( fancy tool huh? :)). As we read from non fiction text, we leave our thinking tracks by writing on the sticky note our “learnings” and what we could teach others. We talk about our learning with our reading partners, Mrs. Kuieck and our class. I am so proud of our little readers! Check out this sticky note FULL of learning :).
Today we learned how we can wonder while we read non fiction. We had a big sticky note and as we read our non fiction books we wrote down what we learned and what we still wondered. We learned a lot of new facts from our friends.
By: Ellery and Ellise
Have you ever read a book and wondered what was going to happen next or what made a character say or do something? Well, our second graders are using this strategy as they read to help guide their understanding of the text they read. We have learned that we can wonder before we read, during our reading and after we finish a book. When we wonder, we engage our thinking and focus on character’s actions, the setting and inferring what might be happening and why…. SUCH GREAT READING THINKING!!!!
Our children can use sticky notes to keep track of their “wonders” and then reflect on them after reading a text to see if their “wonders” were answered. They really and truly are WONDERFUL WONDER readers!
While we read, it is important that we are checking for understanding to help us comprehend the story. Another strategy that we can use while reading is making connections. When we read a story, we can be reminded of a similar feeling or event in our own lives and make a connection. We call this a text to self connection. The boys and girls have practiced making connections to stories that they have read by saying, ” When I read ___________, it reminds me of __________. ”
We can also make text to text connections ( similarities between stories) or text to world connections ( similarities between a storyline and what is happening in our world). When we make these connections, we relate to the storyline and we gain a deeper understanding of a character’s feelings or actions.
We have some pretty amazing readers AND “connecters” in our classroom :)!
We have a fabulous group of readers!!!! It is amazing to watch our second graders use decoding and comprehension strategies effectively in their daily reading. As we continue to work on the comprehension strategy of checking for understanding, we also are identifying the most important part of a story and journaling about our reading by retelling the story in our own words, making predictions and describing the characters. All of these strategies help us to understand what we are reading.
We also discovered that books belong to different categories or groups called genres. We first examined the difference between fiction and non fiction, then we dug digger into realistic fiction, fantasy, informational and mystery texts. This will be an area of study that we will be working on all year long to help us understand the author’s purpose of writing.
Our second graders also engage in “smart reading talk” as we work with our partners to discuss books, retell events, and discover interesting words. As students listen to a story, they are challenged to stop and think about the reading, and then “pair up for smart talk” with their partner before we share as class. Another way we use “smart reading talk” is through book shares and recommendations. I am so INCREDIBLY proud of our second graders… KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!