Geologists at Work! Our science exploration of rocks and minerals continues as our Geologists classify minerals into groups sharing similar properties or characteristics. Check out the gallery section for a great video of them hard at work! We also created a Science vocabulary wall with super Science words on one side and their definition on the other. I call them one star and two star Science words and was quite impressed with the both the self-directed learned and discussions going on. We also have added a bit of music fun to our Science time to help us remember the 3 different types of rocks and for a fun overview of minerals. Although silly, the videos are good resources to refresh our minds on both topics (and maybe even groove a little bit too). Here are the links to the videos: 3 Types of Rocks Video Minerals Video | Reader's Workshop! It makes my day to see so many self-directed learners during Reader's Workshop keeping track of their thoughts with sticky notes! Some even have practiced this great strategy at home! Moving forward we are going to continue to monitor our comprehension and come up with "fix up" strategies to help us should our mental movie go blurry. Also we are going to break into small groups to really dive deep into the world of the story and the growth of the characters. Whew! It's a lot but I am finding (and I am sure that most agree) that as we share our connections and build our empathy for the characters in our books, we open ourselves up to go on journeys and explorations in exciting worlds and with exciting characters! Peer Editing and Crafting Our Storywriter's Voice I told the class that my goal for them is to craft and build such a strong storywriter's voice in their narrative writing that I can read their work and immediately recognize the student who wrote it without even glancing at the name! They are doing a wonderful job of adding details, telling the story step by step, using the 5 senses to draw the reader into their experience and writing and describing the setting of their narrative vividly. At the end of Writer's Workshop we are sharing out our hard work and I must say we have quite the group of dedicated writers! Peer editing has been quite a success as well! I was impressed with the helpful comments and supportive group work I saw! Using an editing checklist, I had them go through and comment on what parts they liked and noticing any small errors in writing conventions. Up next we are going to talk about the difference between revising and editing and continue to use writing partners to support us as we move through the writing process. |