Report cards are right around the corner and our parent-teacher meetings are scheduled for next week. Thank you all for signing up online. Your support and embrace of technology is exemplary! I am very fortunate to have your support. Report cards go home this Friday. Please read the carefully and think about questions and concerns you might have about your child’s learning. I would like for our brief time together next time to be as efficient and productive as possible. Thank you.
The students started “Traveling Around the World” this week. We visited Sweden, my native country, using Google Earth, atlases and various additional materials and objects I brought in to the classroom from Sweden. Ask your child what I brought in and please ask your child how we wrote three postcards together. They are on display in our classroom now so please visit! The students did an amazing job using google earth and locating Sweden and Europe on the map. We will continue to learn about Sweden and Scandinavia this week. Please ask your child what facts he/she learned about Sweden. Next week, we have students visiting from France and Germany is a Team-wide international celebrations!Vi ser fram emot det! (We’re looking forward to that!)
The students continue to podcasts every week. We have added some public podcasts to our podcasting site. Please visit the site at www.podcastingharmony.weebly.com, or www.mccormack.podbean.com to listen to our most recent posts! Please note that I also post our public audio files on the wiki, linked at the podcasting site for Team Harmony. That way, you can always access the information. We are on iTunes now, so you can search for us there as well!! The students learned to use our recording devices to record their own readings this week. They record their most fluent reading and then listen to it. They reflect on their reading and decide what they need to work on before their next turn. They also reflect on what they did well. Please ask your child why it is so important that our reading sounds like “: spoken language” (hint, it helps with our comprehension and critical thinking about the text as we chunk the text).
Reader’s Workshop continued this week with guided reading groups. 2nd graders are currently working on character traits and how we can use inferencing to figure out those traits as many times they are inferred from the text and not explicitly stated. Although we know that characters are defined by their actions, statements and thoughts; sometimes as an attentive reader we must think in broader terms and infer meaning. This can be challenging but repeated practice will help us all be more critical thinkers. The students are using post-it notes and index cards to help them find specific passages in the text that “proves” the character trait! They are doing a great job! First graders are also discussing character traits and reading strategies. Decoding and fluency are two important components now.
We had another Guest Reader this week. As before, the students received clues for a couple of days. They were unable to figure out our visitor until the last moment.
It was Ms. Birdsall who visited our classroom! She read the book “When Charlie McButton lost power” by Suzanne Collins.
This tale is about a boy who loves computer games. The power goes out and as he s desperately searching for batteries, he gets in trouble and makes some poor choices. The lesson of the book is that there are other important things in life too, not just computers and computer games. As much as we, as a community, love computers and technology, we must remember that technology only makes sense if it enhances our lives, and our learning in school. In schools, technology should only be used to promote learning for all students. It should be used to encourage collaboration, problem solving skills, creativity and communication. It should be used in meaningful, contextual ways so it makes sense to the students. It is also important to foster a Digital Culture around its uses. For example, students must know what the expectations surrounding technology are. These expectations are the same as the expectations we have in school. It is about “Being Safe, Kind and Responsible”. Please know that as the students and I explore various digital platforms we also discuss the implications and the expectations surrounding these new tools. I am very proud of these 1st and 2nd grade students! Once again, thank you for your support. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. I am happy to assist anytime.
I look forward to seeing you all next week. Have a great rest of the week!
Regards,
Maria McCormack
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