Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Raz-Kids!
Yahoo! Our classroom Raz-Kids accounts are finally ready to use!
I am sending home a letter today with the website information, along with your child's login and password.
You go to raz-kids.com, type in my teacher username: adonbrook0 (that's a zero), find your child's name and then they will need to click on their password. The note I am sending home today will have your child's password on it. Some of the passwords are 1 picture and some are a combination of 2 pictures. Each child has a different password. The passwords are more for fun and technological literacy than a need for actual security.
If you have a computer at home with internet access, please log on and check out this great reading program. If you have an ipad, you can download the app for Raz-Kids and log on that way.
The way I ask that students use Raz-Kids is to READ the book first (click on the picture of the eye) and then LISTEN to the book and then do the QUIZ. The quiz can only be completed after the book is read. Many children have strong auditory memories, so if they LISTEN to the book first, then the READING of the book will not be authentic.
The students need to complete all three tasks for each book before moving on to a new book. The quiz is designed to test comprehension, which is a really essential literacy skill. I stress the importance of taking their time and working to get most or all correct.
I can check each child's activity online so I will be monitoring their progress.
I gave your child a starter level for Raz-Kids. If you find it is TOO HARD, please contact me and I will switch them to a lower level. If it seems a bit too easy, just have your child forge ahead for now.
Please know that Raz-Kids does not replace the importance of reading actual books with your child. However, it's a great tool that we can use to help increase literacy skills!
Have fun!
I am sending home a letter today with the website information, along with your child's login and password.
You go to raz-kids.com, type in my teacher username: adonbrook0 (that's a zero), find your child's name and then they will need to click on their password. The note I am sending home today will have your child's password on it. Some of the passwords are 1 picture and some are a combination of 2 pictures. Each child has a different password. The passwords are more for fun and technological literacy than a need for actual security.
If you have a computer at home with internet access, please log on and check out this great reading program. If you have an ipad, you can download the app for Raz-Kids and log on that way.
The way I ask that students use Raz-Kids is to READ the book first (click on the picture of the eye) and then LISTEN to the book and then do the QUIZ. The quiz can only be completed after the book is read. Many children have strong auditory memories, so if they LISTEN to the book first, then the READING of the book will not be authentic.
The students need to complete all three tasks for each book before moving on to a new book. The quiz is designed to test comprehension, which is a really essential literacy skill. I stress the importance of taking their time and working to get most or all correct.
I can check each child's activity online so I will be monitoring their progress.
I gave your child a starter level for Raz-Kids. If you find it is TOO HARD, please contact me and I will switch them to a lower level. If it seems a bit too easy, just have your child forge ahead for now.
Please know that Raz-Kids does not replace the importance of reading actual books with your child. However, it's a great tool that we can use to help increase literacy skills!
Have fun!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Challenge your child - with help!
Is your child interested in discovering things? Building? Creating? Do you want to foster these skills? If so, check out this site:
diy.org
diy.org is a FREE, AMAZING concept site that was designed to challenge, motivate and inspire creativity and critical thinking in children.
You can go to the site and read and explore so you know what it's all about. Then you can sign up for free and get a user name and password for your child. After that, you can explore and participate the hundreds of topics/areas of interest.
Your child can participate in challenges and "earn badges" for their work.
Do take some time to explore this site. Consider signing your child up!
diy.org
diy.org is a FREE, AMAZING concept site that was designed to challenge, motivate and inspire creativity and critical thinking in children.
You can go to the site and read and explore so you know what it's all about. Then you can sign up for free and get a user name and password for your child. After that, you can explore and participate the hundreds of topics/areas of interest.
Your child can participate in challenges and "earn badges" for their work.
Do take some time to explore this site. Consider signing your child up!
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
CREATE artist
I am sitting in our classroom watching the students work with Allan Dotson, our CREATE artist. Allan is an artist in Regina. He is a Comic artist and also teaches drawing and art classes. You can click here to learn more about Allan and his work.
The students are working very positively, happily and appropriately with him. We are going to work with Allan today, Friday and again next Wednesday.
The students are working on creating a 4 panel comic that uses our "Stoplight" self-regulation tool to show how a grade 3 student can be having a "Green" day, but something happens to make it feel "Yellow" and then something else happens to makes it "Red". The fourth panel shows how the student can take control over the situation and change the day back to "Green".
This is the same sort of thing we are learning about through discussions, stories and examples every day in our classroom. Self-regulation is an essential life skill. We need to be able to have control over our own actions, feelings and words.
I am impressed with the students' focus right now, but even more so with the ideas they are sharing. I am hearing wonderful strategies about how to "change" a day from yellow or red, to green.
I will share more about our work as it progresses.
ps - Swimming lessons tomorrow morning!!
The students are working very positively, happily and appropriately with him. We are going to work with Allan today, Friday and again next Wednesday.
The students are working on creating a 4 panel comic that uses our "Stoplight" self-regulation tool to show how a grade 3 student can be having a "Green" day, but something happens to make it feel "Yellow" and then something else happens to makes it "Red". The fourth panel shows how the student can take control over the situation and change the day back to "Green".
This is the same sort of thing we are learning about through discussions, stories and examples every day in our classroom. Self-regulation is an essential life skill. We need to be able to have control over our own actions, feelings and words.
I am impressed with the students' focus right now, but even more so with the ideas they are sharing. I am hearing wonderful strategies about how to "change" a day from yellow or red, to green.
I will share more about our work as it progresses.
ps - Swimming lessons tomorrow morning!!
Friday, October 04, 2013
Homework
Hi everyone,
I have had a few questions about the Spelling program, so I wanted to let you know that information about our Spelling program is written in detail in the "Homework" section of this website.
Also, I posted little tid-bits of information in the "Numeracy" and "Literacy" sections of the website. More information will follow in the next few weeks.
I am also adding information to the "Links" section of the site every few days. Check out some of the great videos I have added!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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