Using Reading to Inspire Writing

One way to encourage students to use reading to inspire their writing is to let them learn new things that they find interesting! In my classroom, my students love to use the website Pebble Go. Students can access this website at home by going through our launch page (attached below) for Kearney Elementary. They all know how to navigate to Pebble Go from there.

http://launch.ksdr1.net/ke/

https://www.pebblego.com/

Watch this quick video to get an understanding of the kind of reading and researching-which can lead to writing that your child can do when using Pebble Go!

Pebble Go allows children to print writing papers and graphic organizers that they can use to create a paragraph. My students in my second grade classroom love using Pebble Go and printing their very own research papers to help with their writing. They were excited to have a graphic organizer that was specific to their topic!

Student Guest: Noah

This is what one of my students, Noah, shared about reading, researching, and then writing about a topic of his choosing. ” I really liked that I was able to look up whichever spider or insect that I wanted. I found the two sheets on the website and printed them. On Pebble Go, I also found a short video which showed my spider in its habitat. That was pretty cool! This is my diagram that shows the body parts for my spider.”

“I was able to listen to the computer read to me all about trapdoor spiders. I liked this because it helped me read when I did not know the words. Then I was also able to write while I listened. That made it easier to fill out my graphic organizer. By the way, I was able to print this off of Pebble Go by clicking on the crayon at the bottom!” Noah went on to explain.

Noah then talked about his final copy of his research writing. “This is my paragraph that I did using Google Docs after doing my research reading on Pebble Go. I don’t like writing, but using Pebble Go made this writing easier to do. I learned a lot about trapdoor spiders that I didn’t know before. Did you know trapdoor spiders can catch and eat small fish!” Noah concluded.

Conclusion

Watching and listening to a student who does writing reluctantly, actually enjoy what he is writing about is exciting! Noah enjoyed using Pebble Go to read about new, interesting topics. He was then able to use what he read about to write a complete paragraph. My second graders all did an amazing job with this reading linked to writing assignment. Ask your child to pull theirs up in their Google Drive and show you their final copy!

Read, Read, and Read Some More!

Reading is so important! Even though your child is reading books independently, you may want answers to the following questions:

  • Should you still read to them? The answer is YES! They have so much to learn from hearing the reading modeled for them! They will learn how to read from hearing text being read fluently and with voice! So pick up a book and read to, or with your child!
  • How do you know if they are understanding what they are reading? There are a couple of ways to know if your child is understanding. You can have them tell you the parts of the story like: characters, setting, problem, and solution. You can have them retell the story, being sure they are giving the three parts of the story: beginning, middle, and end. Discussing vocabulary words that they don’t know will help build their comprehension also. Use some of the questions on the poster on the left to help focus your comprehension questions and get the conversations going. By sharing a book, you will be building comprehension with your child.
  • Should my child be reading picture books still? It is always great if your child wants to read, no matter if it is a picture book or a chapter book. Picture books create images for your child and give extra clues about the text that may be helpful in their comprehension. Many picture books are written at a third grade level and above. Therefore, it is perfectly fine if your second grader still loves to read picture books! There are so many great picture books out there that will help build your child’s fluency and comprehension! So cuddle with your little one with a picture book and enjoy! Check out this great book on the right!

  • Does my child really need to read every day? Yes, well at least most! Children that are exposed to reading daily, tend to have higher vocabulary, better comprehension, and overall have higher reading levels. Children that read daily also are more successful in school! Setting a daily routine will help reading daily become a part of their norm. I like to read with my son before bedtime. It allows time to wind down from our busy day and gives us the opportunity to read and discuss books together. It will become a favorite part of your and your child’s day!

Digital Tools and Reading:

Students at our school have access to different websites that will also help with reading skills. Students can access these at home at well! I am attaching your child’s school home page, and from there your child should be able to navigate as they do at school to those websites!

http://launch.ksdr1.net/ke/

Along with digital tools and computers, it will be important to make sure you discuss technology safety. I am attaching a couple of YouTube Videos that will help open up this dialogue. Watch these videos, and then have your children view them if you find them helpful.

Digital Footprints
Internet Safety

Introduction and Purpose: My Inaugural Post

Hello!  Welcome to my classroom blog where I am aiming to connect the classroom to home.  Each child that comes into my classroom will be respected, supported, and loved. Every student in my class shines bright in their own way, just like every star twinkles just a little different in the nighttime sky!

Parents and often ask their children, “What did you do at school today?” or “How was your day?”  Often times children will give the generic response of “Nothing” or “Fine”. My goal is to change that!  They are at school for more than half the day. I want parents to be able to know the highlights of their children’s lives when they are not with them.  I want parents to know what we are doing and learning in class.

The other goal of this blog is to be a tool for parents in ways they can help their child be more successful in school.  I’m going to share tips and strategies for reading, writing, and math. Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher.  I want this blog to be a resource parents can use.