I WONDER

In Miss Lisa's classroom, our students have just completed their I Wonder projects and the presentations began. For several weeks every Thursday, the children could follow their passions and learn about their area or subject of interest. 
After choosing the topic our students carried out their research and had weekly sessions with a teacher to discuss the findings and next steps.
The interests varied, and our young learners became more knowledgeable about butterflies and elephants, lotus plants and Sakura trees.
The research took a while but when the presentations started everyone was excited to see wonderful colorful posters, slideshows and informative booklets. Our young researchers collected the information and images from reliable sources online and in the library, citing the sources accurately. Finally, our students focused on editing and proofreading their materials.
This Thursday many children successfully presented their project and received valuable feedback from their teachers and peers.

Miss Mom and the students practise presenting.

Reading Group

After completing WIDA test with all my 27 students I analyzed and thought over the data. It became obvious that a group of my EAL beginners have similar needs in reading. Their comprehension was low due to the insufficient vocabulary.

Having in mind that we still had five weeks before the end of the school year, I came up with a proposal for my team of classroom teachers. I offered to change our timetable to meet the language needs of our students in a most effective way.

My idea was to group the students with similar reading needs and provide intensive reading instruction with the focus on comprehension. The first morning period suited all the three classroom teachers and the last Monday we started.

I have five students in my reading group. We use leveled multi-copied books from our library. Daily we read a fiction or factual book. My students are engaged in rich discussions of the story plot or facts. With five students in a group, it is easy to make sure that every child participates making comments, asking and answering questions, etc.

In the 45 minutes of the lesson, we do pre-reading activities including predicting, discussing fiction or non-fiction features, reading illustrations and vocabulary check. Next, we read the text, discussing vocabulary, unpacking concepts, highlighting main ideas and drawing conclusions. At the end of the session, we retell stories and make connections.

Shintaro is always the first one to choose the most amazing fact.

Running Dictation

The girls presented a limerick about a man with a flute.

The highlight of this week was the running dictation collaborative activity in Miss Lisa's classroom.
Five limericks were chosen for this activity. Our students had to work in pairs (a writer + a reader).
The children could choose their role. The limericks were placed in the corridor out of the classroom and the readers had to run to the text, read it and then run back and dictate it to the writer.
When this job was done, the students had to learn the limerick by heart and then perform it in front of the class. Our students enjoyed this activity and enthusiastically participated in all tasks.
The performances were entertaining and the children in the audience practiced giving feedback to their peers. 

Limericks outside Miss Lisa's classroom.

Constanza had a role of a reader and a runner.

The girls are practicing their performance.