Have Fun With Writing!

I thought you'd like to have some fun showing off your writing skills on the Weekly Reader website this week. Go to www.weeklyreader.com and check out all they have to offer. I especially liked the "Weekly Writer" section. The Weekly Writer is an activity where a published author and kids work together to create a collaborative story. Check out some of the past stories, they turned out really neat! Have fun and make sure you tell me about what you found.

Do Adults Write?

Quick! - ask an adult at home about his or her writing! Respond to this post telling me 1. One thing your adult has to write, 2. Who is your adult's audience and 3. What is your adult's purpose.

Here is my example:

My adult is Mr. F.
1. He has to write equipment proposals for work.
2. His audience is a group of adults who are in charge of all of the money at his work.
3. His purpose for writing is to persuade those adults to buy him the equipment he needs.

Let's make it happen!

What is the one thing you want to improve before the end of the year? It must be school related. Everyone needs to post something specific, but you do not have to put your initials on your answer.

Did you read what I read?

Are you confused with the title of this post? Here's a little hint: the second "read" is pronounced "red". Now that you have added this detail to your schema, read the title again.

So, did you read what I read? Think about it. We have read three books together as a class this year. I'm sure some of you have even read some of the other same books that I have read, like Kate DiCamillo's Desperaux or The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We've even read several of the same non-fiction texts, too. So, in a way, you have read what I've read, but I'll bet the experiences that you had with those texts are different than mine.

You see, you make your own personal meaning from everything you read. You connect your own experiences with the text to make predictions and draw conclusions. This is called inferring. When you infer, you are more able to remember and reapply what you have read. Inferring is a personal, and kindof magical, connection that you have with text. It is when you understand something or predict something EVENTHOUGH the author didn't write it on the page.

Be sure to visit "Into the Book" and practice making inferences. Can you think of a time that you have read something and made an inference? Think of one to post here before Friday, December 11th. Tell me how making this inference helped you better remember and understand what you read.

Crafting Questions

Not all questions are the same. Some questions don't require us to think much at all. Other questions make us stop and really think deeply. To answer these questions we need to access our schema, make connections, and learn new information. Your assignment for this post is as follows: Craft a question about something we are learning in school that will make us THINK! It can be about anything that has to do with anything that we are learning in school (this includes special areas). I can't wait to hear from you!
Mrs. Forseth