Ms. Hartshorn’s Classroom News

September 13, 2007

Dear Families,

Reminder to parents of beginning readers: You will notice that I am sending the books back home that your child has already read to you. They are marked with a star at the top to show you that I have recorded them. Now, your child may begin a small collection of these books in a special place, like a shoebox, so that he or she can practice these at home as time goes on. Your child will find that in a little while, these first books are way too EASY, and will be moving onto more challenging books, matching the reading skills he or she is learning in school.

We have all begun a spelling program this week. As last year, spelling words will travel home with everyone, but only early readers have these traveling home beginning this week. I have emailed them to the parents of these children this week because your child will need help writing these on index cards or flash cards. I’ll let the rest of you know in a newsletter when other children will be bringing home spelling words. At this point, we’re reviewing spelling patterns from last year, and getting back into the "swing" of spelling practice, so that your child can be more independent with this homework at home.

Ask your child what we made in school yesterday. It has to do with a movie that was quite popular this summer. The movie begins with ‘R.’ Madame Nikki gave each child the recipe for this to bring home last week.

I will us this week’s newsletter to explain the writing process we’re using for writing stories, also called narratives. Your children are learning that a narrative tells a story. We’re also learning that a narrative can have dialogue, and often this helps us develop a skill called voice in our writing. Voice sets a mood, tone or emotion. The way a character says or declares a statement or question, and the way in which a character moves or acts can help establish voice within a written piece.

As we write our narratives, we use picture cues or symbols to help us remember what part of the story we are working on, and what still needs to be decided upon before putting it in words on paper. All narratives at this level of writing include a STAR or character. Some stories have more than one character, but there is usually on one or two STARS. The character often wants something, which is symbolized with a question mark (?). There is a problem or a challenge that prevents the STAR or character from getting what he , she or it wants. This is noted or marked by a cloudburst with lightening bolt.

Eventually, there is a solution or resolution to the problem, which we mark with a light bulb. Finally, a narrative ends by "wrapping it up," which is symbolized with a gift and bow. We’ve discussed that writing "The End" does not mean the story has been finished or come to conclusion. We’ve been working on a special ending called a Circular Ending. This is when a story ends in the same way that it begins. A story that begins with a character going to sleep, dreaming and then waking up, or a story that ends by repeating something that happened at the beginning are both examples of Circular Endings. We are beginning to write our own stories using the outlined components of STAR/character, WANTS, has a PROBLEM, finds a SOLUTION, and ends by WRAPPING IT UP. We are also working to find ways to develop circular endings and surprise endings.

Attached you will find two different ways we wrote a narrative about Betsy-Bat, who’s afraid of the dark.. The beginning is the same, but there are two different endings. This has led us into reading a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book from the library at read aloud times.

Please note that there is one more attachment to this newsletter, which is an overview of our daily/weekly schedule. The afternoons are currently being used for watercolor painting and writing lessons, but will eventually become a social studies/science time as the year progresses.

I will be away tomorrow due to a special family function in New York City. I will be back in class on Monday morning. I have left good plans for a substitute teacher and hope your child has a good Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Brenda