Today both Mr. Vogel's class and our class completed the MAP-R reading assessment. This is the assessment that is done on the computer, three times a year.
Due to MAP-R we stayed in homeroom for math. We did a practice math activity for MSA. I gave the class 20 minutes to complete the acitvity that included several multple choice questions and 2 BCR's. Then we went over the correct answers and strategies for finding these answers.
This activity proved useful on many fronts...first, I think many children were pleased to discover that they knew a lot of the information covered on the test...I saw many fears alleviated. Additionally, I discovered two items in which the children, overall, could benefit from additional practice...so I will keep that in mind as I plan my instruction.
After that, we went to the computer lab to take the MAP-R...many students showed a lot of growth since the beginning of the year. I will use the broken down data to identify areas of need and appropriately plan further instrcution.
When we returned to the classroom, we discussed that -au usually makes the aw sound and the students picked new spelling words. They will have a spelling test on Friday, February 8 and homework will be due at that time, too.
Following lunch and outdoor recess, we completed choosing our spelling words and I handed out a reading comprehension worksheet that is homework tonight. Then we went to the computer lab for "free choice" since all of the travel brochures have been completed. We will end the day with a lesson taught by our counselor, Mrs. Howard.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Report Card Day!
OK...I have been told that I can be "uptight" and maybe a bit OCD...but it bothers me that I missed a day (yesterday) on the blog...so, sorry! I was at an "in-house" training all day and just never got around to updating the blog. :-(
Report cards are coming home today...check your child's backpack. You keep everything in side the envelope. Then sign the outside of the envelope (on the line next to 2nd mp) and return the EMPTY envelope to school.
In math, we have taken the unit 4 (Geometry) preassessment and gone over it. Today we concentrated on the characteristics of plane and solid figures. We constructed a cube, out of paper, and counted it's faces, edges and vertices. There is a polygon worksheet for homework...just a quick review for the adults...a polygon is any figure that is FLAT (plane), CLOSED and has STRAIGHT sides. So, a circle is NOT a polygon.
In reading we are continuing to focus on point of view. Today we read Rumpelstiltskin and learn what first person and third person point of view means...adult refresher...first person is when the person telling the story is a character in the story, third person is when the person telling the story is not a character in the story.
Yesterday the students read and discussed an issue of Time for Kids and they completed a follow up worksheet...most of the grades were a bit disappointing...I truly believe that this has more to do with using test taking strategies (such as going back to the text, eliminating answers that are obviously wrong, etc.) and less to do with the children's academic abilities. It was a little bit of a wake up call to me that the children need to do more independent, multiple choice activities and be held accountable for their work (more graded work).
I talked with the class about these things earlier today and I plan to work on helping them improve. I KNOW they are VERY capable!
Following PE, lunch and indoor recess, we went to the computer lab to work on travel brochures. When we return to the classroom, the children will read an article about hearing and answer two BCR's responding to what they have read.
PLEASE keep in mind that I encourage students to review the feedback I provide on assignments and they can redo any assignment...
One last item...beginning Monday we will have new reading groups. There will be a group of students beginning the William and Mary reading program, another group will continue working in the Junior Great Books Program and then I will have a group reading the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. More information will be coming home, next week, regarding the William and Mary program. ALL students will receive SOME instruction from the program but some students will complete the entire program.
Report cards are coming home today...check your child's backpack. You keep everything in side the envelope. Then sign the outside of the envelope (on the line next to 2nd mp) and return the EMPTY envelope to school.
In math, we have taken the unit 4 (Geometry) preassessment and gone over it. Today we concentrated on the characteristics of plane and solid figures. We constructed a cube, out of paper, and counted it's faces, edges and vertices. There is a polygon worksheet for homework...just a quick review for the adults...a polygon is any figure that is FLAT (plane), CLOSED and has STRAIGHT sides. So, a circle is NOT a polygon.
In reading we are continuing to focus on point of view. Today we read Rumpelstiltskin and learn what first person and third person point of view means...adult refresher...first person is when the person telling the story is a character in the story, third person is when the person telling the story is not a character in the story.
Yesterday the students read and discussed an issue of Time for Kids and they completed a follow up worksheet...most of the grades were a bit disappointing...I truly believe that this has more to do with using test taking strategies (such as going back to the text, eliminating answers that are obviously wrong, etc.) and less to do with the children's academic abilities. It was a little bit of a wake up call to me that the children need to do more independent, multiple choice activities and be held accountable for their work (more graded work).
I talked with the class about these things earlier today and I plan to work on helping them improve. I KNOW they are VERY capable!
Following PE, lunch and indoor recess, we went to the computer lab to work on travel brochures. When we return to the classroom, the children will read an article about hearing and answer two BCR's responding to what they have read.
PLEASE keep in mind that I encourage students to review the feedback I provide on assignments and they can redo any assignment...
One last item...beginning Monday we will have new reading groups. There will be a group of students beginning the William and Mary reading program, another group will continue working in the Junior Great Books Program and then I will have a group reading the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. More information will be coming home, next week, regarding the William and Mary program. ALL students will receive SOME instruction from the program but some students will complete the entire program.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Oh, what a day!
Some days are just smoother than others...I am sure it is like that in EVERY job...tomorrow, I will be in the building at some "in house" training and planning...so, today I had teaching to do, planning to do AND I had to get together sub plans for tomorrow...WHEW!!!! It just made for a hectic day!
Sorry, had to vent! :-)
In math, we completed a BCR in preparation for the MSA. The children worked on it "cold". Then I gave some "hints" and gave the students time to revise it. PLEASE look for it to come home in the next few days...every BCR will have feedback provided so the children know what they did well and what they can improve upon. This is the most important aspect of their learning! After that, we did a quick review/preview for unit 4, Geometry. There is a shape worksheet for homework.
During reading, we finished going over the Test Ready activity.
Then we went to art, lunch and outdoor recess.
Following recess, we reread The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (can you tell I LOVE that story?!?!) and talked about the art of persuasion. The children were delighted to realize that an idea they thought was new to them was not new at all...just the term! LOL! Then, using a graphic organizer, they planned a writing piece to persuade a judge NOT to believe the wolf's story and to send him to jail!
We ended the day with a book exchange in the media center.
The children will get new spelling words on Thursday...
Sorry, had to vent! :-)
In math, we completed a BCR in preparation for the MSA. The children worked on it "cold". Then I gave some "hints" and gave the students time to revise it. PLEASE look for it to come home in the next few days...every BCR will have feedback provided so the children know what they did well and what they can improve upon. This is the most important aspect of their learning! After that, we did a quick review/preview for unit 4, Geometry. There is a shape worksheet for homework.
During reading, we finished going over the Test Ready activity.
Then we went to art, lunch and outdoor recess.
Following recess, we reread The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (can you tell I LOVE that story?!?!) and talked about the art of persuasion. The children were delighted to realize that an idea they thought was new to them was not new at all...just the term! LOL! Then, using a graphic organizer, they planned a writing piece to persuade a judge NOT to believe the wolf's story and to send him to jail!
We ended the day with a book exchange in the media center.
The children will get new spelling words on Thursday...
Friday, January 25, 2008
Unit 3 Assessment
We took the unit 3 assessment today and it took most of the morning...it was lllooonnnngggg!!!! Since the test is a secure MCPS document, it can not be sent home. Therefore, children in my math class will receive a xerox copy of the cover page with their grade on it.
Earlier in the week the children worked on a BCR as part of test taking strategies. Some of the children brought theirs home yesterday. Most will bring theirs home today. I have given feedback on each paper...please review it with you child so they can see what they did well and what they need to do to improve in the future!
Following music, lunch and indoor recess, the children were given a chance to share an entry from their morning work journals. Then we reviewed the Test Ready activity they did yesterday...again pointing out test taking strategies. After that we will create sound using string...a science experiment...hopefully, this one will be more successful than the last one! :-)
Earlier in the week the children worked on a BCR as part of test taking strategies. Some of the children brought theirs home yesterday. Most will bring theirs home today. I have given feedback on each paper...please review it with you child so they can see what they did well and what they need to do to improve in the future!
Following music, lunch and indoor recess, the children were given a chance to share an entry from their morning work journals. Then we reviewed the Test Ready activity they did yesterday...again pointing out test taking strategies. After that we will create sound using string...a science experiment...hopefully, this one will be more successful than the last one! :-)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Very busy day...so this will be brief!
In math we took the basic facts portion of the unit 3 assessment. Then we reviewed the unit 3 review packet. During reading we read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig and discussed point of view. After that, the children did a Test Ready activity on their own. Tomorrow we will review the answers and go over specific test taking strategies.
Following lunch and recess, we went to the computer lab. The children continued working on their travel brochure. Most have finished and published...they look awesome!
There is a sentence worksheet for homework and students should go over the review packet with an adult in order to prepare for tomorrow's assessment!
Following lunch and recess, we went to the computer lab. The children continued working on their travel brochure. Most have finished and published...they look awesome!
There is a sentence worksheet for homework and students should go over the review packet with an adult in order to prepare for tomorrow's assessment!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Test taking skills or teaching to the test?!?!
OK...this might turn into a rant...and I invite any feedback or opinions to be posted or e-mailed directly to me...
I think that teaching test taking strategies is an important "life skill" that must be addressed in school but I get my tail feathers ruffled when I hear people (the media and others, too) say that schools are teaching to the test. I do not believe that these are one and the same...
Students MUST learn how to take the skills, lessons, and knowledge that they are acquiring and utilize them in new and different ways...we call this application. This must be modeled and taught...and I believe that test taking skills falls in this arena.
For example, students SHOULD be taught that when facing a multiple choice question, one choice will usually be the most often chosen WRONG answer (called a distractor). They also need to learn how to analyze WHAT a question is asking, in order to make sure they answer THE question.
Therefore, with these beliefs in mind and the MSA quickly approaching, I will be teaching test taking skills...please don't mistake this for teaching to the test...that just doesn't fit with my philosophy.
SO, what did we do today....
In math the students worked on a review packet for the unit 3 assessment. We will go over the review packet, in depth, tomorrow in class and take the actual assessment on Friday. They do have a multiplication worksheet for homework.
During reading we read The Three Little Pigs and the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and discussed point of view. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is the story told from the wolf's point of view...great book!
Following PE, lunch and outdoor recess we will read a short passage and answer a BCR (brief constructed response). Then we will review our answers to learn how to improve our written response to what we have read...yes, this will help us prepare for MSA but it also will help us learn appropriate ways to demonstrate comprehension of text through written language.
We will end the day in the computer lab, working on our travel brochures!
I think that teaching test taking strategies is an important "life skill" that must be addressed in school but I get my tail feathers ruffled when I hear people (the media and others, too) say that schools are teaching to the test. I do not believe that these are one and the same...
Students MUST learn how to take the skills, lessons, and knowledge that they are acquiring and utilize them in new and different ways...we call this application. This must be modeled and taught...and I believe that test taking skills falls in this arena.
For example, students SHOULD be taught that when facing a multiple choice question, one choice will usually be the most often chosen WRONG answer (called a distractor). They also need to learn how to analyze WHAT a question is asking, in order to make sure they answer THE question.
Therefore, with these beliefs in mind and the MSA quickly approaching, I will be teaching test taking skills...please don't mistake this for teaching to the test...that just doesn't fit with my philosophy.
SO, what did we do today....
In math the students worked on a review packet for the unit 3 assessment. We will go over the review packet, in depth, tomorrow in class and take the actual assessment on Friday. They do have a multiplication worksheet for homework.
During reading we read The Three Little Pigs and the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and discussed point of view. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is the story told from the wolf's point of view...great book!
Following PE, lunch and outdoor recess we will read a short passage and answer a BCR (brief constructed response). Then we will review our answers to learn how to improve our written response to what we have read...yes, this will help us prepare for MSA but it also will help us learn appropriate ways to demonstrate comprehension of text through written language.
We will end the day in the computer lab, working on our travel brochures!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday with a long weekend ahead...
The children were pretty good natured about the fact that we got a decent amount of snow and they did not get ANY time off of school. I told them that I actually felt badly about giving homework last night. When I got home, my son was playing in the snow and then went to a neighbor's house. He was enjoying the snow day (even though it wasn't a day off)...and then he had to stop to do his homework. I thought to myself, why did she have to give homework...couldn't they just come home and enjoy the snow? Then I realized that I had given homework...Ahhhhh! I felt badly! :-(
In math today the children took the last quiz for this unit. They did quite well! We will do a review packet on Wednesday and then have the assessment on Thursday and/or Friday. I will definitely let you know on Wednesday.
Then we spent time reading the morning message and talking about children's books. We completed a survey for the reading specialist, Mrs. Hepner.
Following music, lunch and recess we made a model of an ear drum and then did an experiment that wasn't too successful. :-( The idea was to create an eardrum using a cup and pulling a membrane tightly over it. Then the students were supposed to use noise makers to make noise so that they could watch the membrane vibrating...and thereby making sound. Well, we didn't see any vibrations...oh well, I do feel they got the idea of how sound is created and recognized by our brain.
Then we ended the day working on our research projects in the computer lab.
Have a wonderful 4 day weekend...mine is only 3...I'll be working on report cards and comments , at school, on Tuesday! :-)
In math today the children took the last quiz for this unit. They did quite well! We will do a review packet on Wednesday and then have the assessment on Thursday and/or Friday. I will definitely let you know on Wednesday.
Then we spent time reading the morning message and talking about children's books. We completed a survey for the reading specialist, Mrs. Hepner.
Following music, lunch and recess we made a model of an ear drum and then did an experiment that wasn't too successful. :-( The idea was to create an eardrum using a cup and pulling a membrane tightly over it. Then the students were supposed to use noise makers to make noise so that they could watch the membrane vibrating...and thereby making sound. Well, we didn't see any vibrations...oh well, I do feel they got the idea of how sound is created and recognized by our brain.
Then we ended the day working on our research projects in the computer lab.
Have a wonderful 4 day weekend...mine is only 3...I'll be working on report cards and comments , at school, on Tuesday! :-)
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