Literacy Changes

As I promised after the new year, I have made some changes to our Daily 5 routine. So far the students seem to be enjoying them!! Hopefully they keep up the enthusiasm.

Each student has an assigned day when they need to do Raz-Kids during Listen to Reading. This is an online program that we are fortunate to have access to. I have entered each student into the computer and also entered their reading level. When it's their turn they need to go online and find their name. They have a list of books they need to complete, in any order. They need to listen to the book and follow along, read the book aloud, and then take a quiz over the book. The best part is...they get to earn points for each part completed!! These points go towards their spaceship!!

Secondly, students are recording a weekly podcast using Garageband. They need to practice 1 book in their reading tub for a week. They are supposed to use expression and be accurate. They are supposed to practice the book daily so they are well prepared to record. Each student records on his/her sharing day. Austin, Jenna, and Kael recorded on Friday. I am in the process of putting these on our 2A website. Hopefully I will have this done by tomorrow!

Thank you for reading with your child at home. I really appreciate your support. I am really proud of my 2A readers!!

Madison

Madison was our other mystery reader on Friday. She read Owen which is one of our class favorites. She had wonderful fluency and I could tell she practiced. She liked the book so much she kept it in her book tub! Great job Madison!!

Marshall

Marshall read on Friday and did an awesome job!! He was so excited throughout the week he could hardly contain himself. It was quite comical to watch him keep the secretl!! How wonderful to see a student so excited about reading:) Great job Marshall!

Kailyn

Kailyn was our mystery reader 2 weeks ago. I though I posted this but obviously I didn't...sorry Kailyn!!! The snow days must have thrown me off:) Kailyn read Me First and read with wonderful expression! The students really enjoyed the book. Great job!!

What a Week!

Wow!!!!! I am definitely ready for winter to leave and for nicer days to come our way. It sure was nice to get a full day in today and we actually got a lot accomplished! I hope winter weather stays away from us for next week. We sure have a lot to do before conferences in a couple of weeks!!

Last week Miss Dralle had adjusted quite well to our classroom and the students had really warmed up to her. This week she was hardly here at all; she wasn't here today since Decorah did not have school. So...I can honestly say she didn't see much teaching at all this week:( However, she did find out that sometimes school schedules are chaotic and that teachers need to make adjustments!! Her last day is next Thursday so she will be observing us for only a couple more days.

During literacy last week I started DIBELS assessments and today I was able to finish them. Last week I also spent a lot of time reviewing the Daily 5 and its components. We're trying to get rid of the cobwebs that formed over Christmas break and our extended winter break!!

During our writing block I introduced paragraphs to the students. They learned that a good paragraph is made up of about 5 sentences and that they all need to be about the same topic. They write 5 sentences on 3 different strips of paper: green for the beginning sentence, yellow for the 3 details, and red for the closing sentence. They used those strips to write their paragraph on paper. They had to indent their first sentence!! I expect that they use paragraphs during writer's workshop from now on. Hopefully they remember!!

We started new units in math and science. Yep...we're back to science again! We are learning about the states of matter; so far we've only had time to learn about solids and liquids. Hopefully next week we can get a bit farther in science. In math we're learning about different polygons, lines segments, and parallel lines. The students really seem to enjoy that.

As I said before I really hope the weather turns around. We REALLY need to get back into a routine in 2A. I think the kids even need a routine again! Please remember to return your child's flouride sheet if you haven't done so already.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and gooooooo VIKINGS!!!!!!! :)

Angelina

Angelina was our second mystery reader today. She did a super job reading If you Give a Moose a Muffin. The kids loved her expression!! Super job Angelina!

Austin

Austin was our first mystery reader for the day. He did really well!! He was very fluent and read with great expression. I could tell he was really proud of himself. Way to go Austin!!

Welcome Back!!

Wow! I can't believe it's already January...where did the time go? I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Christmas Break. I know I sure did!! It was WONDERFUL to see all my students again this morning...I really did miss them:) Everyone seemed very excited to be back at school. They also had a lot to share. It sounds like Santa was very good to the students in 2A!

Your child may have mentioned we have another teacher/helper in our classroom. She is in the process of writing a note about herself and your child will bring it home within the next couple of days. We are very excited to have her in our classroom and the students were very welcoming towards her.

Well, since we're back I guess it's time to put our noses to the grindstone and get right back at it!! We are going to spend the first couple of days review the Daily 5 and our reading strategies. I hope to do more individual reading with your child and to do reading conferences with them. I have another goal and that is for your child to do some podcasting. I introduced this before Christmas, but to be honest, I didn't really follow through with it. The kids have called me out on this (thanks kids!!) so I hope to be better at this. My goal is for students to practice a book during Daily 5 time -improve fluency- and then record it using Garageband. I will post those on the website. I will let you know when that is started -- give me a couple of weeks!

*****Other information********
I sent home their math tests today from before Christmas. I was VERY pleased with them!! Those are yours to keep.

Mrs. Sovereign is trying to reschedule our Mega Party. Our fundraiser organizers are quite busy so it sounds like it won't be until February. I will let your child know as soon as I find out!!

Report cards will come home on Monday with your child.

Cross your fingers that the snow stays away and we make it school. I really don't want too many more make-up days. Although, as I write this, it is snowing out!! Brrrrr...I hate cold weather!!!