Friday is Fun Day

Today I am the teacher :)
My supervising teacher is out and we have no sub.  It's not really much different from a normal day; I just had to cancel a couple morning groups. 

One of the kindergarteners figured out that we always do something fun on Friday (i.e.  abc BINGO, Leap Frog "Letter Factory" dvd, Starfall on the computer).  I kind of thought that would take the fun out of it to know it's coming and not be surprised - but he seemed happier than on regular days knowing he had something to look forward to :)

Peacock

It always amazes me the bonus words that a first grade class can come up with.  Every week one of our first grade groups has 2 challenge spelling words, this week: December (makes perfect sense) and peacock (?).
I wonder if the students get to pick? Or, maybe there is a grab bag type of system where the teacher pulls out a random word every week.  I think it's fascinating.

Stand and Deliver

With snow falling outside, students are more than distracted.
This morning I had to stand behind a student using the Academy of Reading software and repeat the phrase "which on is it?" - for 15 minutes.  It's unfortunate the lack of concentration that the average student has, but if that's what it takes for him to be successful I will do it everyday.
Is it spring yet?

Take Your Time!

4th Grade- Miraculously 2 of the groups are back on the same story this week.  This makes it easier when there are multiple groups in the same room (as kids tend to get distracted easily).  This means both groups are working on the same spelling, vocabulary, and story.  I hope that it stays this way for some time, this way we will be able to get more done. 

The 4th grade student that has been coming for extra time during recess four times a week is showing improvement.  Although his handwriting is horendous still,  he has been doing the bulk of his homework at home ::gasp::  I believe he struggles with completing assignments not for lack of total skills, but for lack of the ability to work at the required pace.  He simply works at his own speed which is unfortunately something that the school day often doesn't allow for, and the consequence is that he has to finish up classwork at home in addition to homework assignments.  Despite this, he is still a joy to have in class.  

T-Day

Kdg- we are working more on sight words, make mini books to help practice (one word a day, most days).  We are also concentrating on both beginning and ending sounds, supplementing this skills with targeted worksheets.

1st- we are on sight word list 11 (out of 12).  The students are focusing on using the words in a sentence to get a better sense of their context.  Today we used interactive writing to combine efforts in making sentences for specific words.

2nd- it's back to spelling, vocab, and story as normal this week. To fill extra time the students complete daily language reviews (1/2 sheet worksheets) and reading comprehension packets.  I can see a definite improvement in their ability to take the information they have read and express understanding.

4th- the focus in spelling this week are plural forms of words.  All the classes are still on separate stories, this week one of the groups started reading "Shiloh" (a chapter book).  The use of vocabulary flashcards seem to be helping.   

Review Week

This is review week for the Second grade groups.  They do not have a new story in class, but are going over selected spelling and vocabulary words that might have been slightly more challenging the first time around.  This is a great time for us to spend our sessions focusing on reading comprehension.  The Read & Understand packets are leveled for each grade.  They also have corresponding grade level skills such as vocabulary, compound words, contractions, punctuation, etc.  This helps to strengthen ideas that are introduced in the classroom. 

Most of the time we complete these packets together, however, it is nice to let them do small portions individually in order to gage their progress. 

Hump Day

Kindergarten-  The students are making progress; slowly, but surely.  We have almost grasped all of the letters and sounds, and are starting to be able to identify beginning and ending sounds.  The use of technological aides like the StarFall computer game and the Leap Frog "Letter Factory" dvd, the concepts have really began to plant themselves in the students memory.  They are able to recall letter information rather regularly, and seem to really enjoy the extra stimulation.

First Grade - The students are on the ninth set of sight words.  Their sentences are looking much better; spacing, capital letters, punctutation, etc.  They are still having some difficuly writing on a topic and making up the sentences, but we will keep working on it.  The students that are using the Reading Academy software are really doing great on it.  Out of the 31 skills it covers, most of them are at least a third through them; some obviously being easier than others.

Second Grade - We are starting the Read Naturally program with 1/2 of the students.  Hopefully this will improve their fluency.  The other half is going to keep working on some extra reading comprehension and sequencing skills.

Fourth Grade - Spelling is still a concern for some of the students.  Their work improves considerably over the week, but the end grade is still lower than I would like to see.  We will have to concentrate a little more on this.  Otherwise, I am happy with their comprehension - but would like to see a little more ability to think outside the box.