This week in Reading...

Students have been busily working in their reading classes this week. We've had many things going on from reading about Alien Invader species to what happened in Africa during the reign of Apartheid in Read 180.

I've attached a few links to check out some things that may be of interest and connect to the stories we are reading about this week. Click on the links below to fill your brain with knowledge!

8th Grade Read 180

This week we will be focusing on Workshop 3- Long Journey to Justice. Our first reading is titled “Diamond Land” that is a fictitious story written by Rita Williams-Garcia who is famous for the twists and turns she adds to her writing. The story follows a young African boy who goes to work in the Diamond Mines of South Africa during apartheid.
Here are a couple of links that give you some idea of what life was like in South Africa during apartheid. Try looking it up on your own to see what you can find. I’ve also added a link to the author’s homepage.

http://www.ritawg.com/



http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/apartheid.html#THE%20HOMELAND%20POLICY

http://www.un.org/av/photo/subjects/apartheid.htm

6th Grade Read 180

We are learning all about Alien Invaders and just how dangerous these unnatural plants and animals can be when they are taken out of their home environments. Check out these websites to see some of the animals we've been learning about.

Chinese Snakehead Fish:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/snakeheadinfosheet.html



Brown Tree Snake:

http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Resources/Education/BTS/

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/bts_child.shtml

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's holdiay was filled with relaxation and lots of food! It good to be back in the saddle and running full speed ahead into 2009. We are taking the first part of this week to get familiar with our next Workshops in READ 180 and my READ 1 class is gearing up for another story to dissect.

Regarding READ 180 classes there will be an exam on Wednesday, January 7th that will consist of several parts, one them being the Mulitple choice exam. I distributed study guides today and hope that everyone will be studying diligently. Along with preparing for our exam we have to stay up to date with our reading logs.

In my last blog I described the Predicting and Questioning strategy for readers. Today I'd like to introduce Context Clues for your arsenal of comprehension strategies.

CONTEXT CLUES

Context clues come in handy especially when you don't understand the meaning of a word.


How to use this strategy:

Use this strategy during your reading.
Use the words and sentences around the word you don't understand to guide you to the meaning of the unfamiliar word. If you can understand the context in which the word is used it will help to understand the meaning.

Context Clues help:
- To understand a vocabulary term or idea in a text
- To clarify or expand a meaning
- To increase comprehension



HAVE FUN!!!