Journal Entry 12-13

My job is the best!!! I get to be inspired by children, create exciting learning experiences, be filled with awe as children master reading and develop writing skills, research the reading process for fun, share in the triumphs and struggles of families, work and learn with dedicated and loving second grade teachers!!

Holiday Stations

Math Station

Monday
Christmas Tree... measuring in centimeters and inches and adding endings for er and est comparisons.

Tuesday
Combinations of coins with the same total...  Choose an item from the holiday shopping list, and represent the value using 4 different combinations of coins.  Draw each combination onto while paper folded into fourths.





Wednesday and Thursday
Driedel Game... finding half. We use Hershey's kisses as geldt and when the driedel lands on Hey they divide the pot into two and take half.  I've found this as a good introduction to division and remainders.

a reading myth that can inhibit a child's learning

Become a Better Reader * The Yale Center For Dyslexia & Creativity#

The above article is great!!! The whole site is empowering and informative for all us who try to endlessly reach our students who are learning how to read and become better reading teachers.  As well as parents of creative, intelligent children who struggle with reading fluency, spelling and mastering the language code.

"Learn to read in K-2 and read to learn in 3rd grade and beyond."  This saying is outdated, and I cringe at the memory of how many times I repeated this saying.  When I hear it now, I want to scream for people who master the language code later in life. 
I think some of the driving philosophies behind the Common Core might help educators abandon this myth and saying.  One idea from the Common Core is that children learn from text including media at any age and well before third grade.  Another driving idea is the separation of the fundamental reading skills from simply reading practice and reading comprehension skills.  One fundamental skill seems to be more emphasized, syllabication.  I'm happy to see this, and I need to study the common core to understand how they expect it to be taught.
There is so much for educators and politicians to learn about how adults, teenagers, preteens, and children learn how to read.  I hope I can keep an open mind and continual update my own beliefs.

Journal Entry.....

            You know how on some days you feel like you learn more from the kids then they learn from you. Well, today was one of those days.
We're study telling time to the quarter hour, so I have my kids get their buckets from "How full is Your Bucket Project" to trace a circle to make a clock.  The kids bring their buckets to their desk and take out the notes from their friends.  Their responses taught me so much.  One girl got two notes and whined, "I only got two."  Another girl came running up to me with her two notes and proudly stated, "Look, look, I got two, Ms. Moser!"  Another boy shyly counted his, smiled at me, and whispered, "I got 8." 
Life really is how you choose to see it. 

Community Helpers Writing and Stations

HM theme 3; Neighborhoods and Community
I am going to try to do a common core writing assignment based on what the students want to be when they grow up.  I will guide them with Step Up to Writing for organization.  I might use the link below to expose them to other occupations besides the typical teacher and doctor. 

Listen to reading and read along station:

Click the picture to take you to online books about community helpers.

Promethean Board Station:

Your Neighborhood Your Neighborhood has many people who are there to help you. Click on each building to learn more.

During this station the students can interact and read about information about more community helpers.
 

On a different day at the promethean station the students can go onto the HUD interactive web site to find out about how kids can volunteer in communities.

 

 

Word Work Station:

 

Sorting pocket chart word for tion and ture words.

 

Read to Someone Station:

 

Highlight tion and ture words in I Love Read books.  Read, reread, and listen to partners.

 

Math Station:

 

Time correlation to Envsion.  Create our daily schedule and draw an analog clock for each time of day reference.

 

 

 

SOOOO... I will post some final projects.

 

 

 

 

Your Neighborhood

Your Neighborhood has many people who are there to help you.
Click on each building to learn more.

 

Chinatown and Chinese New Year

2013 is the Year of the Snake.  I sure hope that's correct.  This snake can be use to review almost anything.  I'm using it to review names of plane shapes on one side and the other side is complex patterning of shapes.

vocabulary review of plane shapes

complex pattern on back

I would like my marvelous munchkins to make this dragon puppet at an art station. 

 

This is the link to download and print the dragon puppet pattern.

 

Dragon Parade Puppet | crayola.com



Add simple Chinese characters to the accordian folds of the dragon from
China family adventure website



 

I think I'm going to use the interactive tangrams site link for a learning station at the smart board.


http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/category_g_1_t_3.html

 

Grinning Grinch

To make a Grinch Grin, I would do three things.

I stole this idea from one of those creative and kind teacher on pinterest who love to share.  We will be brainstormin a list of ways to make people smile.  Then they will choose three main ideas from the list to expand upon.  This matches well with our class "buckets," and reminds them to look for smiles as a sign that they did something to fill another person's bucket.