Teachers' Institute Day

On Tuesday the Lakeview teachers will continue their training in CRISS strategies. CRISS stands for CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies. We will be discussing current strategies that we already use in our lessons, and how we will be using them across our grade level.

The main CRISS principles and philosophy include:

1. Metacognition: Good readers are goal-oriented and they know how to attack print and to create meaning. Teachers need to help students use their background knowledge to help with reading comprehension and to set a purpose when they are reading. To help with reading comprehension students need to discuss and write about what they read. Good readers also know how to organize information they received in the text and understand their authors' purpose.

2. Explanation and Modeling: Students learn to become strategic when teachers teach these processes directly through explanation and modeling.

3. Teaching for Understanding: Students come to truly understand by focusing on thought-demanding content.

Lakeview teachers cannot wait to bring our new CRISS strategies into the classroom!

Language

Next week we will be starting a new program called Language. It will encompass all the components of Language Arts and Reading. Students will start each day with a phonics lesson which will help with decoding words and reading fluency. Then they will do a spelling and grammar lesson. Next students will work on reading comprehension strategies. Finally they will have a writing lesson where they will apply their grammar skills while responding to the literature they have read. Our goal is to improve students' reading comprehension and fluency skills. Our winter MAPS scores will help us with this assessment. We look forward to piloting this new program.

A Peek at Next Week

Next week in Language Arts we will be beginning our Narrative writing. We will be brainstorming in our Writer's Notebooks, learning about the parts of a narrative, and filling out graphic organizers. In Reading we will continue with our non-fiction unit and will be reading an article about sharks.

Important Dates:

Sunday- Memory Walk

-Bear Down! Bears vs. Packers

Monday- Home Volleyball Game

Wednesday- 7:30 Football Game at DGS

Friday- Early Dismissal, School Improvement Day

Tips When Reading Non-fiction

1. Look at the title and sub-titles.

2. Look for key terms (at the beginning or in bold).

3. Look at pictures and read their captions.

4. Read the first and last sentence.

5. Scan or Skim the text to see what pops out at you.

Root Words

In Reading class and RtI Reading, we will be focusing on using root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Students looked up the meaning of Latin roots and prefixes this week. They were then given five vocabulary words. Then they made flash cards, drew pictures of the definition of the words, and wrote sentences using the new vocabulary words. Next week they will take a quiz on the definition of the words and on their spelling.

Vocabulary Words:

Architect

Audition

Incredible

Rebellion

Success

A Peek at Next Week

Next week we are going to continue to work on cause and effect in Reading. We will also continue to work on sentences and creating paragraphs in Language Arts.

Have a great three-day weekend!

Welcome Back!

Welcome! My name is Mrs. Mastny and I will be teaching language arts and reading. This is my fifth year teaching at Lakeview. Before I moved to Downers Grove, I had taught in the city for three years. This year we will be focusing on reading strategies, and essay writing. I look forward to working with you all.

Homework:
Assignments are to be turned in on the day that they are due. Students will lose points for every day that an assignment is late. I will accept late work up until the day our unit is over. Exceptions may be made to those who are absent. Grades will be posted on-line. Please check them and email me if you have any questions.

Contact Information:
If you need to get a hold of me, my email address is: lmastny@ccsd66.org, and my phone number is: 630-783-5114. I am available to meet with parents and or students by appointment. I also have a blog where I will post my weekly updates. You can look at the blog by either clicking on my name on the school website, or by directly going to the blog site:
http://mrsmastny.blogspot.com/


Have a terrific weekend!


Lauren Mastny