Hi, everyone!
It's a beautiful fall, isn't it? I was just telling the students how I love the feeling at the start of fall- change, anticipation...And as it gets darker, I remind myself how much we need to hold onto positive feelings as the seasons change. The beginning of the year holds so much positivity and the challenge is to hold on to that energy throughout the year.
Mid-Trimester Conferences
Please sign up for conferences if you haven't done so already. The schedule looks about 2/3 full. Remember that if none of those times work well for you, don't hesitate to let me know. I can always figure it out! Click here to access the conference schedule.
Biography/Social Studies/Technology Project
We have spend so much of our learning time over the past month learning the content and skills we need to complete our Biography project successfully! Students have had a variety of lessons to reach the "I can" goals I discussed in the last post.
We have reviewed the project expectations many times and revisit the rubric often. This week we will review how to include our writing in an organized way on the "Glog" by using text features such as bullet points and listed phrases. Many of the students are filling their Glogs with paragraph text and while I was pleased to see how well they are doing with complete sentences and paraphrasing, a poster does not really need to be completely done in that form. Students can also record audio of their voice recording a section of text directly in the Glog. I will reiterate that they can do a variety of things to include the information besides just typing it in.
The original due date was Friday, November 1. I am going to move this to Monday, November 4, though I am sure many students can finish by the 1st. I just feel that one extra weekend might help them do their best.
Their "Wax Museum" presentation will be on Wednesday, November 6 from 10:45-11:30. Please come and see the finished projects and performers! If you cannot attend, no worries! I will video for you. Costumes do not need to be elaborate- simple is the word!
Any questions? You know where to find me!
Jaclyn Karabinas
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Happy October!
Hi everyone!
These first 6 weeks have been filled with getting back into routines, building our community, awakening our skills and having lots of fun. I always say the school year REALLY starts after NECAP testing. Looking forward to that! It's a crazy schedule to fit 2 hrs. in each day, but we make it happen. The kids are focusing hard on Reading Session 2 as I type this update.
Technology
We have dived in deep! With our Google Apps for Education accounts, we now know how to access our own file storage, called our Drive, as well as create, edit, name and share documents with teachers. We can use these logins to access so many other educational tools via the web and iPads. Our iPad minis are here (we have 3) and the first thing I will teach the students to do is screen-cast.
We will use Educreations for this tool. What screen-casting allows students to do is record their speaking and drawing to explain their thinking process or learning for a specific skill or topic. For example, a few students were struggling with multi-digit subtraction and so I had them record a screencast for me while I worked with another group. This provided me with a recording of their thought process that I could hear and see, giving me a chance to find the flaw in their thinking. Awesome! This is one of many ways students will be able to use this tool. Common Core calls for students to truly be able to explain their thinking in all subjects and support their claims with evidence. This tool will allow me to reach this goal.
I know that having more things online is a tough transition. I am here to help. Please let me know of any questions or confusion you have with any of the tools your child may be using. Please also remember that even though we have more access to more technology tools and more devices, maintaining BALANCED TIME away from devices is important to me. If your child ever tells you that it is their homework to be on the computer for 2 hours, they are fibbing. :)
Math
We began the year with Geometry where the primary goals are to describe and classify 2-dimensional shapes by their properties and to build an understanding of the "building blocks" of these figures (angles, lines etc.) Students showed their learning by completing the Open Response to classify and defend their choices with evidence (Common Core Depth of Knowledge Levels 3 & 4), as well as complete an online portion of the test to show their basic knowledge (DOK Levels 1 & 2).
Using the online option for testing in the EDM ESuite is new to me...I will figure out the best way to send that information home, but the Open Response will come home on paper.
Literacy Workshop & Social Studies
Our Biography project is a cross-curricular project that Collette Elzey and I wrote together which also reaches many technology goals pertaining to digital citizenship and online safety. Our end product will be on the online poster tool Glogster By the end of the unit, students will be able to say the following statements:
These first 6 weeks have been filled with getting back into routines, building our community, awakening our skills and having lots of fun. I always say the school year REALLY starts after NECAP testing. Looking forward to that! It's a crazy schedule to fit 2 hrs. in each day, but we make it happen. The kids are focusing hard on Reading Session 2 as I type this update.
Technology
We have dived in deep! With our Google Apps for Education accounts, we now know how to access our own file storage, called our Drive, as well as create, edit, name and share documents with teachers. We can use these logins to access so many other educational tools via the web and iPads. Our iPad minis are here (we have 3) and the first thing I will teach the students to do is screen-cast.
We will use Educreations for this tool. What screen-casting allows students to do is record their speaking and drawing to explain their thinking process or learning for a specific skill or topic. For example, a few students were struggling with multi-digit subtraction and so I had them record a screencast for me while I worked with another group. This provided me with a recording of their thought process that I could hear and see, giving me a chance to find the flaw in their thinking. Awesome! This is one of many ways students will be able to use this tool. Common Core calls for students to truly be able to explain their thinking in all subjects and support their claims with evidence. This tool will allow me to reach this goal.
I know that having more things online is a tough transition. I am here to help. Please let me know of any questions or confusion you have with any of the tools your child may be using. Please also remember that even though we have more access to more technology tools and more devices, maintaining BALANCED TIME away from devices is important to me. If your child ever tells you that it is their homework to be on the computer for 2 hours, they are fibbing. :)
Math
We began the year with Geometry where the primary goals are to describe and classify 2-dimensional shapes by their properties and to build an understanding of the "building blocks" of these figures (angles, lines etc.) Students showed their learning by completing the Open Response to classify and defend their choices with evidence (Common Core Depth of Knowledge Levels 3 & 4), as well as complete an online portion of the test to show their basic knowledge (DOK Levels 1 & 2).
Using the online option for testing in the EDM ESuite is new to me...I will figure out the best way to send that information home, but the Open Response will come home on paper.
Literacy Workshop & Social Studies
Our Biography project is a cross-curricular project that Collette Elzey and I wrote together which also reaches many technology goals pertaining to digital citizenship and online safety. Our end product will be on the online poster tool Glogster By the end of the unit, students will be able to say the following statements:
| BIOGRAPHIES: What makes a person notable? |
| I can identify a biography and explain what it is. |
| I can explain characterisitics of this genre and compare/contrast it to other genres. |
| I can put events in chronological order to tell a person's life story. |
| I can read carefully to find relevant facts about a single topic. (person) |
| I can tell the difference between fact and fiction. |
| DIGITAL & PRINT RESOURCES and DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: How do we read closely to find information in resources? |
| I can use both digital and print resources to gather information using note taking or a graphic organizer. |
| I can tell if a website is an authentic, credible source. |
| I can paraphase/summarize from information on a website. |
| I can cross reference information to be sure that it is accurate. |
| I can cite sources that I used for research. |
| I can make good choices when communicating and sharing online. (Edmodo) |
| I can use Creative Commons to find photos, video etc. that I can use with permission so not to violate copyright. |
For now, students have chosen their books, reviewed instructions and the rubric for the project, practiced using Glogster and practiced taking notes on notecards using a graphic organizer to guide them. The project is due November 1st. There will be more lessons to build their skills for success in this unit and more information coming about completing the project. They will be performing a "Wax Museum" to share their "Glogs" and biography speeches on November 6 in the morning!
Field Trip to Mt. Major
What a great way to end testing! Next Wednesday, October 9, we will hike Mt. Major in Alton Bay, NH. Regular gym shoes will be just fine for this trip and students should dress in layers. Please send your child's permission slip in as soon as you can and let me know if you have any questions.
That's PLENTY for now! Talk to you soon,
Jaclyn Karabinas
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