Drafting an Essay

In Writer's Workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday students began drafting their Thanksgiving essay.  They learned the typical essay format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph.  As a class students drafted each paragraph one at a time.  We would discuss what information belongs in each paragraph and I would write a sample paragraph on the board as the students dictated sentences.  

During reading on Wednesday some groups were able to begin their homework that will be due Friday. You can see children actively responding to text through flagging their thoughts on post-it notes.  This is a way for children to comprehend what they're reading and they're better prepared for their novel discussion!

 The next two pictures crack me up, because you can see Leah and Billy having a "deep" discussion. ;)  They were actually discussing what was going to happen in their novel and seeing whose prediction was going to come true!