Term 1
The first four weeks of the first term we will focus on becomimg better readers. We will be using a program called Reading Power. It was developed by Vancouver School District's Literacy Mentor Adrianne Garr. It is a research based program which teaches students five strategies used by excellent readers; connect, question, visualize, infer, and transform. Students will learn that
READING IS THINKING.
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Connect
Students learn to connect what they are reading with what they already know - personal experiences, other literature, or the world. When students become proficient at connecting while reading, stories will remind them of real life experiences, memories will readily surface, and they will make sense of the text on their own terms.
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Question:
Students ask questions, before, during, and after reading, about what they are reading. They Question the content, ideas, information, concepts and the intent of the author. They will learn the difference between quick questions (easily asked and answered by reading) and deep thinking questions (the answer isn't in the book but rather in the reader and for which there is no right answer). Deep thinking questions help the reader go beyond the book or story to come up with answers and usually open the door to more questions.
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Visualize:
Students create mental images of interesting passages in their mind's eye. Good writers make this easy and students may find other senses such as smells, tastes, sounds, and textures involved in the sensations evoked in the mental image. Learning to visualizie helps students connect the words on the page with their previous experiences and knowledge thereby creating a mental image that helps to deveolp a greater and deeper understanding of the text and brings the reading to life.
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Infer:
Students make predictions, discover themes and messages, and draw conclusions while they read. They look for clues in the text and their own knowledge that helps them make sense of what they are reading.They learn to fill in what is not on the page.
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Transform:
Students learn to separate, organize, change, and enhance information while they read, andadd it to their own thoughts and knowledge base to create and gain new meaning, point of view, and insight. They will gain an appreciation of the way books can change the way they think about themselves and the world in which they live. They learn to find things that matter to them in the texts they read.
NOVEL STUDY: 
Home Reading Program Tuesday, October 10, 2011
Mr. Murray's Class
Dear Parent(s) or Guardians,
We are starting our home reading program this week. In grades 4 and 5 we need to read 30 minutes each night. As a class we are going to try to read 2000 hours by June. Follow our progress on our window graph. We need to record the minutes we read in our agenda every night. Please make sure you sign our agenda at the end of every month.
We can earn individual and class rewards when we meet our goals each month
Thank you,
Mr. Murray
ow graph
INTERESTING LINKS
Reading Performance Standards 
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