Vacation Fun

Happy New Year!  I hope all of you are having a wonderful vacation with your families.  The week has gone by sooo fast!  This vacation, like last year, may have been a little different than in years past, but I hope all of you were able to relax, enjoy some family time, and have some fun.  I can't wait to hear what the children enjoyed most over vacation.  Add to the padlet below a picture or two or even just a sentence about something you would like to share about your vacation.  On Monday, each of us will be choosing one special vacation moment to write about.  This padlet can help with our brainstorming when we're all a little tired as we settle back into our routine. :)

We can label!

Parents, do you know what it means to label? After today’s lesson, I hope your children have a better understanding of what it means to label a picture. A label gives the reader information about the picture.

So far during Writer's Workshop, I have been encouraging students to label themselves in their illustrations as "me" so the reader knows which character they are.   

With our apple picking field trip cancelled again due to weather, I knew we had to do something fun.  During today's writing lesson they got to label me, the teacher!

Yes, they can!

After, they had the opportunity to practice labeling on their own.  They each got a post-it and labeled something in the room.

I encouraged the children to go home and label the things around their homes – the couch, a table, a book, anything! Food and toys were suggested by students.  Rumor has it that pets, brothers and sisters, and you might be getting labeled tonight – just a warning ;).

When they labeled, I asked the children to listen for and write the first sound of the object and, if they were able to, listen for the last sound as well.  For those who like a challenge, they tried the first, a middle, and a final sound! Associating the sound with a word they are familiar with is always helpful (i.e. giving the clue /t/ like top if they are trying to spell table).

Labeling helps us to understand information in pictures and is a precursor to writing sentences. During Writer’s Workshop, I have modeled and the children have practiced beginning with an idea, illustrating it with great detail, and then labeling the people and things in their pictures. Eventually, they will be able to use those labels to develop their story and formulate sentences.  Children are learning that good writers have enough detail in their pictures to tell the story.  With a little more practice, your child should be able to confidently say "I can label a picture!"

I would love to share with the class what children labeled at home!  You can add a photo or sentence or two to the padlet below.  Simply double click in the large, yellow padlet box, add your child's name as the title and either click on the upload arrow to upload a picture or just write a sentence telling what your child labeled.  If you would prefer to email me a picture, I am more than happy to add it to the padlet for you!

If your child draws pictures or writes cards to friends and family, encourage him/her to listen for the beginning and ending sounds or the beginning, a middle, and an ending sound when labeling their illustrations.  The spelling doesn't have to be perfect!  I like how my neighbor teacher, Mrs. Murphy, reminds her students they are doing "young writer" spelling.  I encourage my students to do their best to listen for the sounds they hear when stretching out a word and to use those to sounds to spell.

Happy Labeling!

Vacation Fun

Happy New Year!  I hope all of you are having a wonderful vacation with your families.  The week has gone by sooo fast!  This vacation week was much different than in years past, but I hope all of you were able to relax, enjoy some family time, and have some fun.  I can't wait to hear what the children enjoyed most over vacation.  Add to the padlet below a picture or two or even just a sentence about something you would like to share about your vacation.  On Monday, each of us will be choosing one special vacation moment to write about.  This padlet can help with our brainstorming when we're all a little tired as we settle back into our routine. :)