Ross Elementary Instruction Insider
February Edition
MATH
ELA
Kindergarteners continue to add to their sight word repertoire and should be practicing reading and spelling words from short vowel families (especially those with short a and short e). In writing, students are telling and writing about topics they know a lot about in 4-6 page booklets. Each page should contain a picture and an original sentence telling another ‘fact’ about the topic they have chosen. During this month long unit, students should create NUMEROUS booklets on self-selected topics. Their writing folders should have many different ‘all about’ books they have written by the end of the month.
Writing
MATH
MOVE THROUGH THE STAGES OF MODELS
ELA
First Graders will spend this month Navigating Nonfiction text during reading as well as writing All About Books. Spring of 1st grade is also an important time for the development of students’ fluency. Students should spend plenty of time rereading familiar texts to build their automaticity and fluency. To make things a little more fun, students can read to a partner, a stuffed animal, or record themselves on an ipad or tablet to ‘show off’ their fluent reading. Fluency is a priority standard and an important element on the learning progressions so this important skills should have a high level of importance in parents’, students’, and teachers’ minds.
Reading Fluently
"Rate is an important element of fluency. Rate is inhibited when students don’t recognize and read words quickly. First graders should be able to read at least 100 sight words, any CCVCC or CCVCE words, and many r-controlled vowel words automatically in print and in isolation. Rapid recognition and reading of sight words and easily decodable words is absolutey essential for a successful reading
future."
Writing
Context vs Quantities - A Comprehension Strategy
Do your students go right to the numbers when problem solving? Are they struggling with understanding the problem? Click below to read more about Numberless Word Problems and how this strategy develops comprehension in Math.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/04/07/math-word-problems/
https://bstockus.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/numberless-word-problems/
The purpose of a numberless word problem is to give students an opportunity to collaboratively identify and make sense of mathematical relationships in a situation before being presented with a question.
Technology Integration
MATH
Expanded Form
Vertical Record
Unifix Cubes
Technology Integration
ELA
2nd graders spend all of February in nonfiction reading and writing units. The vast majority of texts that are being used for read aloud and guided reading should be nonfiction. Recognizing various text features and identifying main ideas and supporting details are the highest priority goals of this unit. Look for evidence that students are recording information about what they are learning from the nonfiction texts they read independently. Students should also be writing about topics they are interested in, drawing from what they already know about the topic as well as new information they learned from a book or other source.
Writing
GRADES 3-5 SPIRAL REVIEW/INTERVENTION
Math
Technology Integration
ELA
3rd graders spend the months of February and March immersed in reading nonfiction texts. You should see students reading nonfiction library books, guided reading books, and LOADS of short nonfiction feature articles. Many feature articles are provided in the curriculum, a wide variety of articles can be found in the periodical magazines found in your school library, and hundreds more are available on the website https://e.newsela.com/. There should be a balance of student choice and teacher choice in the texts they are reading in this unit. Most importantly, students should be doing rigorous thinking, talking, and writing work with every single text they read. The curriculum provides a VAST array of question stems, graphic organizers and STAAR formatted questions to ensure that students are working at the appropriate level of rigor during these nonfiction units of study
Author's Purpose Vocabulary
Vocabulary describing how an author told information
Nonfiction Feature Vocabulary
Writing
Math
ELA
4th grade has just begun a vitally important writing unit on revising. This unit focuses on the craft of revising a student’s own writing as well as giving students the opportunity to immerse in understanding the types of multiple choice revision questions that will be seen on the STAAR test. Students are exposed to a carefully constructed balance of authentic revision opportunities and multiple choice practice in this unit.
Building Block 1
Effectively combining sentences
Building Block 2
Building Block 3
Revising Expository Texts
I Can Revise To
use a more accurate word
use a more appropriate transition/add a transitional word or phrase
remove a sentence That does not belong
improve the meaning of an unclear sentence
tell more about the idea
help open the paragraph/ introduce the idea
create a more effective closing
combine simple sentences
correct run-ons or fragments
rearrange or reword awkward sentences
Technology Integration Tip
Math
5th grade students will be completing their Geometry and Measurement Unit in February. The focus in 5th grade Geometry is on putting all the terms the students have learned from Kinder-4th altogether and being able to fluidly work with those terms. The only new item in the 5th grade geometry concepts is the symbol students should learn to use for the term congruent. Many charts with vocabulary terms, pictorial representations, and attributes should be seen in the classrooms. Measurement concepts will include the study of perimeter and area as relating to volume. Many concrete experiences with volume should be offered to help students learn how volume connects to perimeter and area.
ELA
5th grade spends the first few weeks of February involved in a persuasive reading and writing unit. This unit focuses heavily on author’s purpose. You should see evidence of teachers and students writing author’s purpose statements after every text they read in this unit. These statements have studentsusing the language of the discipline (such as: argue, complain, convince, encourage, persuade, influence, suggest, imply ) while explaining the main ideas or themes contained in a text.
A performance task has been created to accompany this unit that combines all the knowledge and skills students have learned in persuasive reading and writing. Students will develop a position on the topic of recess and prepare a convincing argument that supports their position. They will begin by reading a collection of provided resources and analyzing them for the author’s viewpoint, purpose, main ideas, persuasive techniques (see recording sheet). They’ll use the sources to get some data to use in their own arguments. They will then develop a poster, letter, or digital presentation that states their opinion, supports it with evidence, and uses persuasive language or techniques to convince the reader. A rubric has been provided to assess students’ analysis, fact collection, and product.
Author's Purpose
What did the author hope to accomplish by writing this? Based on the information in the selection, the author would most likely agree with which of these statements? With which statement might the author agree? The author wrote this selection mainly to- The author wrote this article most likely to- The purpose of this selection is to- What is the article mainly about? The selection is mostly about? From the information in this selection the reader can conclude that _______? What can the reader determine from the information in the selection? What is the best summary of the section titled ___? Which is the best summary of the selection? An important idea presented in this selection is that- The author wrote this selection most likely (or mainly) to-
Technology Integration Reminder for ALL Grade Levels
*If you have a student that needs extra practice in DreamBox, remind them that the computer lab is open every morning at 7:45.