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Meeting the Needs of Learners... it's a long one...

10/24/2014

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I wanted to take a minute to explain some exciting things that are going on at Willard East!
 I think you will like these and I know the students are already enjoying  some of these adaptations!

Daily 5

All students at Willard East have already been doing Daily 5 for growth in reading and writing. 
The 5 components are:
1. Read to Self
2. Read to Someone
3. Listen to Reading 
4. Work on Writing
5. Word Work
Students rotate through these activities starting first thing the morning. This is a time when we really get to utilize our iPads (for word work) and our netbooks (for listen to reading). I also meet with guided reading groups during this time. A guided reading group allows me to meet with a small group and focus specifically on their needs at their reading level. While I meet with one group (usually 4-5 students) the other students are fully engaged in their Daily 5  activities. It is pretty amazing, really! 

Daily 3 Math - NEW!

The same concept of Daily 5 was recently adapted to apply it to math time as well! We still meet for our whole group lesson in the morning but in the afternoon we use a very similar model to help meet the needs of learners. Not every student has the same academic needs! Daily 3 math lets me differentiate the instruction for different learners - allowing me to help each student grow. We just kicked off our Daily 3 Math launch last week and the students are LOVING it! We have adapted the structure just a little to work a little better in our classroom so our three components are:
1. Math by Myself
2. Math with Somebody
3. Math with my Teacher
Once again, we are integrating a lot of technology during this time using math apps on the ipads and our new resource www.ixl.com on the netbooks. We just launched the use of IXL last Thursday and our class alone already has a combined total of over 10 hours of math practice. THAT IS AMAZING!!! {It's pretty nifty... IXL sends me reports regularly! I can see who has been practicing and how they did!}

COMING SOON... VERY SOON

Beginning on Thursday, November 6th the entire building will be trying something NEW during our "Tiger Time." This is a time designed specifically to meeting the needs of individual students. Our building leadership met to look at this time and asked ourselves some questions... How are we meeting student needs? How do we know? Could we accomplish this in a more effective way? 
After some serious brainstorming and great conversation we came up with a plan that I personally cannot wait to try! It's a little tough to wrap your brain around... so stick with me and keep an open mind!
THE IDEA...
We have school-wide Tiger Time from 12:30-1:00 everyday. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday your student will stay with me in our classroom during this time. On Tuesday and Thursday our building will become more fluid. Each teacher will host a 30 minute club based on math standards we work to meet. Some examples: addition fluency, subtraction fluency, place value, number recognition, and more. The fine print is still in the works and clubs have yet to be assigned. Students will attend their club T/TH from 12:30-1:00 through the months of November and December. After we return from Winter Break we hope to offer some additional clubs. 
I cannot wait to try this out! 

WEEKLY NEWS

FALL PARTY DONATION
You can still send in your Fall Party donation if you have not already sent it in!  We are asking for $1.50 to help cover the cost of food for our fall party. 

 PARTY INFO:
Our party will be at 2:30 in the classroom. You are welcome to join us if your schedule allows!  

DISABILITY AWARENESS DAY
All students at East are invited to celebrate Disability Awareness Day on WEDNESDAY by wearing silver. The class that has the most students with silver will receive a prize.  

 RED RIBBON WEEK NEXT WEEK!
Monday—Mustache Monday
Tuesday—Get Your Red On
Wednesday– Fake Injury Day AND silver day
Thursday—Pajama Day
Friday—Tiger Gear

 
This week we… wrote non-fiction teaching books about pumpkins, determined if pumpkins sink or float (as your child about this…), tweeted Mo Willems (we are still keeping our fingers crossed that he will reply),  engaged in Daily 3 Math Stations, and enjoyed some Tootsie Roll pops for earning 250 Tiger Tokens!!!

 

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FIRE SAFETY FUN!

10/17/2014

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This week we focused on community helpers during our whole-group reading lessons. We learned all about non-fiction text features by reading books about doctors, police officers, and firefighters. We even had a special visit from Cassidy's dad - Fireman Darin! He taught us what to do if there is ever a fire at our home. He also showed us all of the important gear that he has to wear. Most important, he taught us that even though we might be scared we should never be scared of a fireman. The students asked some great questions and enjoyed their time with Fireman Darin. 

THIS WEEK'S NEWS...

BOX TOPS
Don’t  forget to send in any Box Tops before our Tiger Pride Assembly on Friday!


 FALL PARTY DONATION
We are currently collecting donations ($1.50) to help cover the cost of food for our fall party.  Please send all donations by next Friday (October 24th) 


OCTOBER 31st
What a busy day it will be!!! We will have our special reading day on the 31st to celebrate our 200th Tiger Token! Several people have already signed up to be a guest reader in our classroom! We will also be sharing our favorite books with a kindergarten class in the morning of the 31st. Students are invited to bring a small stuffed animal to read to during our silent reading time and a favorite book from home. The stuffed animal needs to be able to fit in the student’s backpack. In the afternoon we will have our Fall Party (at 2:30).
 
NEW RESOURCE
We have an exciting new math resource! Our district just purchased a subscription to a website where your student can practice hundreds of math skills! Each child has a username and a password. These came home with your child on Thursday.
www.ixl.com
username: USUALLY first initial followed by last name - no space @willardr2 (i.e. rkramer@willardr2)
password: your student's four digit lunch pin. They should know this! They use it to log into their Google Drive in the computer lab 

 RED RIBBON WEEK IS COMING!
October 27-31
Monday—Mustache Monday
Tuesday—Get Your Red On
Wednesday– Fake Injury Day
Thursday—Pajama Day
Friday—Tiger Gear 

This week we… introduced Math Daily 3 stations, reviewed non-fiction text features, practiced logging into our new math website (IXL.com), wrote non-fiction teaching books, learned about community helpers and learned all about maps!

 
HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Tylor
Tues.– Xavier
Wed.– Ashlyn
Thurs.– Audrey
Fri.–  Cassidy

 

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TIME FLIES...

10/10/2014

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On Tuesday we enjoyed an amazing picnic lunch outside in the pavilion for our Tiger Token Celebration. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we all loved this extra special treat. Everybody did a great job cleaning up their areas when we were finished! What a fun way to celebrate our amazing behavior!
Picture

FALL PARTY 
It's hard to believe our fall party is just around the corner! The party is scheduled for 2:30PM on Friday, October 31st. Preston's mom, Vanessa, has been so kind to take care of our plans! She almost has everything we need! She has asked for $1.50 donation from each student to help cover the cost of the food. You are welcome to send your students contribution to class and I will get the money passed on to her.  She is also looking for a few parents that are willing to help out during our party. Please email me or Vanessa (van4mark@yahoo.com) if you would like to help on the 31st.  THANK YOU!

SCHOOL PICTURE DAY
Willard East picture day will be on Thursday, October 16th. Every student will have his or her picture taken, even if you do not purchase any. If you would like to purchase pictures, money and order form will be due at the time that pictures are taken. You can also order online: order.inter-state.com
 
CONFERENCE SIGN UP
Can you believe that it is already the end of first quarter?!? I tell my students almost daily that “time flies when you are having fun!” If you have not already signed up for a fall conference please {CLICK HERE} to do so. If none of the available times will work for you please let me know! We will work something else out!

  RED RIBBON WEEK IS COMING!
Mark your calendars for Red Ribbon week, which will be October 27-31.
Monday—Mustache Monday
Tuesday—Get Your Red On
Wednesday– Fake Injury Day
Thursday—Pajama Day
Friday—Tiger Gear

This week we… learned about using onamonapias in our writing (yep, another way to bring our stories to life), learned about animal adaptations, did a science experiment to show how fur keeps animals warm, practiced retelling stories in sequence, continued solving story problems, and worked on our subtraction fluency!  

HELPER SCHEDULE

Mon.– Nora
Tues.– Preston
Wed.– Rigby
Thurs.– Shyly
Fri.–  Travis

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The Apple of My Eye!

10/3/2014

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Picture
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This week we finished up our unit on apples. We learned SOOO much and we still have a few questions left on our "What we want to know" chart. We will keep looking up more information and adding questions to our Book of Questions! Did you know that there are over 7,000 varieties of apples grown across the world?!?! The United States produces over 2500 different types alone! That is A LOT of different apples to try! We only tried three different types this week: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith. We did use a few more types of apples in our applesauce that we made together. 
Picture
In writing we continued talking about how to bring our stories to life and make them more exciting for our readers! One way we did this is by acting out some of our 3 page books with a partner. Any guesses what this story was about?!?! I'll give you two words: BUCKET CHALLENGE. {LOVE the facial expression!} 
We also used my absolute favorite children's author, Mo Willems, as a mentor author. We looked at what he does in his books to bring Piggie and Gerald to life. If you haven't checked out this talented author / illustrator I highly recommend you have your child read you one of his books. I *may* have accidentally already pre-ordered his newest book, Waiting Is Not Easy,  which is set to be released November 4th. And the title speaks the truth = this book can't get here soon enough!

IMPORTANT NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS...

HOMEWORK
Your child brought home a homework assignment that was stapled to the Friday newsletter. Homework is due no later than October 10th but can be returned any time prior. Please feel free to email me {robinkramer@willardschools.net) if you have any questions.
 
OCTOBER 10th EARLY OUT
Don’t forget that next Friday will be an early dismissal day for students!  

TIGER TOKEN CELEBRATION
The students have done it again!!! They passed the 150 mark for Tiger Tokens and voted to eat lunch outside in the pavilion. We will aim for Tuesday to celebrate!
 
HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Kaylee
Tues.– Torah Happy Birthday!
Wed.– Keegan
Thurs.– Noah
Fri.–  Early Out
 
This week we… continued learning about apples, finished our apple experiment, made applesauce, worked on subtraction strategies,  visited the book fair, learned how to draw Mickey Mouse (from our very talented practicum student!), and finished DRA testing!
Next week we will take our end of unit 1 writing assessment. We have been working hard all year on narrative stories and next week we will get to write our best story yet!


 APPLESAUCE
I had several students ask me for the recipe that we used to make our applesauce. 
It is SOOO easy and delicious:
8-10 apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
1 cup of water (you can also use apple juice)
1 cup of sugar (I used a little less)
1/4 cup of Redhot candies


Combine all ingredients in a crock pot set on high. As the apples soften, mash them with the back of a large spoon. Monitor and stir. They will cook for about 4 hours. Cool and enjoy!


 

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