Welcome to Open House

Welcome parents, grandparents, and friends to Open House.  Title I Reading and Essential Skills Math support are in full swing.  In math, most classes are nearing the end of unit one.  In reading, there are several reading interventions being used to supplement your child's classroom instruction such as Fundations,
My Sidewalks, and Soar to Success.  I am looking forward to a GREAT year of learning!!  

First Grade Reader's Theater

First grade students completed a Reader's Theater of the poem "Metamorphosis."  First, they used Garage Band to create a podcast where they recorded the audio.  Next, they created illustrations to go along with the poem, which were scanned into iPhoto, and then added to the podcast.  Finally, the podcast was uploaded to my blog as video.  Hope you enjoy it!  I am very proud of these first grade students!

Title I Parent Meeting Coming Soon

On Friday, May 27th, there will be a Title I Parent Meeting at Swift River School to discuss ways to keep your child reading and writing over the summer.  Research states that children who continue to read and write over the summer maintain or even increase their skills.  The meeting will take place in my classroom from 8:30-9:15. Your child will be bringing home an invitation.  Please fill out the bottom and send back to school with your child to let me know if you will or will not be attending.  Hope to see you all the end of the month! I enjoy working with your child! 

Our Names In Egyptian Hieroglyphics

After reading the stories, "Seeker of Knowledge" and "The Rosetta Stone", fourth grade students wrote their names in Hieroglyphics.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Fourth Grade Students Create Voki to Tell About Invention

Just before vacation, my fourth grade students were reading about inventions in the Scott Foresman Reading Street program.  I decided to have them research an invention and then write a summary to share with the others.  I decided to have them create their own Voki and then have the Voki speak the summary.  They seemed to enjoy creating their Voki and seeing it displayed on my classroom blog.  It didn't take long to do and was a lot of fun!   Take a look, you will find them below this post.  I am glad that I have set up my clasroom blog.  This will be a great place to showcase student work and thanks to our Technology Teacher, Christine, parents and students can get right to my blog from the Swift River School page under links.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Word Cloud on Dolphins by Fourth Grader B.D.R.

Word Cloud on Dolphins by Fourth Grader M.S.

Word Cloud on Dolphins by Fourth Grader J.B.

Word Cloud on Dolphins by Fourth Grader M.M.

Do You Find Ways to Encourage Your Child to Read?

Sometimes kids who can read, don't.  Here are some things parents can do to encourage their child to pick up a book. Do you read aloud to your child, even if he can read by himself?  Do you encourage your child to try books in a series?  If he likes one, he might enjoy the others.  Do you encourage your child to turn off the TV?  Do you let your child read comic books?  Do you look for books or magazines about the things that interest your child?  How well are you doing?  Each yes means that you are helping your child become a kid who will love reading.  For no answers, try some of these ideas. 

parent-institute.com

My Thoughts...
Parents often stop reading aloud when their child begins to read.  It's never too early or too late to start reading aloud. All children, even infants and teens, can benefit from having a book read aloud.  By reading aloud you are helping them become better readers, better listeners, and better students.  You are also helping them build vocabulary, language skills, and gain knowledge about the world around them.  Children also learn quickly that reading is important, and that reading can be FUN!

Here's a list of some books that are part of a series your child might like.
Diary of  a Wimpy Kid, Choose Your Own Adventure, Goosebumps, Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody, Animal Ark, Baby Mouse, A to Z Mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown, Big Nate, Dan Gutman's A Baseball Card Adventure Series, Narnia, Nate the Great, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, American Girl, Cam Jansen, and Among the Hidden.

A Fun Way to Practice Math Facts

Here's a fun way to practice math facts that I found.  You'll need a set of  addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division flash cards that can be purchased at Walmart or any dollar store.  You could also make your own.  Stack them face down in the middle of the table.  Then count out 50 tokens for you and your child.  The tokens can be game chips, pennies, or paper circles.  The first player draws a fact card.  Suppose it is 11-7.  If the player knows the correct answer (4) he can put four of his tokens in a pile in the center of the table.  Then it is the other player's turn.  If a player gives an incorrect answer, he has to take five tokens from the pile.  Continue playing until one player has no more tokens, making him the winner.  Playing this game regularly will help your child learn their facts automatically.     

I just made a new Voki. See it here: