Technically Invisible

With Camp-Read-A-Lot one day away, we had lots of work that needed doing on Thursday.  We finished up our lessons in Unit 2 in Reading Street, wrapped up our second personal narrative in Writing Workshop, traveled to another “region” to…

Every day, we decide who we will be by the actions we take. Inevitably, this time of year brings about thoughts of reflection, resolutions and resolve.  I like that Jan 1st falls roughly in the middle of the school year.…

This year, students have been learning the steps to strategically answer open-response questions. The first step is Analyzing the question. They start by finding the “trigger” word – and circling it. The trigger word is the one that tells us…

Today we had an assessment in Math.  Before we began, students put up their binders for privacy and concentration. I set up the timer on the SMARTBoard where students monitor their rate of progress.  We also reviewed our Criteria For…

We are officially on Day One of Term Two.   We have many discussions in class about learning expectations for students. Today, I mentioned the important steps we take from September to June: During Term 1, students placed one foot in…

This year, We have been exploring the idea of using our SMARTBoard as a cooperative learning center in the classroom. So far, we’ve tried out the idea several times during math. While one or two students work at the SMARTBoard,…

Our Essential Question in writing this year is “What makes our writing worth reading?” This summer I taught a workshop held at Harvard University. I shared my experience as a teacher who blogs with a classroom full of children.  During…

Today was CRANBERRY DAY!  I can’t tell you how many cute little 204-ers came up to me at the doorway this morning and said “Happy Cranberry Day!”.   LOVE THEM!!!! We weighed, measured, tasted, drew and wrote all about these famous…