My students come to school eager to learn about the world around them. They love to sit down with a friend to read, and they love to talk! Our school is an urban elementary school with many bilingual students who are learning English. Some of our students have recently arrived in the United States and did not have an opportunity to attend school before. Our school has two special programs. We have a bio-smart focus which provides enrichment and challenges in science. We also offer a Spanish and English dual-immersion program, in which students learn in two languages.
Every day I see my students working together, playing together, and engaged in learning about math, reading, writing, and science.
They are a community of learners that cares about each other.
My Project
My students are eager to read and learn about animals. They are asking for sets of books about animals that are similar: lions and tigers, turtles and tortoises, birds and bats, wolves and coyotes.
My students want to be creative and use the facts they learn about animals and the stories to write scripts and poems in Reader's Theater style.
They are learning to write their ideas in sentences and phrases. They may write using repeating lines and descriptive words, action words, and words with onomatopoeia (fun sounds like grrr! hoo, hoo!) to tell about the animals. They may use connecting words to contrast animals with lines like: "Tigers and lions are both cats, but only tigers have stripes." They may also use learn to use academic vocabulary such as carnivore, predator, or nocturnal. Students will practice reading and performing for their classmates to retell facts about the animals they are learning about.
Standing in front of their peers and reading aloud their scripts and poems will help my students grow in confidence. They will become stronger readers and writers. Thank you for helping my students with their learning.
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