The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to make a truly global connection with more than 1,000,000 students having participated. The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. While there are official tools you can use such as Skype, Twitter, WriteAbout or Edmodo, you choose the tools that will make the most sense for you. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year.
We will be participating in the Global Read Aloud by reading The BFG by Roald Dahl. Each week we will read and discuss sections of the book. Our hope is to connect with another school in the country and share our thoughts about the book with them. We have heard from one third grade class in Illinois about the possibility of connecting so we hope that works out!
Speaking of reading, the children have been thoroughly enjoying reading Stone Fox together during Reader's Workshop. We have read four chapters so far and have used those to talk about how strong readers stop and take quick comprehension and checks by asking "what happened?" and "who was in this part?" and strong readers envision (make a movie in their minds) as they read to better understand what is happening in the story. Everyone is anxious to find out what will happen next in the story! Ask your child to tell you about the characters in this book!
In writer's workshop, we have been working on conventions (grammar, usage, mechanics) in sentences and the structure of paragraphs. Through modeling and independent practice we have found that paragraphs contain a topic sentence, detail sentences that support the topic, and a closing sentence. Be sure to ask your child about the paragraphs he or she wrote this week. Next week, we will begin our first writing genre unit: persuasive or opinion writing.
During math, we continued to work on subtraction and addition strategies. We also did a bit of measuring this week and completed a scavenger hunt in the classroom, looking for objects that were a certain number of centimeters long. Then the children solved some story addition problems related to those measurements. What strategies does your child use when adding or subtracting double-digit numbers...jumping on a number line, drawing a picture, decomposing a number based on place value? Ask them...you'll be amazed by their math thinking!
Lastly, we send home your child's first reading homework assignment for the month of October. Your child should have brought home a reading log to record minutes read this month. The goal is to read 500 minutes in October. Please return the reading log at the end of the month. If your child meets the goal and returns his or her reading log, he or she will be invited to a Lunch Bunch with Ms. Deb and Miss Niles! Happy Reading!
We will be participating in the Global Read Aloud by reading The BFG by Roald Dahl. Each week we will read and discuss sections of the book. Our hope is to connect with another school in the country and share our thoughts about the book with them. We have heard from one third grade class in Illinois about the possibility of connecting so we hope that works out!
Speaking of reading, the children have been thoroughly enjoying reading Stone Fox together during Reader's Workshop. We have read four chapters so far and have used those to talk about how strong readers stop and take quick comprehension and checks by asking "what happened?" and "who was in this part?" and strong readers envision (make a movie in their minds) as they read to better understand what is happening in the story. Everyone is anxious to find out what will happen next in the story! Ask your child to tell you about the characters in this book!In writer's workshop, we have been working on conventions (grammar, usage, mechanics) in sentences and the structure of paragraphs. Through modeling and independent practice we have found that paragraphs contain a topic sentence, detail sentences that support the topic, and a closing sentence. Be sure to ask your child about the paragraphs he or she wrote this week. Next week, we will begin our first writing genre unit: persuasive or opinion writing.
During math, we continued to work on subtraction and addition strategies. We also did a bit of measuring this week and completed a scavenger hunt in the classroom, looking for objects that were a certain number of centimeters long. Then the children solved some story addition problems related to those measurements. What strategies does your child use when adding or subtracting double-digit numbers...jumping on a number line, drawing a picture, decomposing a number based on place value? Ask them...you'll be amazed by their math thinking!Lastly, we send home your child's first reading homework assignment for the month of October. Your child should have brought home a reading log to record minutes read this month. The goal is to read 500 minutes in October. Please return the reading log at the end of the month. If your child meets the goal and returns his or her reading log, he or she will be invited to a Lunch Bunch with Ms. Deb and Miss Niles! Happy Reading!
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