Daily 3

Our third grade has just begun to implement the daily 3 during their math block.  Today I got to see a bit of it in action.  Students were so excited to be playing a game with a friend for math with someone.  Students were also working quietly on their assignments for the math by myself daily.  Students were also working with a partner to complete a math story problem for the math writing daily.

Pics from around the building

 First Ggaders using the APL strategy: bellringers with notecards.  They had two cards to work on solving and one card they shared out how to solved the problem.

Kindergarteners working on completing their monthly essential skills assessemnts.  Students were independelty working on writing their numbers, drawing objects, and drawing a self- portrait.

Comprehension Toolkit in 3rd

Our third grade has been working really hard implementing the comprehension toolkit.  Their first lesson was a comprehension strategy to follow your inner conversation.  Once they introduced this strategy they then moved to learning about how to read a passage closely and what to do when their meaning breaks down.  In this picture students are just beginning to learn about a close reading with an oreo example.  Students came in and ate an oreo quickly and said what they ate.  Then later in the day they got to eat a second oreo but were to take their time.  Once they ate this oreo they described what they ate.  As you can imagine the answers were more descriptive.  This shows us as a reader that when we slow down and reread things it can help us understand what we are reading.

11 Alternatives to Round Robin Reading

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/alternatives-to-round-robin-reading-todd-finley

Iowa Leads Nation in Teacher Leadership

Great article about Iowa's Teacher Leadership: http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/education/k-12-education/iowa-leads-nation-in-teacher-leadership-us-education-secretary-says-20150915?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Coaches Corner Newsletter

Coaches Corner

August 31, 2015

http://e-hawkinstructionalcoach.blogspot.com/

What’s New….. I am including two short summaries about our new literacy initiatives.  This is to help you inform parents that are asking or to let them know of new things that we are doing.

95% Group:  

K,1,2 The Phonics Chip Kit helps teachers explain phonics patterns using manipulatives and sound spelling mapping.  Students will direct their attention to individual sounds in words and analyze their spelling patterns.

3-4 Decoding multisyllabic words is an essential skill that has a direct impact on reading accuracy, fluency, and the comprehension of text.  The task of decoding or pronouncing longer words is often a challenge for many students in grades 3 and above.  The Multisyllable Phonics Routines are designed to help students solve the mystery of multisyllabic words by recognizing patterns, identifying correct vowel sounds, and applying syllable division rules.

Lexia:  

Lexia Reading Core5 provides explicit and personalized learning.  Lexia provides students immediate corrective feedback, multiple levels of scaffolding, and explicit instruction both online and through direct instruction with the teacher.  Students will work independently to develop reading skills to build fluency and comprehension with complex text.

Dates: Misc.

Fast window: Sept. 7- Oct. 2 (If you let me know when you are testing I can come help in your room so you can focus on the student you are administering the assessment to.)

I have been busy screening students for 95% group.  Your data is updated daily.  We will be looking at how to create strategy groups during your PLC time. If you are looking for me in the day I have a schedule on my whiteboard in my office that tells when I have meetings/appointments with teachers.   I really enjoyed the first week of PLC’s with each grade level.  Each grade level is doing great things to improve student achievement.

The Importance to Reading Aloud to your Children

This is a great article about how important it is to read to our children at home to build their literacy skills.

http://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045