We are still going strong in High Ability. Now it's just a matter of squeezing everything in . . . .finishing things up . . . passing things back . . .all while winding down the school year.
High Ability Summer School invites went home with report cards several weeks ago. I encourage you to sign your child(ren) up for it. It is hosted at Bailly and Mrs. Pethes has a WONDERFUL unit planned for them. Don't miss out!
High Ability groups for next year are pretty much set except for second grade. If they are currently in for kindergarten, first or third grade then they will continue in the high ability program next year. Second grade tends to be a bit of a shake up year, now that we have recent data due to CogAT. No decisions have been made for second grade. Our High Ability committee will wait for the rest of the data to be in before making the final decisions. I will let you know at the end of this school year as soon as I know.
We reviewed the Lifelong Guidelines and LifeSkills throughout the week. They are getting much better at identifying which one goes with the theme of the day. I gave a green slip out, one random day in LA/Math to those who answered correctly.
Our next green slip drawing will be next week! The last one will be in May!
- Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. (FLEXIBILITY)
- Common sense is not so common. (COMMON SENSE)
- It's not resources but resourcefulness that ultimately makes the difference. (RESOURCEFULNESS)
- Most great learning happens in groups. Collaboration is the stuff of growth. (Sir Ken Robinson PhD) (COOPERATION)
We continue to post assess in our Language Arts classes. We will do a day of testing then return to our regular curriculum on the other day. It's not fun, but they have great attitudes and are still putting their best foot forward just like I knew they would. I will send them both (pre/post) home at the years end. It's more to assess the curriculum and how it fits with our program and not where the students are. We know they're doing GREAT!
For math, we will wrap up our Math Masters the first week of May, so only two tests remain. Some will be thrilled and others will not . . . I'm really excited with just how far each of them has pushed themselves this year. They've stayed in their own lane with the help of their chart. I'll send those home along with their squares we used to track them.
For math, we will wrap up our Math Masters the first week of May, so only two tests remain. Some will be thrilled and others will not . . . I'm really excited with just how far each of them has pushed themselves this year. They've stayed in their own lane with the help of their chart. I'll send those home along with their squares we used to track them.
Kindergarten Math:
Due to the Body Safety Presentation, we only met once this week. We started with our Math Master timed test. Congratulations to Sam for passing +1's, Attix for passing +2's, and Camren for passing +3's!!! Next, we did our problem of the day (POD). It's always fun for this group because they enjoy using our white boards to figure their answer. We finished up by analyzing our color data and made a graph. I had the "doubles song" playing while we worked. I love how they dance and sing along. I sent the packets home even though we did not complete the entire packet. We will move onto something else next week!
Due to the Body Safety Presentation, we only met once this week. We started with our Math Master timed test. Congratulations to Sam for passing +1's, Attix for passing +2's, and Camren for passing +3's!!! Next, we did our problem of the day (POD). It's always fun for this group because they enjoy using our white boards to figure their answer. We finished up by analyzing our color data and made a graph. I had the "doubles song" playing while we worked. I love how they dance and sing along. I sent the packets home even though we did not complete the entire packet. We will move onto something else next week!
Fourth Grade LA:
We took another post assessment on informational text. We have two more left to do, yay! Spreading them out is helping a lot. On day two, we returned to our Brixton Brother's mystery. We have popcorn read together before, but also read independently. Since many read after finishing up their assessment, we found that everyone was in different spots. A majority wanted to keep that going so they could see what happens next, yet three popcorn read with me. I had some, in my group, really get into character and I had to remind them that others needed it quiet. Too funny . . . . .
Fourth Grade Math:
They jumped right into their Math Masters facts anxious to do their best since time is running out to take them. Congratulations to . . . . We also solved our problem of the day (POD). We reviewed how to find the greatest common factor (GCF) through a neat YouTube video with floating cows, lol. We did several problem together on the first day. They got it right away and used Button Buddies to find our partner before setting off on doing another worksheet using Kagen Rally Coach to help them through. I had to come up with more challenges on the next day since most finished so quickly! We are leading into reducing fractions in upcoming lessons. Can't wait!
They jumped right into their Math Masters facts anxious to do their best since time is running out to take them. Congratulations to . . . . We also solved our problem of the day (POD). We reviewed how to find the greatest common factor (GCF) through a neat YouTube video with floating cows, lol. We did several problem together on the first day. They got it right away and used Button Buddies to find our partner before setting off on doing another worksheet using Kagen Rally Coach to help them through. I had to come up with more challenges on the next day since most finished so quickly! We are leading into reducing fractions in upcoming lessons. Can't wait!
Second Grade LA:
We've only finished with one assessment so far. This group took a while to finish up from last week which is fine. We've only done the grammar part. We also reviewed persuasive writing by kicking off by looking at old commercials. We discussed how the commercials persuaded you to buy their product. Great discussions once again! They are working in small groups to come up with reasons to support our idea . . . "All commercials cannot be trusted." We'll get back together next week to continue. These two brave students were flexing their muscles before they got to work. It was part of our morning message on flexibility.
We've only finished with one assessment so far. This group took a while to finish up from last week which is fine. We've only done the grammar part. We also reviewed persuasive writing by kicking off by looking at old commercials. We discussed how the commercials persuaded you to buy their product. Great discussions once again! They are working in small groups to come up with reasons to support our idea . . . "All commercials cannot be trusted." We'll get back together next week to continue. These two brave students were flexing their muscles before they got to work. It was part of our morning message on flexibility.
Second Grade Math:
I have to admit, Sudoku has never been my strong point. I love, love, love math, but struggle with these puzzles. Not my group! (I think they love them even more once I shared that little fact with them, lol) They are cruising through these number puzzles. Occasionally, I have to redirect, but for the most part, they do wonderfully! We also did a problem of the day and a Math Master timed test. Congratulations to Aybriel for passing her subtraction facts. Way to persevere!!!
Third Grade LA:
All groups started out figuring out the word riddles on the whiteboard. They are working out their brains and using past patterns to solve this week's dilemma. You can see this group deep in thought. Have them share one or two with you! We finished our second assessment on informational text. They all finished at their own pace, so some worked on an extreme dot-to-dot. We had a chance to revisit Alice as we listened to the story.
Third Grade Math:
I have a group of hard working boys. They push themselves to do their personal best on their timed tests. Congratulations to . . . . We also solved our problem of the day (POD) This group really understands how to round decimals with the exception of making sure they follow directions. I had a few round to the tenths when it was asking them to round to the hundredths. Carefully reading the directions is so very important! You may understand how to do the problem, yet miss them all because of a careless error. I paired them up using button buddies before setting them free to use Rally Coach to solve more problems. We worked on two digit multiplication with those who finished early. This group, more than any other, . . . complains about the time going too quickly. I tell them it's time to pack up and go . . . they think I'm joking.
First Grade LA:
We only have two parts for assessments in first grade. I have one completely done and the others close behind. They are just putting their finishing touches on their persuasive writing before completing. I'm looking forward to starting the next cipher message . . . we will learn about hieroglyphics. There's so much to talk about. We'll start first with a KWL chart, so I can find out what the Know, what they Want to learn, and what they Learned.
First Grade Math:
On our first day, I was minus one class due to a scheduling conflict. We all met on the second day. This was the first time my first grader attempted her multiplication timed test. I was close by to cheer and coach her through. They also did our problem of the day (POD), and since they are almost second graders, we did the second grade problem. Success! We explored with the balance scales. They estimated and weighed different objects. It's great with such small groups because they each had their own scale to use. Just to hear their language as they cooperated and exchanged grams and different objects was wonderful!
I have to admit, Sudoku has never been my strong point. I love, love, love math, but struggle with these puzzles. Not my group! (I think they love them even more once I shared that little fact with them, lol) They are cruising through these number puzzles. Occasionally, I have to redirect, but for the most part, they do wonderfully! We also did a problem of the day and a Math Master timed test. Congratulations to Aybriel for passing her subtraction facts. Way to persevere!!!
Third Grade LA:
All groups started out figuring out the word riddles on the whiteboard. They are working out their brains and using past patterns to solve this week's dilemma. You can see this group deep in thought. Have them share one or two with you! We finished our second assessment on informational text. They all finished at their own pace, so some worked on an extreme dot-to-dot. We had a chance to revisit Alice as we listened to the story. Third Grade Math:
I have a group of hard working boys. They push themselves to do their personal best on their timed tests. Congratulations to . . . . We also solved our problem of the day (POD) This group really understands how to round decimals with the exception of making sure they follow directions. I had a few round to the tenths when it was asking them to round to the hundredths. Carefully reading the directions is so very important! You may understand how to do the problem, yet miss them all because of a careless error. I paired them up using button buddies before setting them free to use Rally Coach to solve more problems. We worked on two digit multiplication with those who finished early. This group, more than any other, . . . complains about the time going too quickly. I tell them it's time to pack up and go . . . they think I'm joking.
First Grade LA:
We only have two parts for assessments in first grade. I have one completely done and the others close behind. They are just putting their finishing touches on their persuasive writing before completing. I'm looking forward to starting the next cipher message . . . we will learn about hieroglyphics. There's so much to talk about. We'll start first with a KWL chart, so I can find out what the Know, what they Want to learn, and what they Learned. First Grade Math:
On our first day, I was minus one class due to a scheduling conflict. We all met on the second day. This was the first time my first grader attempted her multiplication timed test. I was close by to cheer and coach her through. They also did our problem of the day (POD), and since they are almost second graders, we did the second grade problem. Success! We explored with the balance scales. They estimated and weighed different objects. It's great with such small groups because they each had their own scale to use. Just to hear their language as they cooperated and exchanged grams and different objects was wonderful!
Yours in education,
~Mrs. Koedyker
No comments:
Post a Comment