Thank you all for taking the time to come and partake in Parent-Teacher Interviews. 15 minutes goes by very quickly, so if there's anything else you'd like to discuss or if you have any follow up questions, my door is always open. Call and leave a message with Marlene, send me an email or a tweet.
Here are some of the common topics that we discussed: PLEASE BE SURE TO VISIT ALL THE PAGES OF THE WEBSITE; ANNOUNCEMENTS MAIN PAGE, HOMEWORK, LINKS - EXTRA PRACTICE; anything and everything you might need can be found on this website. If you still have questions please feel free to reach out to our class Rep Claire [email protected] If you don't have a Twitter Account, it's easy! You don't have to get super involved and follow anyone else, you can choose to just follow our class - you can even keep your profile private. While this website is full of information, the Twitter Account posts live pictures, links and info about what we do each day. For example, we live tweeted about our field trip to the Royal Winter Fair all day Wednesday! It's a pretty awesome tool to for communication between home and school : ) Click HERE for Twitter for Beginners Homework: In our grade 1/2 class the majority of our Homework will be 'Practice' homework: any work that reviews and reinforces skills and concepts taught in class (TDSB). Take 15 - 20 minutes an evening to choose ONE topic to practice: printing and letter formation, writing & developing ideas, reading to or with someone, math concepts like number sense or, our current strand, sorting & patterning. I will talk to students this coming week about our Homework Policy and let them know that I expect them to be practicing at home; if you would like to send in some type of documentation of your practice, I would be happy to support you and offer feedback and encouragement for your son or daughter. Nearing the end of Term 1 we will begin a more formal homework program, where each student will be completing the same type of task (e.g., Reading and Responses for Borrow A Book) and I will be offering feedback. Grades 1 to 6: There is a strong connection between reading to or with elementary children every day in English or in one’s first language and student achievement. As a result, homework assigned in the early grades shall more often take the form of reading, playing a variety of games, having discussions and interactive activities such as building and cooking with the family. For more on the TDSB Homework Policy These sites already posted on our website's links page, but a reminder never hurts ;) http://www.starfall.com/index.htm A phonics based website, with 4 varying levels of difficulty. The ‘ABCs’ can be used for emergent readers, whereas the ‘I’m Reading’ level is great for fluent readers. Lots of games and interactive fun! http://www.storylineonline.net/ Listen to favourite books online read aloud by some well known actors and actresses! http://www.kizclub.com/reading1.htm A great site where students can listen and read a book online, but can then print the book and read it on their own once they’ve mastered the text! Click on Level 1, 2, or 3 to listen to lots of curriculum related books (and don’t miss the blue ‘next’ button at the top of the page to get even more!). http://nlvm.usu.edu/ Choose PreK-2 and the math strand to find interactive manipulatives (bar graphs, attribute blocks etc). We use MANY of these manipulatives in class, so ask your son or daughter to show you how they show their understanding! http://illuminations.nctm.org/Search.aspx?view=search&type=ac&gr=Pre-K-2 Choose K-2 to find games. LOTS of Number Sense stuff! I like: Five Frame, Ten Frame, How Many Under the Shell, Deep Sea Duel, Grouping and Grazing, Concentration. Printing: Many of our grade 1 and 2 students need to work on proper letter formation and size, lower case letters and neatness. Please incorporate some printing practice at home as part of your homework program. Practice sheets can be downloaded here (these are available on our homework page). If you'd like, send them in for my review and I can support your son's or daughter's practice. If you feel you need a more specialized program, please let me know. What does 'Reading' and practice look like at this early stage?: - you read to your child; it's late at night, they're tired, you're tired - just enjoy a good book! Foster the love of reading : ) - your child flips through a previously read picture book and retells the story in their own words (either using some of the text, or not) - your child reads, word for word, a text at their level; they sound out unknown words and decode as much as possible - if your child gets stuck on a word and is getting frustrated - try one of two things: a) skip it and come back (go back to the beginning of the sentence and reread what you know, say 'mmm' when you get to the word you don't know, keep reading on and then see if you can guess from context clues what that word might be) b) just give them the word so they can keep going and feel a sense of success with the words they DO know - play I Spy with a more difficult text, rather than reading everyword; focus on the words that they do know! - don't 'read' the book, just have 'word competitions': with a sticky note, choose two words that you want to compete against each other, for example "the" and "to"; every time one of those words shows up on a page, it gets a tally mark; at the end of the book add up all your tallies and see which word won! Just Read It: This is a TDSB Program that engages our students in the joy of reading and sharing reading experiences with one another. After you've read a book, review it for your chance to win a Book Prize! Need a title suggestion? See what other grade 1 and 2 students are reading across our school board. Self-Regulation: This particular learning skill is all about the independent strategies that students use, making choices, developing resilience and engaging in social interactions. Consider how well your child: - sets his/her individual goals and monitors progress towards achieving them; - seeks assistance when needed; BUT ALSO - independently perseveres when facing challenges.
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In our Room 108 Classroom Community, we foster an engaging, respectful and caring environment. I aim to balance a consistent program with flexible responsiveness to students' individual needs. Archives
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