Calling All Mystery Readers!

This year in 2F we are going to be having mystery readers! I would like to invite any parents, older siblings, grandparents, relatives, or other special people to surprise your child by being a “Mystery Reader” this year in our classroom. Students LOVE having their family and friends visit our classroom to share in our learning by reading a favorite story aloud to our class. Mystery Readers will visit the classroom on Fridays throughout the school year. Try not to tell your child that you are coming into the classroom. Be sure to look for a calendar signup sheet in your child’s folder the first week of school. We look forward to listening to our Mystery Readers!

New School Calendar

Please click here to view the 2010-2011 school calendar.

Bucket Fillers

This year we will be doing a character development program entitled "Bucket Fillers." The idea of Bucket Fillers is that each day each student comes to class everyday with a bucket. If they come to school with an empty bucket it means they are sad, and if it is full it means they are happy. By being kind to one another, we can fill buckets, but by being unkind to one another we can empty buckets. The goal is for buckets to be full each day in 2F. Students who are Bucket Fillers will receive recognition of their kindness.

In 2F we will launch this idea of being a "Bucket Filling Class" by reading three of the books published on Bucket Filling: How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids, Have you Filled a Bucket Today? and Fill a Bucket. Each student and teacher will have a bucket with their name on it. Their bucket can be filled up or emptied based on their interactions throughout the day. The first time a student fills up their bucket they will receive a special prize!

Daily 5 and CAFE

The Daily 5 is a management system that I will use during reading to allow students more time for independent reading activities and myself more time for independent and group conferencing with students. The Daily 5 helps students to develop "stamina" by practicing 5 specific reading tasks daily until they have developed the ability to complete these tasks for a prolonged period of time without interruption. These five tasks are:

Read to Self

Read to Someone

Work on Writing

Listen to Reading

Word Work

As students become independent in these tasks, the teacher can allow students to independently develop reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary while he works with students to sharpen those skills even further. Through Daily 5, students also learn that there is more than one way to read a book and that each way of reading a book makes them a better reader. Practice some of the ways of reading a book at home with your child!

Read the Pictures

Read the Words

Retell the Story

The Daily 5 also fosters an awareness in readers unlike any other. Students are encouraged to select books that are "Good Fit" books for them. They should be books that interest them but that also are not too hard and not too easy. We even recall the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears when we learn about "Good Fit" books because we are reminded of Goldilocks finding the things that were "just right" for her in that story! When your student wants to find a "Good Fit" book, encourage them to use the "Five Finger Rule."

Look at the cover.

Read the Title and the Author.

Read the blurb on the back.

Flip through the book.

Read the first page.

Use the 5 Finger Rule (fingers represent unknown words on one page):

0-1 Fingers - Too easy

2-3 Fingers - Good fit

4-5 Fingers - Too hard

But most importantly, I want to make sure that students are reading books that interest them in a way that makes them want to read more and read on. For this we use our I-PICK strategy to gauge interest in a book to decide if it's the right book for us. Not everyone will like the same book -and that's ok!

I choose a book.
Purpose - Why am I reading it?
Interest - Does it interest me?
Comprehend - Do I understand it?
Know - Can I read most of the words?
(This is where a 5 Finger Strategy should be used.)

Click here for more information on the Daily 5.

CAFE

CAFE is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary - all of the essential elements for building a strong reader! With each letter from our acronym come many lessons, activities, and strategies to develop the areas with which your student struggles. Through individual conferencing and small group meetings, I will be able to deliver lessons that are relevant to the students who need them and focus my attention on their specific development in areas where they are weaker. By using CAFE in conjunction with the Daily 5, I will be able to engage all students in independent, meaningful reading activities while allowing myself time to meet with students individually or in groups to focus on their specific needs.

Click here for more information on the Daily CAFE.

In Great Anticipation...

I hope that you are all enjoying your summer and surviving the heat. I am taking some much needed time to relax so that I can be reenergized for the start of the 2010-2011 school year. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the "Team Ferrell Blog" will be up and running at the beginning of the school year. I am looking forward to sharing our classroom highlights with you, and I am also looking forward to an eventful school year full of many exciting learning opportunities. Continue to enjoy your summer, and I will see you on August 19th at the Meet and Greet...I can't wait to meet all of my mystery second graders!