The 2A Times!
The Math Link Issue!
Math Facts Are a Foundation For Success!
In Unit 2, we are working on getting our easier math facts (+1, +2,) down to help us be successful. It is an important skill for children to have as everything down the line will be affected by this knowledge or lack of. We are using a variety of games in class involving counting money, looking for the difference, and building personal graphs to help with fact knowledge. A great math drill website I have found is xtramath.org. It is free and easy to use. The load times seem fast and it will let you track your child on their math facts. I am going to experiment with it in class as a supplement to help kids with fact knowledge but there is also a place for free parent accounts. If you try this out, please send me feedback about what you think.
Literacy Rotations Are A Success!
We have started our new literacy rotations and the children were outstanding on Thursday! Give your son or daughter a pat on the back for their good work. We currently our doing 4 rotations during our literacy block: Read to Self, Read to Others, Word Work, and Writing.
The children rotate four times during the literacy block to work on one of the stations. Word Work is part of our Words Their Way program which targets phonic skills that each individual child needs. Part of the goodness of the program is the ability to differentiate to really give each student help with what they are weak in and not waste their time with things they are good at. The literacy rotation also gives me a chance to look at each child as an individual so I can work with them to address their strengths and weaknesses. More will be coming home in the future for kids to work with their words.
Audio Book Project! Guest Stars Wanted!
One of my goals this year is to create a functioning audio library so kids can check out a book and hear it read to them. I am working primarily with picture books (due to length) and hoping to build a 100 story audio library that anyone can use. The books that are being read come from the school library so all students and parents here at ICS will have access to them. Kids in 2A are encouraged to read books that are easy for them in order to work on their fluency. I have some children I have already recorded reading a story they have practiced on an hopefully all the kids will be part of the library, reading a story to others that they enjoy. If you would like to read and record a story to use for our audio library, please drop me a line and we'll work out a time for your recording session.