Reading
Students will be participating in a variety of different reading activities throughout the year. I use a program called Daily 5/Cafe. Students will be involved in a whole group mini lesson followed by a block of time to practice reading. They will make a choice of one of 5 activities; read to self, read to someone, word work, listen to reading, and work on writing. Each choice is designed to reinforce a skill or strategy to improve reading and writing.
Writer’s Workshop
In writing this year, students will be working on monthly units surrounding a specific type of writing. These include narratives, opinion writing, poetry, letter writing, etc. Students will work on becoming more independent writers and editors.
Spelling
Students will be working on patterns in spelling and high frequency words this year. Rather than have students memorize words from a spelling list to store in their short-term memories, Fairfield is using a program called Orton-Gillingham. This program will enable students to review, to learn new concepts, and to apply those spelling concepts in their reading and writing. I will conduct ongoing assessments to monitor what students have mastered but there will be no weekly spelling list sent home or weekly spelling test. Please let me know if you have any questions.
