Day of Choirs

Today we had an assembly to see the Choirs from Captain, Wydown Middle School and Clayton High School.

Captain's Chorus under direction from Mr. Mayer.

The children sang many songs.

Wydown treated us to some popular songs.

Clayton High School show choir.

Just Right Books

 Students are working on reading "Just Right" books to grow their reading abilities.
What are "Just Right" books? 
These are books your child can read most of the words and retell the story. Plus, they can talk about the book a few days later and tell about their favorite part, connection or have an opinion about the story. We shop for new books to put in our book basket at least once or twice a week. Shopping means to trade in our old books for new books. Many books are at the right level to grow the reader.  Students will have a mixture of Just Right books and picture books in their book basket. Our class knows that it is okay to read the words  in our Just Right books and look at the pictures in our picture books. Many picture books are fairy tales that they know by heart. Some picture books are stories they have heard before and can retell by looking at the picture. The nonfiction picture books are also very popular....especially with the boys.
Also, we know that reading is making meaning of the words. If someone can say words and can't tell what the story is about, then he/she is not reading.  Tonight ask your child to read out loud to you. Talk to them about their story. Ask them questions. You will find they have grown so much since school started!

Crazy Hat and Hair Day

Many children and adults got in the spirit and wore crazy hair or hats at school today.

Thinking Deeply about Books

We are thinking deeply about our reading. Many students are using Post-It Notes to record the many thoughts they are having while reading. Some of the thoughts are: questions, wonderings, noticings, connections, favorite parts, funny parts, or a place where they worked really hard to figure out a word. We share our Post-It Notes with each other and the teacher. Last, we place the notes in our Reading Notebook to save the hard work we do. It is like a scrapbook of our reading work.

Happy Halloween

Thanks to all the parents who helped and donated food. We had so much fun.