Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful break. The kids are back into the swing of things and we had a great first week back at school. While they were gone, I had a chance to get all of their important people interviews attached to QR codes so everyone in the school can watch them. We have a big bulletin board in the hallway featuring all of the interviews. Come take a look when you are visiting Sprague and you will learn all about the people who work in our school!
This week in math we focused on problem solving. We went through a checklist for solving word problems. The problems can be challenging, so they are learning how to use diagrams and build the problems to solve them. We will be continuing to work on problem solving throughout the year so the students are exposed to many different types of problems and learn many strategies for figuring them out. We took the place value pre-assessment before break and will be starting to work on unit 5 next week.
I am also happy to announce that Mr. Schreurs and I received a Learning Fund Foundation grant which will help fund our differentiated and innovative math program for the two classes. Part of the funding is for an internet program called IXL. I will add more information about IXL to the technology page on the website. We will be teaching the students how to use this website next week.
During literacy this week we spent some time visualizing. This is a skill that helps the students listen and read carefully to the important details in books. They listened to a story called Two Bad Ants and then drew the part that stood out to them the most. Then, they had a chance to see the illustrations in the book and compare their own with the book and see other students' perspectives of the same parts. We have also started reading James and the Giant Peach as a read aloud. They are using their visualizing skills while listening to this wonderful story. I have had a chance to work with a few students on their fluency using an app called Quickvoice, but next week I will continue working with all of the students in this area. This app gives the students a chance to record their reading and listen back. I will be teaching them what qualities make a fluent reader and have them practice recording themselves to use these strategies.
Word study groups are continuing to go well. You should be seeing your child's word sort coming home on Mondays. Feel free to have them practice these words. These are the same words they practice during their word work in their literacy workshop time.
Here are some things to ask your child about:
-What part of Two Bad Ants did they visualize and draw?
-What is an example of a problem solving problem you worked on this week in math and how did you solve it?
-What is your favorite part of the Daily 5 literacy workshop?
Reminders:
-We are looking for parent volunteers during our math and literacy workshops. If you are interested in volunteering, we are holding a session to learn about how you can help on Monday, Jan. 14 and Thursday, Jan. 17 after school from 3:30-4:00. Just send me an email if you can attend one of these dates.
This week in math we focused on problem solving. We went through a checklist for solving word problems. The problems can be challenging, so they are learning how to use diagrams and build the problems to solve them. We will be continuing to work on problem solving throughout the year so the students are exposed to many different types of problems and learn many strategies for figuring them out. We took the place value pre-assessment before break and will be starting to work on unit 5 next week.
I am also happy to announce that Mr. Schreurs and I received a Learning Fund Foundation grant which will help fund our differentiated and innovative math program for the two classes. Part of the funding is for an internet program called IXL. I will add more information about IXL to the technology page on the website. We will be teaching the students how to use this website next week.
During literacy this week we spent some time visualizing. This is a skill that helps the students listen and read carefully to the important details in books. They listened to a story called Two Bad Ants and then drew the part that stood out to them the most. Then, they had a chance to see the illustrations in the book and compare their own with the book and see other students' perspectives of the same parts. We have also started reading James and the Giant Peach as a read aloud. They are using their visualizing skills while listening to this wonderful story. I have had a chance to work with a few students on their fluency using an app called Quickvoice, but next week I will continue working with all of the students in this area. This app gives the students a chance to record their reading and listen back. I will be teaching them what qualities make a fluent reader and have them practice recording themselves to use these strategies.
Word study groups are continuing to go well. You should be seeing your child's word sort coming home on Mondays. Feel free to have them practice these words. These are the same words they practice during their word work in their literacy workshop time.
Here are some things to ask your child about:
-What part of Two Bad Ants did they visualize and draw?
-What is an example of a problem solving problem you worked on this week in math and how did you solve it?
-What is your favorite part of the Daily 5 literacy workshop?
Reminders:
-We are looking for parent volunteers during our math and literacy workshops. If you are interested in volunteering, we are holding a session to learn about how you can help on Monday, Jan. 14 and Thursday, Jan. 17 after school from 3:30-4:00. Just send me an email if you can attend one of these dates.