What's Happening in 2A?: July 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Welcome!!

Welcome parents and students to our 2A classroom blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer break. It sure went quickly, didn't it!!! It is my goal this year to use this as our main form of communication. Please check back frequently for updated posts and important information. I look forward to meeting you all and working with your children this year.

Comprehension Skills and Strategies

Distinguish Fact and Opinion: Your child learned that facts are statements that can be proved. Opinions are what someone believes. The words I believe, I think, and in my view are clues that someone is expressing an opinion. Most students are able to state a fact; however, opinions are more challenging. Please practice this at home.

Sequence Events: Sequence is the order in which event take place. Clue words such as first, next, then, and last help readers know when events occur. When your child is summarizing have them sequence the events using the clue words.

Make Inferences: This is a strategy that readers use to understand what they are reading. When making an inference, readers need to fill in information that the author did not include. Readers must combine what they know with details from the text.
Pictures and words (text clues) + background knowledge (what we know) = an inference

Summarize: A summary is a paragraph or a statement in your own words that gives the most important ideas from the text that was read. Step 1: find the main ideas from the selection. Step 2: shorten and combine those ideas.

Categorize and Classify: We can categorize and classify objects, evens, ideas, and characters by how they are alike and how they fit into groups. When students are reading they can find types of things that are similar and group them into the same category.

Monitor Comprehension: Students must ALWAYS monitor their comprehension while they are reading. If they don't understand what was read they need to reread it. When readers are confused they can use "fix-up" strategies. Here is a list of those strategies:
*reread more slowly
*look up words
*read on
*use picture clues
*summarize
*ask for help