Miss Fry's Newletter
Kindegarten Inclusion Class
Technology News and Kindergarten Updates
Let us stay connected with Edmodo...
Edmodo is an educational website that combines the ideas of a social network and changes it up a little-bit making it totally appropriate for a kindergarten classroom. Using Edmodo, students, parents and teachers are able to stay connected on a daily basis by sharing ideas, concerns and helpful tips.
Do not worry…it is a safe environment. There is no bullying or inappropriate content, because I can see EVERYTHING that is posted on Edmodo. Only our class students and parents will be given a specific group code that will allow access to our website and posts.
My main use of Edmodo is to communicate with parents. I will post updates and information to parents about what we're learning, interesting things that occur in our class, upcoming important dates, and daily assignments. To make things even easier I have created sub groups, for our 3 reading levels. This allows me to message groups of parents, specific words and strategies that their child is working on and ways you can help from home.
Parents you too will find Edmodo a wonderful technology tool to help to set up playdates with other students, connect with other parents and me. You will even be able to help share events that are happening in our community.
AND the BEST part is you will know what is going on AT ALL TIMES, you will be able to facilitate more conversations with your child on what is going on in school.
"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow" - John Dewey
first 55
The Reading Game with first 55 is an interactive, phonics-based, programmed reading that is classroom-proven for over 30 years. "The Reading Game” will help develop your child into a confident and successful reader.
How does it work? Children learn through repetition and interactive response. With this program children will be given many more responses than in a traditional lesson. Children LOVE repetition, and, more importantly, they love to make correct responses. By reinforcement and encountering the same material many times, young readers develop confidence and quickly mastery these beginning reading skills. Your child will stick with a letter, a word, or beginning sentence construction until they learn it. When they have mastered the skill, they move on to new material.
Do all students work together? Each child will have their own log in and move at their own pace. There will be no sense of failure as they work to master these skills because each child will be working independtly for 10 to 15 minutes per day. There will be NO GRADE for this assignment but the children will be taking responsibility for their own learning and progress. They will be able to learn at their own pace without the pressure of attaining a score.
Improving and Moving
Upon arrival to our classroom each morning our kindergarteners will begin their day by checking in on the SMART Board. This simple process helps to provide a start-of-day routine such as taking attendance and lunch count. I will post large, colorful icons marked with individual student names. The board may also show pictures of the day’s lunch choices. Then, instead of waiting for roll call and lunch count or checking in on a magnet board, the students use their fingers to guide their icons to their lunch choices. This process also helps our young students become comfortable with the touch process that is becoming so popular and important when using Wi-Fi digital tools, such as the laptops and tablets. But it doesn’t stop there…most young children have short attention spans and respond better to instruction if it includes movement and hands-on action, such as getting up to answer a question or demonstrating how to use a tool. As one of my favorite kids songs says, they “like to move it, move it” and your child will be able to "move it on up" to the Smart board for answering questions and participating in our daily lessons. The kindergarten students enjoy touching SMART Boards to answer questions and remain engaged during the whole lesson. They also interact well to bright colorful graphics that are much easier to be seen in a large group setting when viewed on the big screen. It is fun for them to use electronic pens to circle items or be able to move virtual objects with their fingers. Our kindergarten students will have the opportunity to sort items on a SMART Board and be able to show what they know about a particular subject. They might be asked to sort objects, alphabetize words or even fill in the blanks. The possibilities are endless and guaranteed to help develop a love for learning.