I had a death in my family and need to travel out of town.
I will be back to school on Monday.
Below is the conference schedule for next week.
I look forward to meeting with you all :)
2018-2019 |
I won't be able to post a blog this week.
I had a death in my family and need to travel out of town. I will be back to school on Monday. Below is the conference schedule for next week. I look forward to meeting with you all :)
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READING!!! There is no short cut to learning how to read. We learn how to read by reading. PERIOD! Our days are spent listening to and reading books. The more time we read, the better we get. The kids are really settling in to reading independently for about 10 minutes and reading with a partner for about 13 minutes on most days. That's almost 25 minutes for some of our youngest learners to spend with books. Take a look at our class reading up a storm with their partners - Now the kids are learning how to select GOOD FIT BOOKS. Here's the criteria... * I select a book and look it over, inside & out. * Purpose: Why might I want to read it? * Interest: Does it interest me? * Comprehend: Do I understand what I am reading? * Know: Do I know most of the words? Use this same language with your child when visiting the public library. Ownership over selection is key. Children are more engaged when they get to select what they read!! SHARED READINGShared Reading is when the entire group reads from an enlarged text. We do this on a daily basis with our MORNING MESSAGE. Everyone gets practice reading and rereading a text together. We discuss capital letters, punctuation, blends, digraphs, reading strategies, and so much more just by reading a text together!! Most importantly, we read for meaning :) Check it out... WRITING WORKSHOPMany of this week's lessons focused on strategies for HOW TO SPELL WORDS. After a short mini-lesson in which I model a new skill or strategy, the majority of the time is spent writing their own stories independently. When one book is finished, they jump right in to starting a new book. A few minutes are saved at the end of workshop to share their stories with a partner. It's so important for kids to share their work and get some feedback! Take a look...
PHONICSOur phonics work helps to build independence in reading and writing. The kids are learning to use words that they know to read and write new words. These are called ANALOGIES. With the kids, we call these WORD FAMILIES. MATHDuring COUNTING COLLECTIONS this week, the kids had a choice of what they wanted to count. We have lots of tubs in the classroom filled with basic items that are super fun to count. Have your child count things you have around the house!! Our math game this week was "MORE OR LESS." The kids worked in partners and all they needed was a deck of cards - without the face cards. They split the deck and each partner turns over their top card and decide whose card is greater and then that person gets both cards. Try it at home!! Check it out! Here's What's Coming Up Next...
![]() I-READY We just completed our beginning of the year i-Ready test. i-Ready is an online program that focuses on READING & MATH. After the testing, i-Ready gives the kids lessons right at their level in order to build their skills in both subjects. In class, the kids go on i-Ready 3-4 times a week. On Monday in the homework folder, your child will bring home a log in card so your child can get extra practice at home, too! HOW TO LOG ON: 1. Go to : nlmusd.weebly.com 2. Go to: CLEVER 3. If you are using an ipad, tablet, or a computer with a camera, simply scan the badge side of the card. 4. If youy can't scan, you can type in the username and password. **** SCANNING THE BADGE IS SUPER SIMPLE AND THE KIDS KNOW HOW TO DO IT! ![]() RAZ-KIDS Also in next week's homework folder, I've included log in information for RAZ-KIDS. Raz-kids provides reading practice. The kids get to read lots books at their reading level. They listen to the book, read it themselves, and then take a comprehension quiz. SEESAW This week, the kids explored SEESAW for the first time (me, too!) The learned how to navigate aspects of the site. As we get more practice, I'll let you know when the kids will upload activities for you to see. Make sure to add the app to your phone. I gave you the log-in information at BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT. If you don't have it, I can give you another one during our PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE :) MORNING MEETINGAnother greeting we did this week was the DICE GREETING. A child rolls the giant die, counts around the rectangle and greets that person. It's easier to see than describe! Take a look... Another aspect of the meeting is an activity. Here is a QUIZ, QUIZ, TRADE activity to work on decoding cvc words. The kids get lots of practice in just a minute or two! Check it out... MATHIn our class, math is all about problem solving! The kids are learning how to show their thinking by using a variety of tools. They record their thinking in their math notebooks. As you'll see, fingers are a great math tool, as well!!! This week's math game was "ROLL & BUILD." It's really simple and gives the kids a great visual to see the difference in number values!! For counting collections this week, the kids counted crayons. Some pairs decided to use cups and bowls to organize their work!! SETTING READING GOALSI have begun our beginning of the year reading testing. As I read with individual students, I notice what reading strategy might help each child develop independence with his/her reading. Everyone will get a sticky note to put in his/her reading folder as a reminder of how to help themselves :) Here's What's Coming Up Next...This past week, I asked the kids what they want to do when they grow up. Check out the futures they are planning for. Next week we'll discuss how reading, writing, and math are so important for these future careers :) I missed a couple of the kids- I'll get them next week!! MATHThese images of a container of cupcakes is exactly what we do to warm up for our daily math. Simply by asking the kids, "How many do you see & how do you see them?" gets our mathematical minds ticking. I posted the middle picture this week, and these were the responses - 6+4=10, 3+3+3+2=10, 12-2=10 The point is, there are lots of ways to see the same image, as well as there are LOTS of ways to solve a problem!! Try this at home or when you're at the store. It makes for an interesting conversation and it really proves to kids that MATH IS ALL AROUND US! MATH GAMES are a great way to build number sense. Each Wednesday, I will teach the kids a new math game. This week we played "TOWER RACES" by rolling 2 dice, counting out cubes and trying to reach the top of the tower. Games are not only FUN, they also build good sportsmanship and make it feel like we're not doing math, but we are!!! ![]() This week our COUNTING COLLECTIONS was all about counting bowtie pasta. We worked on teamwork by communicating with our partners before counting and deciding HOW to group & count. I introduced the term "EFFICIENT" to think about the fastest and easiest ways to count our objects. Take a look at some of our work...
Once we gather back together at the end of our math session, I play back the videos and we analyze the different grouping and some of the more efficient strategies. MORNING MEETINGEvery morning we start with a MORNING MEETING. It's a great way for us to develop a community in our classroom. The first part of our meeting is our GREETING. The kids get a chance to say, "Good Morning," to each other. Everyone gets to hear their name spoken and the kids really get to know each other. We do lots of different greetings. Here's a clip of our "1 MINUTE GREETING." The kids are to say "Good Morning" to as many people as they can in 1 minute. I'll share the other elements of our morning meeting over the next few weeks :) PARTNER READINGWRITING WORKSHOPWe launched into a new unit of writing: PERSONAL NARRATIVE. The kids are writing stories about their lives, with an emphasis on SMALL MOMENTS - writing about a particular time something happened. Check out some of our teaching charts... Here's What's Coming Up Next... |
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