Dr. Johnson's Reading Blog

As I may have shared earlier this week, I said I would send out more specific information on some research I will be conducting in our classroom within the next few weeks. I am about to begin the second phase of my dissertation research. The first part took place during a trip to Oregon in which teachers from CFI conducted climate change research alongside Dr. Brian Helmuth, former CFI parent and leading researcher in climate studies. While working alongside Dr. Helmuth, I identified a model of learning that seemed to take place naturally as we worked in the field collecting data, conducting experiments, and learning about climate change. This model of learning, an apprenticeship model, is when a more experienced person(s) guides the participation of less experienced persons in a variety of learning experiences such as problem solving or the use of culturally appropriate tools. This model is used much in the real world such as pairing mentor teachers with student teachers, when a par...

As a part of explorations, students are allowed to explore those things they are interested in or passionate about. Andrew was interested in finding more information on Ford Mustangs. He spent some time at home finding pictures for his presentation and time during explorations discovering how to use Google docs to present his understanding.

By the way, this plant is also called the "Resurrection Plant." It can lay dormant for over 50 years and return back to life. They can be found on live oaks near Charleston, Edisto, and Beaufort). 

Today I am posting some pictures from class. Students are writing down their observations of this unique plant. We are writing about what we notice, writing specific observations, inferring what we think the object might be, and discussing where the object may have originated from.

I have had some questions this week about homework. I was not able to get homework out this week and with the somewhat shorter week (half-day, Zoo trip) I will not send out homework at this point.

I hate to do this but this week's update will have to be a quick one. Normally when I update the blog, I tend not to do one big blog post at the end of the week. I try to do what I believe most bloggers do and post as things come up. Now that we have finished gathering, I will go back to that format. But I do have some reminders and updates. Don't forget that Thursday night at 6:30 is Opening Picnic. We will eat outside before coming into the classroom the last hour or so. This part of the evening is not a Curriculum Night. Feel free to stop by, visit, and have your child give a tour of the class. This Friday (Sept. 21) we are walking to the Sandhills library. I believe I have everyone's card from last year. If not, I will try to get a reminder home. Tuesday, September 25 is a half-day for the district. This is our Parent-Teacher conference day. This day is reserved for parents and students who did not score well on their Spring 2012 MAP test or did not pass a par...

You may have heard that our class put together a brief video demonstrating our understanding of early natives from Asia, about 25,000 to 14,000 years ago, traveling across a land bridge (Beringia) between what is now Russia (Asia) and Alaska (North America). These early natives were following large animals such as the mammoths. About 10,000 years ago, waters from the ocean began to rise and covered up this land bridge. These early natives could no longer travel between Russia (Asia) and Alaska (North America).  Enjoy our video!

Each day during explorations we have time to work on putting our "Me-Bricks" together. I am almost finished with several others. I have included two pictures of finished "Me-Bricks." Ella Mykaela

This is Helen's "Me-Brick." We should be able to finish a few more in the next few weeks. Please help nudge your child to bring in things that are meaningful to them to be placed on their "brick."

I wanted to begin posting a couple of the "Me-Bricks" we have been able to finish. This one was finished by Breize this morning.

While it still seems funny to say "Me-Brick," here is my example of one. I have placed some items within the confines of a brick located in our classroom. I have included my name which we are doing in class. I brought in some items that represented me such as pictures of my family, a card a former student wrote, coins from foreign countries, etc.  Hopefully seeing an example will help you help your child think about what they can bring in. I think our classroom will look awesome when 23 bricks will be painted with memorable items from these students' lives. Thanks again, Scott Johnson

Hi Everyone - I have set up Scholastic Book orders for the month of September. Here is the link for ordering books:  https://orders.scholastic.com/GPY4P . When I do Scholastic Book orders, I usually use two different catalogs unless the book selection in one catalog is not so good. Arrow  book catalog tends to be geared towards 4th - 6th grade. Tab  tends to be geared towards 7th grade and up. I choose these two catalogs because they seem to have a selection of books students are interested in at this age. Students at CFI love to read and write! I often have readers who read well beyond what might be typical for 4th or 5th graders. Often placing a level on a child's reading stifles the reading process for a particular child because they often lack access to books that might challenge them as readers. This is why I do not believe in choosing books based on a grade level or reading level. When students are interested, really interested in a particular text, they will ...

Usually I don't have a lot to post but it seems this week is the exception. So I'm going to get right to it. Our Special Areas schedule seems to be finally set in stone. The most important part of this schedule to remember is PE since your child is asked to bring their tennis shoes in order to participate. Monday (12:30-1:20) - Art Tuesday (12:30-1:20) - Library Wednesday (12:30-1:20) - Music Thursday (12:30-1:20) - PE (please bring tennis shoes) Friday (12:30-1:20) - Technology We should be heading out to the Richland County Library in the next few weeks. I would like students to begin bringing their library cards. The library provides a great variety of books. It also offers me a great opportunity to make book recommendations from a larger variety of literature. Our first 4th grade gathering will be next week ( Friday, September 14 @ 2:20 pm ). For our parents who are new to CFI, during their week, each class comes up with a thought for the week  wh...