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Criswell - Pathway to Lit (Section Wed 7)

Instructor
Mrs. Meridith Criswell
Department
Language Arts
Terms
2019-2020 School Year


Assignment Calendar

Course Description

 

Class Title:

Pathways to Literature

Code:

E360

Text:

Various Resources

Rating:

2

Prerequisite:

3rd grade reading level

Grade:

3­-4

Fees:

None

Max:

15

Can be repeated? Yes
 

Description: Students will take the next steps along the pathway to a deeper understanding of literature. By reading short stories, novels, and non­fiction texts, students will learn a variety of comprehension skills and strategies that will develop critical thinking and lay the foundation for future literary analysis. Students will refine their writing skills by practicing sentence and simple paragraph structure, engage in thoughtful discussions, and complete creative projects to deepen their engagement with the stories. Much of the reading will be completed independently, both in­class and at­home, so students should be reading at a 3rd-grade level or higher for this class.

Posts

Stone Fox Homework

HOMEWORK: Read chapters 5 and 6 in Stone Fox, and summarize the most important event from each chapter in your summary booklet. Make sure to write at least one complete sentence for each chapter and draw a picture. Also, finish summarizing Ch 4 if you did not finish that in class today.

Stone Fox Homework

In Pathways to Literature, we have been working on finishing our storyboards on Storyboardthat.com to show the plot of Frindle (including conflict, climax, and conclusion). The finished storyboards should come home next week, so be on the lookout for that. 
 
We will started our new book this week, Stone Fox. This is a short novel that we will read both in class and for homework, pairing with some non-fiction texts about dog sled racing and the Iditarod, which starts this weekend.
HOMEWORK: Finish you summary sentence and picture for chapter 1 in the Stone Fox summary booklet we made in class. Read chapters 2 and 3, and summarize the most important event from each chapter in the booklet. Make sure to write at least one complete sentence for each chapter and draw a picture. 
 
If you were not in class, I will post the summary booklet on the website. You can catch up on the reading at:

Frindle Homework

Please read Chapters 13-15 in Frindle for homework. Please keep up with the reading even if you were not in class.
 
It is VERY important that students complete this reading at home because most of our in-class activities will be based on the reading. This can be read independently, aloud with a parent, or by listening to an audiobook - whatever works best for each student. A good read aloud can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdq19h581w
 
There are also "optional" comprehension questions; I won't be collecting these, but the students should review these questions and answer them either orally or in writing. We will have a quiz on Kahoot when they come to class next week, and these are the exact questions that will be on the quiz.
 
Be sure to bring the book to class with you each week.

Frindle Homework

Please read Chapters 10-12 in Frindle for homework. It is VERY important that students complete this reading at home because most of our in-class activities will be based on the reading. This can be read independently, aloud with a parent, or by listening to an audiobook - whatever works best for each student. A good read aloud can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdq19h581w
 
There are also "optional" comprehension questions; I won't be collecting these, but the students should review these questions and answer them either orally or in writing. We will have a quiz on Kahoot when they come to class next week, and these are the exact questions that will be on the quiz.
 
Be sure to bring the book to class with you each week.

Frindle Homework

Please read Chapters 7-9 in Frindle for homework. It is VERY important that students complete this reading at home because most of our in-class activities will be based on the reading. This can be read independently, aloud with a parent, or by listening to an audiobook - whatever works best for each student. A good read aloud can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdq19h581w
 
There are also "optional" comprehension questions; I won't be collecting these, but the students should review these questions and answer them either orally or in writing. We will have a quiz on Kahoot when they come to class next week, and these are the exact questions that will be on the quiz.
 
Be sure to bring the book to class with you each week!

Please read Chapters 4-6 in Frindle for homework. It is VERY important that students complete this reading at home because most of our in-class activities will be based on the reading. This can be read independently, aloud with a parent, or by listening to an audiobook - whatever works best for each student. A good read aloud can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdq19h581w
 
There are also "optional" comprehension questions; I won't be collecting these, but the students should review these questions and answer them either orally or in writing. We will have a quiz on Kahoot when they come to class next week, and these are the exact questions that will be on the quiz.
 
Be sure to bring the book to class with you each week!

Frindle Book Cover
Today, students started reading the book Frindle in class. Please read Chapters 2-3 for homework. This can be read independently, aloud with a parent, or by listening to an audiobook - whatever works best for each student. A good read aloud can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwdq19h581w
 
There are also "optional" comprehension questions; I won't be collecting these, but the students should review these questions and answer them either orally or in writing. We will have a quiz on Kahoot when they come to class next week, and these are the exact questions that will be on the quiz.
 
Be sure to bring the book to class with you each week!
 
As we read, we will practice reading strategies such as making predictions, connections, visualizing, and summarizing. We will also learn skills such as making inferences, cause and effect, point of view, and dictionary skills.

Elementary Language Arts

What a fun week and a great way to wrap up the semester! Thank you for all the gifts and kind notes this week. I feel so lucky that you let me be a part of your family's homeschool journey!
 
No homework in any elementary language arts classes over winter break. Have a wonderful, relaxing holiday, and I will see you in the new year!

Pathways to Literature

Students took home a copy of The Whipping Boy today, which we have been reading in class. Please finish reading the book at home this week (either independently, with a parent, or read aloud). 

The Whipping Boy book cover
We recently started reading The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman in Pathways to Literature. As we read this in class, we will study the rich and challenging vocabulary, use story elements to make inferences, and practice a variety of reading strategies (making connections, asking questions, summarizing, etc).
 
After Thanksgiving, students will start bringing novels home to read, and our in-class discussions and activities will be based on the reading.

Pathways to Literature

Today, we learned about story elements - characters, setting, problem, key events and solution. Then we practiced identifying story elements in well-known fairy tales. For the next few weeks, we will continue to explore story elements through picture books, short stories and videos.

First Day Reminders

It was a great first day at Apex! Students worked on an "All About Me" activity today in class to learn about one another and decorate the room. They should finish it at home and bring it back next week if it was not finished in class.
 
Also, just a reminder for students to bring a 2-pocket folder and a have a section in their binder for this class.