Since early December we have been busy learning to write books written with word patterns. First we started writing lists of items that were related. Next we transformed these lists onto book pages by adding words to create sentences in patterns. Next, we illustrated each page, added titles and page numbers. Since the winter break we have been talking about changing the words on the last page to make a "twist" ending. These ending usually summarized each book and are often similar to each book's title. Each child went back through his or hers stack of completed books, adding a page at the back to create "twist" endings. We checked to make sure all of our books were completed and reported our book count. Most children have completed about 7 books, some as many as 11. Choosing their best work to share, each child took a turn reading and displaying their publish piece on the Elmo document camera. During this "Author's Celebration" we enjoyed popcorn, juice, and rounds of applause. Each child's completed set of books are kept in individual book baskets to be reread often. In the future we will also be making additional books to add to our collections. But for now, we are returning to writing more three page stories about our own lives. We will be stressing writing so that our stories are easy to read both for ourselves and for others.
It's not too late to reply for our upcoming "Math Night", January 20th at 7:00 pm. We look forward to sharing the Everyday Math Program for grades Kindergarten through fourth.
Thank you to our parent volunteers for their support with science, cooking, book check, and classroom activities.
