We have been studying the Arctic - the people, the animals, the climate. This week we watched the Magic School Bus Goes to the Arctic and learned how animals keep warm in such an extreme environment. Then we experimented ourselves with insulating materials simulating fur and blubber (don't worry - no animals were harmed during our experiment!) Look at the Arctic webpage if you would like to see the video and activity page.
We had the chance to visit the Delta Police display at a local mall on Friday afternoon after our earthquake drill. The Delta police are an important part of our community and our school teams. Our school liaison officer Constable Usipiuk has visited our classroom on a number of occasions and the students enjoy his visits. Constable Couper became our tour guide and explained all the roles the police play in the community while visiting the various displays. She also let the students sit in her police cruiser and turn on the siren! Thank you for the excellent display and tour.
      We were so fortunate to have Cherie Rozon, Nick's mother to join our class to teach us quilling. She told us that quilling is a very old craft that is still popular today. Mrs. Rozon brought all the supplies for us to try and was very patient. We made beautiful gifts for Mother's Days. Thank you for your visit!         We have spent some time learning how to use our Rocket Math folders. It is great to see students working together cooperatively and learning their math facts at the same time! You can read more about Rocket Math on their website here. I just came across this video and it seemed to be so fitting that I wanted to share. Every day we try to instill the belief that we are all capable of learning and changing. Even if we don't learn in the same way or speed as some one else does not mean that it is not happening. One step, one skill, one moment at a time, we are all capable of becoming the person we imagine ourselves to be. Enjoy and marvel at our greatest treasure - our brains! I plan to share this with the class tomorrow. As we begin working with larger and more complex numbers, challenges with basic facts begin to show. Students can work the problems using their fingers, TouchMath strategies or a calculator but that slows them down a lot. Just as our reading fluency practice has increased students abilities to read quickly and smoothly, math fact fluency practice will increase students' ability to recall basic facts. A fact is mastered when it can be answered instantly, without any pause. We will be using a program called Rocket Math. It will take only a few minutes each day of class time, but students will keep working until they have mastered all the facts. You can help your child progress and learn faster by practicing at home. Any day your child does not pass a set of facts, he/she will bring that day's practice sheet home in their homework log. It will help a great deal if you practice with your child for five minutes with that sheet. I will include the instructions for practice in the homework log as well. Be sure to read them over. Your child will be able to explain the procedure to you because it is the same that we practice in class. If your child passed that day's timing they will not have a practice sheet. Instead they can go to Speedy Math and practice online. As always - your help at home pays off at school and in the future!
Direct Instruction Raises the Bar: Learn more in less time Imagine a great learning environment. Children are taught at exactly the right level for their abilities. They have a chance to respond to the teacher's questions not once, not twice, not even ten times during a lesson. In fact, they answer ten questions per minute! Their teacher immediately corrects a wrong answer and gives them a chance to try again. Hard work, paying attention and correct answers earn recognition, praise and Palmeropoly spins. This is the world of Direct Instruction. Learners of all abilities become confident, capable students through explicit, intensive skill instruction. Students are placed with peers at similar levels with frequent assessment and regrouping so that no one is held back or unnecessarily struggling. Basic skills are emphasized at the beginning. Small steps and review quickly lead to mastery of the material. "When you give students a stronger foundation in learning skills and comprehension, you prepare them for a future without boundaries." (SRA, 2008) DI presentation techniques for deliverying instruction means active student participation. This equals 100% of the students engaged in learning 100% of the time. There is no 50% pass rate in Direct Instruction. Mastery for our students is 85% or higher. Evidence Based Learning Study after study has shown that Direct Instruction is a highly effective way to teach academic skills to children. In fact, Project Follow Through, the largest educational research project ever done showed that Direct Instruction was THE BEST METHOD (see DI page). Learning the Easy Way Every Direct Instruction program provides students with support, practice and success. The tested teaching method of "I do, we do, you do" is followed. Curriculum, presentation and responding is consistent from math to spelling to reading. This means that students can focus on learning rather than trying to guess what is coming next. Language is clear and concise. The teacher models skills and steps to ensure understanding and guided practice firms the learning. Quality teaching is ensured through scripted presentations. Examples are presented quickly with standardized wording. Corrections are efficient and consistent. Learning time is maximized through teacher preparation and quick pacing which increases the content covered and decreases behaviour problems. Teacher signals are used to coordinate group responses and provide visual or auditory cues to prepare students. Students with the greatest needs are taught in the smallest groups. No Guess Work Involved Groups are formed after a placement test is administered. Unlike Goldilocks, we don't have to keep trying to find a "just right" group. We know from the start. Groups are not static either because students learn at different speeds. Students don't have to guess whether they have answered correctly. When they are right, they hear "Well done!", "Right on!", "You've got it!". Motivation is kept high and corrections are made without judgement. More Than One "Teacher" Our Educational Assistants are skilled practitioners and equal partners in the teaching process. Actually, the students are excellent leaders as well and the best reward for a job well done is to be put in charge of an exercise. They love the responsibility and we enjoy the opportunity to become students. It's really hard work. In fact on Friday, Alexia and Jordan independently finished an entire lesson in Spelling after I was called away. They took turns being teacher and student, cooperated with each other and were completely successful. Visit the Direct Instruction page to review the programs we are using and links to research and more information. Even better, stop by the class sometime to see us in action! Here's a small taste. Nick and Nicholas really wanted to demonstrate their abilities for the class. They were so proud of mastering a very difficult concept (identifying verbs in sentence formation). Their concentration is apparent! Last week I asked students to use the internet in a number of ways. They listened to a podcast and submitted answers to the questions via a comment box. Then they watched a number of videos on creating a leprechaun trap and wrote a letter to a leprechaun. We also watched a presentation created by grade 6 students in Ireland. Today we went on a hunt for lucky shamrocks, solved a secret code and then looked the the amazing leprechaun traps that were created. Enjoy our classes' creations and have a great St. Patrick's Day. Parents and other readers now have the option of receiving an email notice whenever this classroom blog has been updated. Use this to keep aware of homework, pictures and other useful information. You will find the Subscribe button under my picture on the right hand side of this page. This weekend will be an extra long weekend in BC. Students and parents who check our website will find their homework here as usual. Homework Due Date Summary Daily - read for 30 minutes and fill out Daily Reading Assignment form. March 8th - The Leprechaun Trap Comprehension Challenge (see below) March 9th - Spelling City March 9th - Manga High - place value/addition/addition & subtraction March 16th - bring your Leprechaun Trap to school (or send video) 1. Read for a minimum of 30 minutes and fill out the Daily Reading Assignment each day. 2. Log in to our Manga High site at http://schools.mangahigh.com/division21 Student login and password information is found in their planner. Click the "Skip for now" button on the login page and your challenges will appear. If you have lost your Manga High password please send me a request with your email address in the form at the end of the blog. Complete the assigned challenges by March 9th. 3. Log in to Spelling City. The assignment due date is March 9th. 4. Listen to the story The Leprechaun Trap at www.nightlightstories.net. After listening to the story answer these 5 comprehension questions on the assignment form below. Make sure you number your answers. Comprehension Challenge homework is due March 8th. 1. What are the 3 ways that the leprechauns try to escape from the trap? 2. Why didn't stacking and stepping on the marshmallows work? 3. How do the leprechauns eventually escape from the trap? 4. Who do you think helped the kids build the leprechaun trap? 5. What was the leprechaun trap made out of? 4. There are many ideas and how-to videos on the internet for creating your own leprechaun trap at home. Here are two good sites to visit - Leprechaun Trap Crafts for Kids and The Leprechaun Trap at World News.com. Get started on your own leprechaun trap at home. It is due March 16th. 5. Go out in the sun, play creative games and stay away from the TV and video games! |  Click on the Jaguar to go to the
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AuthorThis is my 3rd year as the Social Learning teacher at Jarvis. I am certified both as an elementary teacher and a behaviour analyst. I enjoy thinking of new ways to keep students motivated and learning. I also love learning to ride - English style! ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
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