Before beginning our reading of this article, Josh and I discussed the definition of a Narrative, and I explained to Josh that Narratives aren't just stories about events, but stories that lead readers to particular feelings and ideas about subjects. To spearhead this discussion, we conducted a "close-reading" of a picture of Obama interviewing several dogs. After much discussion, I had Josh tell me a "story" that he thought this picture was trying to communicate and cite evidence for his beliefs. Afterwards, we worked on Josh's reading and comprehension with the story "The Ashen Guy." Josh is good at recalling some very specific details, but there are moments in the narrative shift from p.o.v. that Josh could not keep track of. For every detail that he recalled from the text, I had him cite specific examples/lines that supported his ideas. In this way, Josh was able to catch some of the details that he made-up in his head. With a subject like 9/11 it was hard to keep Josh focused, and I had to tie every bit of un-related information back to the story at hand.
Ashley began her session by reading a non-fiction Raz Kids book called, Jane Goodall. She was captivated by the information and stopped several times to share her opinion on what she was reading. I could see her activist wheels spinning!! Although she had difficulty decoding some words, her comprehension and understanding of the material was incredible. Before taking the comprehension quiz, Ashley wanted to quickly look up some facts about Jane Goodall because she needed to learn more about her as a person. We followed-up our story that took place in the jungle...with a main idea game called, Jungle Safari. Each player had to navigate the game board by reading cards (many about animals) and finding the main idea. Ashley did very well with this concept.
Grace began her session by working on a fantasy story that she named, A Very Scary Book. She highlighted the sight words, commas, and periods before reading to help with fluency. We discussed how different stories have different tones. This story is a scary story that builds suspense. Grace practiced reading the story with a spooky tone. She whispered while she read and shouted the last word which she was responsible for creating. Grace loved this activity and it showed with her reading fluency. She ended her session by reading a Raz Kids book called, Rain in the City. After reading, Grace took the comprehension quiz and also sequenced specific events from the story.
We spent today working on a basic 5 paragraph essay. I chose Sleepy Hollow as a topic as it is currently Dylan's favorite show. We went over the basic outline and how to do the prewriting. Dylan had a little trouble coming up with ideas, but his thesis and topic sentences were solid. He wrote 4 paragraphs, all of which were very solid.
Grace began her session by discussing the importance of characters in stories. She then listened to the book, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. Amelia is no ordinary character and we discussed all of her character traits and why they make the story more interesting. Grace really enjoyed this activity and had previously read the book so it gave her a lot to add to our character trait list. Following Amelia Bedelia, Grace read a hard copy of Bananas Sometimes, a Raz Kids book. We did a picture walk and identified sight words before reading. Grace did very well with decoding unfamiliar words. When the story was completed, we discussed comprehension questions and Grace worked on finding supporting details for the main idea. The session was concluded by going to the computer lab where Grace listened to Bananas Sometimes, as well as reading it on the computer and taking the computer based comprehension quiz.
I filled in for Liz after they came back from the pumpkin patch. Devon was a little excited from the trip and wasn't in the mood to do any reading. But we did have a very good conversation for the half hour. I was very impressed.
Ben continues to improve. Today we worked on reading comprehension from the SAT, which is a little different in format from what we were doing before. He had a little trouble with the questions based on two different passages, but improved on the next one. I'm very pleased with his progress and think he's in great shape for the FCAT.
I had planned on working writing today, but changed that after talking with Dylan and his mom. He's going to start using a computer in school, and his mom wants him to work on his typing. I showed him the typing games he can use, and we went over "home row" and practiced a bit. Dylan has had some trouble identifying parts of speech, so we spent the rest of the hour going over that.
Phonics, rhyming words, reading comprehension and fluency
Lesson Outline
Grace began her session playing the game, Blend Bluff. The game has many different beginning and ending blends that the player must sound out and find a picture on the playing board with the matching blend. Following Blend Bluff, Grace played Rhyme Time, a game that requires the players to sound out word chunks and come up with 2 words that rhyme. Grace did very well playing both board games. We ended the session by going to the computer lab and working on the Raz Kids program.
Josh and I continued to research and write for his history assignment. Josh has a hard time typing his thoughts, often skipping some words and misspelling others. With help, he was able to articulate his thoughts, but we had to work at a slow pace to ensure that everything was legible and coherent. Josh's knowledge of basic sentence structure needs some work, and in writing he often skips over subject and verb combinations. On the whole, our progress on this project has been a bit delayed, but things have come together nicely in the end. Josh seems to be gaining more insight on grammar and the flow of writing.
