Guided Proofreading Procedures

I thought it would be helpful to post a little something about our writing checklist. Often this gets overlooked, but it is a critical part of the writing process. We have been using our writer's checklist to check for errors in writing. I am encouraging students to use this whenever the write. This can also be incorporated whenever you are helping your child at home.

1. Pointing to words as you read the sentence allows students to check and make sure they have not omitted and words. 

2. This step is often skipped, and capitalization and punctuation are the most common errors students make. 

3. I have students check the spelling of the words by using their journals or the word wall in our classroom. These are words that cannot be tapped. 

4. I call this the "built in spellchecker" 

5. At this point we have only learned open and closed syllables. 

6. This helps with fluency. 

Happy MLK Day!

Today we discussed the importance of diversity and respect. Mrs. Hice led us in a lesson about colors and blending. First she read "The Crayon Box that Talked," a book about crayons who discriminate against others based on their color.

 

The crayons are shown by a child, their full potential and the possibilities that they have. The book also explores how colors are all better as a group than isolated.

Each student chose their favorite crayon color, and they glued it to a canvas. We then melted, or "melded" the crayons together to make some artwork. The quote listed above will be added to the canvas.

We read "Elmer" the story about an elephant who is sad because he looks different than other elephants, and of course we would be remiss living in Triad without discussing our local connections to the Civil Rights Movement including a discussion about Ron McNair and the Woolworth sit-in. However, on the primary level we don't go into great detail about discrimination and racism, rather we try to build on the foundation of acceptance and and kindness.

I hope that everyone has a fun and safe weekend, and remember, we do not have school this Monday 1/16.

Homework

Because of the shortened week, please continue to work on your sight words and reading log from last week.

New Year, New Homework!

We are trying a new approach to homework in primary world here at TPS. More and more research proves that there is very little to no link between homework and student success. However, we appreciate the fact that most parents want homework for their kids (or at least want to help their kids with schoolwork at home). Our new homework "packet" for the week is only 1 sheet; it contains sight words for the week, a reading log and an Xtramath log.

Sight words- Instead of assigning students activities to help them remember sight words, they/you have your choice. some suggestions are:

• Make flash cards and review them several times over the night.
• Sky write
• Endless Reader app.
• Glitter Draw app.
• Build words with Legos
• Pipe cleaner words
• Hidden words

-Pinterest is a great place for inspiration, I recommend looking at ideas with your child and let them choose.

*This does not need to be returned to school

Reading log- just write the title of the book and them amount of time read. The goal is 20 minutes. 

-Complete Xtramath daily. 

That's it! 

If you have any thoughts or other suggestions post them below! 

Christmas Candle Tea

We had a great time going to the Moravian Candle Tea last week at Old Salem. We learned about how candles were made and how people celebrated Christmas in the the 18th century. We also go to see the home of "Sister Mouse," a fictional character we read about in class. We are looking forward to our Author's Tea, and we hope to see you there at 1:15 Tuesday!

December Homework

This week we will not assign homework so that families will have more time to celebrate together. However, we strongly encourage students to continue reading for at least 20 minutes at night, and continue working on Xtramath, Reading Eggs and Math Seeds.

December Highlights

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in primary this month! The primary teaching team will attend the last Math Foundations conference this week; we have missed being in the classroom but have gained a wealth of information that we are excited to share with the kids. We will start posting strategies and techniques on this blog to help you, help your child at home. Most importantly we are teaching "outside the algorithm" and helping students deepen their understanding of place value and number manipulation. Of course we have a lot going on with literacy too, and we are constantly assessing and re-evaluating groups and placement. Our themes this month are gift-givers and Christmas. We have planned a trip to attend the Moravian Candle Tea at Old Salem on December 9th; unfortunately, due to limited tickets and reservations we are not be able to invite parents to join us. However, we are encouraging all families to join us at school on December 19th at 1:15 for our author's tea when we will unveil our class book, Christmas Is... Immediately following the tea we will have our class Christmas party. Josiah's mom, Kara Deese is overseeing this party. If you are interested in volunteering to help, please contact her. We hope to see you there!