We also learned a few things about Christopher Columbus by playing a game provided by BBC - Primary History - Famous People. The game breaks up facts about Columbus with games that connect to his voyage.
I am just adding to the weekly notes so that you have all your information! We finally got a video uploaded that works! We are going to give it one more try next week, using a different camera, and if it doesn't work, then we will say sianora to the video newsletters! This one is very educational and very entertaining :) Here is the game "Put it in the Trash" and another place value game called "101 and out". We played them both in class today and the students loved them! You just need the paper, a die or cards, and a pencil!
We also learned a few things about Christopher Columbus by playing a game provided by BBC - Primary History - Famous People. The game breaks up facts about Columbus with games that connect to his voyage.
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It's almost Monday! We have a short week with Wednesday off for the kids. The teacher's will be working at an all day in-service at Summit Road Elementary.
We have been having some major difficulties with our Video Newsletters. YouTube is no longer accessible for us from school, and last week, the video took 86 minutes to upload from a home computer, then the link did not work! Again, it was lost in cyberspace! This week, we will be filming again, and trying a new site to host the video. If you have any suggestions for us, please let me know. Please look for another blog post with that video! Cross your fingers for us! For our sound study this week, we are still working on reviewing short vowel sounds. We will have a focus this week on the short e sound (/e/). The sound pictures include e, ea, ie, and ai. Please check out our Sound Focus page because I have added a ton more activity ideas for you to try out with your child. If you go down to the example word lists, there is a brainstorm sheet that we compiled and link for an online list with games. Remember to practice at least 10 minutes a day with your child. You can always practice by going on a sound hunt at home. Have your child look at a book and find all the words with this week's sound or, you can take a walk and find objects or words with the sound. Have your child practice reading, saying, and spelling them. You can also combine the sound focus practice with some math practice by using this worksheet I created. This week, our learning links schedule is changing slightly. We will now only have Dramatic Inquiry every other week, so this week we will not have it. Originally we were combined with Mrs. Zwick's class and 50 kids was too many to be able to do the outstanding activities that Mrs. Gaughenbaugh has to offer. So now we are alternating weeks. Math this week will focus on comparing numbers. We still will be working with place value, including the placement of digits, word form (number names), the value of digits, expanded form, and base-10 blocks. Please also continue to practice identifying and counting coins up to $1.00 (if your child understands this, continue increasing the amount to $10.00), telling time, and practicing the appropriate set of the Mastering Math Facts program. Remember that the hardbound Math Investigations book at home is for reference purposes only. You can look up strategies for solving problems, find tools for solving problems, and learn to play games. It is not sequential with what we are learning at school. The best way to help your child with reading right now is to read at night with them. Ask questions about the book (Who are the main characters? What is the setting? Why did the character respond the way s/he did?) and make your child answer in complete sentences. Once a week, you could even have your child write the answers to the questions. Read for at least 20 minutes a night. Studies have shown that simply instilling a love for reading, can create better readers. They need to see words, read words, hear words, and understand words. Find out what your child likes to read, and find books that relate to that. You can go to your child's Accelerated Reader site and log-in to see scores and the level your child should be reading. Your child cannot test from home. If you would like to find books at your child's reading level, go to AR Book Finder and do a search. Then you will be able to find titles to borrow from the library or to purchase for your child. Don't forget that Scholastic Book Clubs have books listed by AR level as well. I am continually updating our website and putting fabulous resources at your fingertips. Please take advantage of all the pages and links available to you and your child here. If you know of anything helpful that I can add (resources for parents, links, games, etc.) please let me know. I will try very soon to add photos we have taken so far this school year as well. Look for the interim reports to come home this week. This is the mid-quarter report, which will have the topics/standards being taught this quarter, and a narrative about your child's strengths and struggles. There will also be a blue letter coming home about your child's projected reading levels. Please read it carefully and contact Mrs. Martindale Here is this week's edition of our video newsletter! Unfortunately, due to technical difficutlies, issue 3 was lost in cyberspace :( This week for homework, we will be continuing the STEM challenge from last week. This will give your child the opportunity to continue to study decomposition, or if the challenge was not taken last week, an opportunity to do the activity. Keep a log of observations so your child can get an idea of how long (or fast) certain food takes to decompose. We will be looking at banana peels that we put into different situations (dirt, air, water, light) and logging out observations for those this week. Please remember that reading 20 minutes is a part of the homework every night. There are 2 sides of the homework log. Some of the children are still only completing one side of their logs. This is tracked by me and is a part of their responsibility marks on the report cards. The sound focus for this week will be the short a sound or /a/. The only spelling for the sound is 'a' with our fabulous English language exceptions such as 'laugh'. Ways to practice at home could include finding short a words in books, finding objects with the sound and spelling the word, brainstorming words, reading words with multisyllables, etc. Please check out our Sound Focus page found under "Our Classroom - Foundations". There are many fun ways to practice words listed there and I am always looking for more, so check back for updates often. When you scroll down, you will see suggested words to practice and our brainstorm list from Friday's class. I have added and updated the school calendar so that you have access to all the events scheduled for the year. I will add new things as they come up and would also like to put student birthday's there (first names only). This week we have school pictures on Tuesday and the Walk-a-Thon on Friday. All children will get their photos taken even if you are not purchasing them. These will be used for their photo ID at school and for the yearbook. Please dress your child appropriately and comb their hair. I know you are thinking "who wouldn't?" but, it happens every year! I love them like their second mother, but I cannot be primping them all before the photo shoot. So please help them get ready in the morning. Thanks! The walk-a-thon is an all day event with tons to do (sort of like fun day last year), so if you would like to come volunteer, this is a great day to do it! In remembrance of September 11, 2001, our class viewed 2 videos today and had very meaningful conversation about what the day meant to us. We wrote in our journals and talked about any questions we had. If you would like to view the videos we saw in class today, you can watch them online at Brain Pop and at Nick News. They are extremely well put together videos with explanations and honesty, but not any disturbing images or upsetting footage. Thank you for supporting our interest in learning about such an important yet devastating day in our American history.
Another week is here! Here you will find our second Issue of our Weekly Video Newsletter and I have a few other notes for you about upcoming things. Please check your child's papers that have come home. We have sent a Scholastic Book Club order form and letter home about helping us to accumulate enough money in orders to get us 7,000 bonus points. The letter explains how this can get done and asks you to sign and return the letter, even if you cannot order at this time. It tells you how to log on. The information can also be found on our Parent Information page. Please send those forms back in and please place any orders by 9/21/12! Thanks so much! We will be doing a fusion activity called "Garbology" this Friday. We have aprons and gloves for each child, but please don't let them wear their best clothes. It would also be best if they wore tennis shoes instead of open shoes (things could get messy!). Next week (Sept. 18), we will be going on a field trip to the landfill. Due to space, we are not able to take any volunteers with us. On Sept. 19, I will be out of the building at a district planning meeting. There will be a sub in the room. We are continuing the sound /o/ (short o) this week. Be sure to have your child help you find or think of words spelled with o, au, augh, ough, a, and aw. You can find sample word lists on our Sound Focus page, at ReadingResource.net, and at this quick link. There are now 3 commercials posted. They are fabulous! Another commercial was filmed today using a green screen with Mrs. Gaughenbaugh's help and it is in the process of being finalized. We have 2 more to film on Monday. I am so proud of all the students. This was not an easy feat for any of us. A fabulous learning experience!
In a moment of tiredness, I realized that I had made the commercial with last names on it. I took it off the internet for now and will fix it so it can go back up. Duh! We should get a couple filmed today and those can be posted this weekend as well!
We had our first filming session of our commercials. The students have been hard at work, writing the commercials that they will star in. They have been finding and creating props and backgrounds. We are very lucky to have Summit with its diverse areas! I will have all the commercials on here so that you can see them all! Click below to see the first of 6! Cute way to teach your kids about Blogs... watch the video here.
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The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. Me, Me, MeI enjoy problem solving, designing, creating, communicating, collaborating, etc.... all of which I expect my students to do. I hope that we have an enjoyable and successful year! Grab my button!Check out the rest of our teaching team!Past Messages
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