Cursive Writing in the Classroom (and a shout out to Twinkl.co.uk)

This year, more than others, I noticed that some of my grade three students in particular were struggling with efficiently copying material from the board or from their math textbook. I spent a lot of time sitting with each child in small group settings during guided reading and writing and really analyzed the "why" behind their pokey penmanship; it really was cumbersome and time consuming for a lot of them!

What I noticed was that many students seemed to have no formal training in their letter formation. In fact, in my group of grade 3s, no child composed a letter in the same manner as another. Most of the students were forming their manuscript or printed letters from the bottom and then moving up. Many of them had no sense of tall letters and smaller letters; the lower case 'h' for instance, would be of the same height as the letter 'i'. Spacing between words was an issue as well as organizing their writing on the page.

I thought about this for a long time and watched carefully. The forming of letters on paper was really holding a few of the students back from truly expressing themselves. What could I do to help them?

It was then I considered teaching the whole class cursive writing. After all, most of the lower case letters in cursive start from the bottom, so I would be working at something they already knew and had established in practice. I began to look online for some guiding practice in cursive; and I wanted to find a font that was easily read, but still had the cursive principle within. That is when I stumbled upon twinkl.co.uk

This UK based site is an all encompassing teacher materials site with an entire CANADIAN section AND French materials, too! The site provides instant access to a complete range of teacher created, engaging and inspiring teaching, planning and assessment materials. I was so pleased with their wide array of cursive writing products! My students LOVED, and I mean, LOVED their Letter Formation Posters for Cursive. These handy sheets allowed the students to trace each letter with their finger or a dry erase marker and allowed the students to have immediate success in forming many cursive letters.

Our introduction to cursive writing took about 10-15 minutes each morning. Each student worked through the letters at their own pace, and now, only two weeks later, I have most of the struggling printers now choosing to cursive write without being prompted! What an accomplishment! The pride they have in learning this once considered obsolete task is so rewarding for me as a teacher and for them as learners! I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked!

I recommend that you check out the Twinkl website to see the wide array of materials they have to offer!

And, finally... don't give up on cursive writing yet! For some students, it's the perfect fit!



** Disclaimer: Twinkl has provided me with a free subscription in return for this review; however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

WANTED: #OLDMANWINTER

Independent Novel Project.... May 2013

Dear Students & Parents,

Here is the link to the pdf which has the information regarding the expectations of your novel project:
Independent Novel Project Info

The information is also listed below:

Independent Novel Project

May, 2013

Each student is to select a novel (chapter book) to read between now & May 31. Students may finish the novel project as quickly as they wish, as long as they have asked for my permission to use the book for this project. Students are expected to be reading their novels during silent reading time and using any free time in the school day to be reading or working on their selected reading response (outlined below). 

All novel projects are due on or before May 31.

Students are to complete a formal book report as outlined on next page and also choose one of the following ways to follow-up their reading of their novel. Students are encouraged to be referring to this outline as they are reading so that they can be making notes, jotting ideas and deciding which follow-up best suits their book.

Formal Book Report Format

Every written book report will need to follow these guidelines:

1.  You will need to have a title page with the title of the book, the author of the book, the publisher's name, your name and the date.

2.  You will need to describe the setting in detail. Describe how the setting changes the mood of the story.  This section needs to be labeled "Setting" and should be about five lines in length.

3.  Who are the main characters in your story? Describe at least three people who make a difference in how the story evolves. This section needs to be labeled "Main Characters" and should be at least six lines long.

4.  What is the climax in the story? What event happened that changed the way the story ended? Sometimes there are several climaxes. Choose the one that is the most important to you. Describe what happened in detail. This section needs to be labeled "Climax" and should be approximately 6-10 lines long.

5.  In every book there is a moral to the story, or a lesson that the author wants you to learn. What is the lesson in this book? Think about this. Sometimes it is very subtle. This section needs to be labeled "Moral of the Story" and should be about five lines long.

6.  What did you think of this book? Did you enjoy it or not? Why? Label this section "My Opinion" and be specific in your reasons why you did or did not like the book. This should be about four lines long.

7.  Write a ½ page summary of the book, labeled “Summary”.  Include the problem, but not the ending.  Example:

 This magical adventure is about a boy struggling to learn all he can while he solves life-changing mysteries.  The main struggle is good against evil, and the boy has his friends and some of his teachers to help, but mainly is on his own.  The setting, Hogwarts School, is extremely important to the development and understanding of the story, while adding to the sense of adventure and mystery.  A lot of the events that happen here are impossible in the ‘real’ world, but the bonds shared between the main character and some of his friends, are very realistic.  Read this book and you will be routing for Harry to be victorious in his struggle against Voldemort, to save himself as well as the world.  

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Novel Follow-up Project Ideas:                      Choose one (1).

1)      Write a poem about the book, one character in it, or some other aspect of the book. The poem must be at least 16 lines long, but does not have to rhyme. Orally present the poem to the class.

2)      Make a poster that relates to the novel on poster size paper (11X17). Share the poster with the class.

3)      Write a 1+ page in-depth report on a character in the book. (What traits does the character have? What motivates the character? Is he/she well developed by the author? Do you agree /disagree with the way the character handled events in the book? Why? Would you like to meet the character? Why? Etc.) Orally present the character report to the class.

4)      Write a 1+ page “review” of the book for a newspaper or magazine. Orally present your review to the class.

5)      Write a 1+ page biography on the author of the book. Include a list of other works written by that author. Orally present the biography.

6)      Write 3 new titles for the book. Write 1+ paragraphs (5-8 sentences) supporting each new title. Orally present your new titles paper to the class.

7)      Imagine that you are one of the main characters. Write a diary account of daily thoughts and activities for 2+ weeks (14 days) in the life of your character. Orally present your diary to the class.

8)      Construct a pictorial time line that summarizes what happens in the story. Orally present the time line to the class.

9)      Select parts from the story that were the funniest, saddest, happiest, most unbelievable, most frightening, etc. and write a 1+ page paper explaining and supporting your choices. Pick at least three parts. Orally present the “choices paper”.

10)   Dress like a character in the book and read excerpts from the book to portray that character or act out parts of the book as the character.

11)   Locate phrases in the book that appeal to the 5 senses—hear, smell, touch, taste, see. You must have 2 phrases for each sense. Be sure to tell the page and paragraph of each example.

12)   Find 10-15 vocabulary words in the book that are new to you. Create a crossword puzzle using the words and their proper dictionary definitions. Present the crossword puzzle to the class. 

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the Narrows

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the N - slide show

Grades Pr-6. Every week. Enjoy.

Blog Posts about the Books We Read in Guided Reading

The following 3 entries are about the books we read in groups for Guided Reading.
Maybe you will enjoy them...
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Blog post  -- by Lily, Andy, Emerson, Breagha

In the last couple of days we have started guided reading. And it tells us about health facts.

By: Jeff Szpirgals

Illustration by: Alisa Bald

Title: *That’s gross*
Summary

This has some gross and some cool things in it like…

1) did you know that when you sneeze a thing called mucus comes out and it FULL of germs ( that’s why to must cover your mother)

2) Also…When you chew your food your mouth full up with saliva.

3) And another thing is.. When you get hurt or get a scrap there are little thing in your cut called cells. That with only a microscope.

4) One last thing is. There are thousands and thousands of mites on your pillow when you go to sleep. When you are asleep they eat all of the thing that are in your hair

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Camden, Rochelle, Shazia, Zach M, Dayna

Getting It All Done


By: F. Romall Smalls

This report was about young children that have a very busy schedule. It talks about how kids need to learn to manage their time. According to studies children have less free time than kids did 20 years ago. It talks about managing your time by using a book to write things down in, this is helpful. Some kids cut activities that are less important. Prioritizing is very important in managing a busy schedule. It also talks about getting the proper sleep each night.

Things to help you stay on track:

• Take notes

• To-do-list

• Most difficult first

• Study in a quiet place

• Make a check list

• Prepare for things early.

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Logan, Mikayla, Ailig, Jon, Tyler, Zach C
Keeping fit
By: Peter Winkler

This book is about ways to keep fit and live a healthy life style here is some things that we thought were interesting in the book!

Facts:

• The USDA food guide is the best food guide in the world because it shows you what you should consume in a day.

• Every kid should have at least 20 to 30 of physical activity a day.

• Stretching exercises help build flexibility. If you have flexibility you can bend, twist and turn your body easily.

• Muscular endurance is the ability for your muscles to work over a long period of time.

• Your body must intake water every day.

 • Your body must contain 13 vitamins and 22 minerals a day to stay healthy.