6th Grade Reading & Technology
Monday, September 22, 2014
Reading Plus Update and News
After interim grades came out last week, I had many requests for clarification on the Reading Plus program at our school. I want to explain how your child is evaluated in the program and show you an example of an exemplar so you'll recognize what to look for when your child logs in and works in the program. On the right, you see a graphic of the Reading Plus screen. Every week, students are expected to make check marks appear in all of the SeeReader boxes, all of the Read Around boxes, and at least one of the iBalance boxes. When they show me that they have check-marks in 9 or 10 boxes, they automatically receive an A for that week for "Completion of Tasks". Students have formally believed that if they read just one story, they would receive a check-mark in the box. It doesn't seem to work that way. They need to keep working until the check-marks show up. They get NO CREDIT for scores less than 80% in SeeReader, so some children will read and read and read before they see the check-mark in the box. SeeReader is the heart of the program, and where the comprehension grade comes from. The "Completion" grade comes from how close your child got to the weekly goal. The program starts over every week, though the data never goes away. I have access to ALL the data from the start of the year. This is our sixth week in the program, so by now students should understand what is expected. Please feel free to email me with other questions about the program.
Cyberbullying
Most of us grew up with the old "sticks and stones" adage, but sadly, in our world today, bullying, name-calling, and general "meanness" seems to be more prevalent in our schools, and cannot be ignored. Technology offers bullies a new way to victimize someone. Sitting behind a computer screen somehow gives bullies a new sense of anonymity. We have discussed bullying in our class, and the students have been told that we don't tolerate it at Switzerland Point Middle School. However, unless we are told about the bullying, there's little we can do. Please take a moment to discuss this important topic with your child and help them to understand the steps they must take to get the bullying to stop. This website is excellent starting place for your family discussion.
Web Picks of the Week....
Text Type 2
This is an excellent typing practice site. Students learn the placement of fingers and as they move through the series of exercises.
Tagxedo
An alternative to Wordle, Tagxedo offers students a chance to create beautiful word clouds. Change the colors, type and direction of text, and even make your word cloud a shape!
Meet Me...
MeetMeAtTheCorner.org is an educational video-sharing site, created by a teacher and children's book author. Kids can watch interesting videos created by other kids about an eclectic collection of subjects...(quoted)
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William B. Yeats
Contact Mrs. Campbell
Email: marian.campbell@stjohns.k12.fl.us
Website: http://www-raider.stjohns.k12.fl.us/teachers/Ms_Campbell%27s_Website/
Location: Switzerland Point Middle School, Greenbriar Road, Jacksonville, FL
Phone: (904) 547-8650