Weather Skype with 1D in Texas

We skyped with a class from a suburb of Dallas, Texas, USA to talk about the weather.
In New Zealand, it was 8.30am on Tuesday - our day usually begins at 8.50am so we had an early start. 
In Texas, it was 2.30 pm on Monday! 

What did we find out?

In New Zealand it is spring.

In Texas it is fall (autumn).

We measure temperature using degrees Centigrade (˚C).

They use degrees Fahrenheit (˚F).

In summer, an extremely hot day in Reefton might be 35˚C (about 95˚F).

A really hot day in Dallas, TX might be 100˚F.

This morning in Reefton the day was quite cool, and the temperature was about 10˚C (50˚F).

The temperature in Dallas, TX was about 80˚F (27˚C).

We had some time to compare notes about our classes.

We have 20 students. We are Year 1, 2 and 3s, and we are mostly aged 6 and 7, with one 8 year-old.

1D has 22 Grade 1 students, all aged six.

Both classes love doing Daily 5 at reading time!

Winter is the favourite season of Brooks, from 1D

Braedyn from B4 said his favourite season is summer.

We live in a community of just over 900.

1D live in a community of 35,000.

We live one hour away from a beach, but we have a school pool, a town pool and the river.

The children in 1D would need to drive for nine hours to get to a beach! However, they have a rec centre, and lakes, and backyard pools.

Which place is generally hotter - Reefton or Dallas?

What is your favourite season and why?

Learning to Spell with Chunks

We're trying out a new spelling system in B4 this year, 

called Chunk Spelling.

Mrs McK read about it in this blog post.

Each Friday we use our consonant charts and our blend & digraph charts to brainstorm words for 

the next week's new chunk.

Then we brainstorm big words with the chunk in them too.

Finally, we choose words for our spelling notebooks, to practice at home and at reading time during Daily 5.

Everyone is being challenged at just the right level for them!

What do you do to learn new words?

Can you suggest some more big words with the -at chunk in them?

Watch this video to learn about digraphs:

Check for Understanding

One of the strategies we use every time we read is to 

check for understanding.

As we read a page, or even a paragraph, we know to stop and ask ourselves who is in the story and what is happening.

Our song helps us to remember our strategy!

Check for Undertanding from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Leave us a comment about who is in the book you are reading, and what is happening!

Playing with Words

We've been discussing how effective writers like to play with, and have fun with words. 

Six year-old Jamie has had fun playing with words.

We hope you enjoy this story that she wrote independently as a  Daily5 choice at reading time today.

What did you enjoy about Jamie's writing?

CRASH!

Emily's dad has been training on his bicycle because he and a friend are going to be riding their bikes in Tibet soon.

He has been building his stamina for bike-riding, just as we build our Daily 5 stamina for reading!

But last week he came off his bike while training.

Look what happened!

Just as well he was wearing a helmet or his head would have got smashed!

Do you have a sport that you build stamina for?

What else do you build stamina for?

Have you ever had a big crash off your bike?

Back Up and Re-read

This is the final of our daily 5 strategy songs for now. 

The third strategy we are sharing is to back up and reread if the story stops making sense. 

Good readers often use more than one strategy at a time, 

for instance if we 

check for understanding 

and realise the story doesn't make sense then 

we can back up and reread and 

we might even need to 

cross-check 

some of the words we read!

The 'Back Up and Re-read' Song:

(Tune: B-I-N-G-O)

I read a bit and now I've found

I really just don't get it.

Now what should I do?

Now what should I do?

Now what should I do?

I'll back up and re-read it!

(Via Ms Durning's 2nd grade class)

Have you ever had to use two strategies together when you were reading?

What were they?

The Cross-Checking Song

We've been using our Daily 5 strategy songs 

for our weekly poems.

This week's song is all about cross-checking as we read.

(via Ms Durning's 2nd grade blog)

Cross-checking song 

(Tune: Do your Ears Hang Low?)

I am stuck on a word

but I know just what to do,

I will look at the letters

and then at the pictures too.

Does the word that I think it is

make a lot of sense?

This is called cross-check!

Check for Understanding

It's always important to know what we are reading about 

so we love using this song  (via Ms Durning's 2nd grade blog)
in our Daily5 program 
to help us remember to use 

the reading strategy of 'Check for Understanding'.

Sing along with us:
(Tune: Hokey Tokey)
You have a great new book
and you've started to read.
You know a lot of words
but there's something else you need.
You must Check for Understanding,
ask 'Who?' and also 'What?'
That's what reading's all about!


What strategies do you find useful when reading?
What great books have you read lately?

A Typical School Day

The classes are talking about a typical school day on the 

Our World, Our Stories blog this week.

B4 have made a video to share our day. 

Here's a preview picture!

Head on over and check out the videos and comments.

B4, what else do we do at school that we didn't get the chance to show in our video?

Daily 5 in B4

All year we have been using Daily 5 to organise our reading time.

Daily 5 involves making choices from

Read to Self

Read to Someone

Work on Writing

Listen to Reading

Work on Words

We usually get three choices in a session, so lots of time is spent on reading and writing. 

During this time Mrs McKenzie is conferencing with individuals or working with small groups 

on their strategies for reading.

We've worked on building up our stamina over the year and each round is usually 20-25 minutes long.

We really like Daily 5 because of the choices we get to make, and we know we are becoming much better readers and writers.

Take a look at how focused we are!

Daily 5 in B4 on PhotoPeach

What is your favourite part of Daily 5?

What strategy are you practicing at the moment?

What book have you enjoyed lately?

Read to Someone ... in Australia!

One of the choices we have each day in our reading programme is 'Read to Someone'.

It is always a popular choice.

Students usually sit side-by-side and can either take turns reading pages of the same book, or take turns to read pages from their own books.

At the end of each page they check for understanding - who the page was about and what happened.

Today Jack and Nikki read to Georgia and Tessa  - at 
Harston School in Victoria, Australia!

Now everyone else is looking forward to their turn!

How does reading to someone help us to become better readers?

What book are you reading at the moment?

http://mrsw.global2.vic.edu.au/2011/09/01/read-to-someone-skype/