Monday, April 22, 2013

CRUSH the STAAR!

It's that time of year again! I just wanted to say GOOD LUCK to all our STAAR administrators and students taking the STAAR test tomorrow! I know everyone has been working so hard this past year and I am so excited to see all the good things these students have learned.

Today we took some time out with our kiddos to celebrate the great things to come! CRUSH THE STAAR! :)


Praying for all of us!


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Perfect Pins!

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has some fun filled activities planned for today!


One thing I saw this morning was a pin on pinterest, and I am excited to share these. All of these videos are linked to inferencing. This is one skill that can be difficult for all young students to learn. Referring to my class personally, "reading between the lines" is a skill that my kiddos can always use help with developing. (It can be so difficult for them to pull from their "schema" - love that word!!)

The three videos that were pinned are:

Pigeons: Impossible - Pigeons - One Man Band

All of these wordless films are great for engaging kids to see and focus on what is happening. (click each title for the youtube link)

Pigeons: Impossible is great for inferring the setting, and different attributes about the man in the film. (Such as: What does he do?, Character feelings based on events and expressions) Students can also predict what will happen in the film.
It is a short 6 minute clip, that all students will enjoy.

Pigeons can be used with inferring and making connections to the chicks. Not only inferring the feelings and settings, however making connections to the way they behave in real life.

One Man Band is another film. This one is only 4 minutes, however it also gives viewers a chance to infer information about the video. (Such as: What do these men do for a living?, Why do you think they are behaving the way they are?, Character feelings for the musicians as well as the kid, What will happen next?)

Awesome anchor chart that I found while Googlin'! :) It's kinda wordy, but if you explain it they will learn it!


Have an awesome week!! As always, thank you for reading! :)

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Tis the season to be TESTING...


I would love to know what are some testing ideas that you are doing in your classrooms? What are some things that you may have done that works well and keeps them engaged?

Being in a first year STAAR testing grade level (3rd), there are a few aspects that need to be nurtured and cared for with care. It still amazes me how we allow this one test to determine our students' ability overall, and label them "college ready" or not.






Monday, April 8, 2013

Each one REACH one...

What an amazing thing for Walmart to reach out and donate plastic eggs to our campus! An activity that I have been eager to try is a Reading Eggstravaganza As you may know by now, I love to get my kids up and moving. So one thing I want to do with these eggs, in preparation for STAAR, is put questions to a reading passage inside. The students will read the passage, hunt for the questions, and record their answers. A spin, that I would make, is I would make it indoors, and place glow sticks inside the eggs, so that they can be found. :) I get excited about great hands on adjustments to something that is not the most exciting!! Any other suggestions on how we should use them in our classroom?