Reading Update

We had a nonfiction theme this week, as our whole group reading selection was entitled, “A Trip to the Emergency Room.” We learned that stories are written in a sequential order that makes it easy for the reader to understand and follow. Often, “order” words are used to highlight the steps, including first, next and last. The children practiced summarizing the text in this way: First, a sick person goes to the Emergency Room and is checked in by an Admissions Worker. Next, a nurse collects more information about your injury. Then, an orderly will come and take you to have tests run. Last, a doctor reviews the results and informs you about your situation! You can see that our comprehension skill of the week was sequencing! The children also worked to pull out key information from the text when summarizing, instead of simply repeating everything they can remember! Sometimes, less is more! Our vocabulary words included: broken, informs, personal, serious, and heal.

The children also learned about the literary element of SIMILES. We now know that a simile is used colorfully to compare two things, using the words “like,” or “as.” Some examples we talked about include: “I am as hungry as a bear!” or “We are as busy as bees.” The children listened to a story called, "My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks!" and then they went on to think of as many similes as they could that describe a number of characteristics (silly, slow, fast, strong, etc.) before making and illustrating their own!