Friday, January 25, 2019

Class Updates for Week of January 28, 2019

January 28, 2019 Curriculum and Classroom Announcements

Reading/Social Studies- we are continuing to analyze and summarize the American Revolution and the formation of the Constitution.  Students will continue to work on developing strategies to find locate information within a historical text.  I am also pulling students individually to do cold read running records to continue working on comprehension and fluency.  We will move back to reading groups and book clubs next week.

ELA- Students have brainstormed topics to write about for their informational, historical essays.  They will choose one topic to write about this week and begin the brainstorming process.  We will work together through each of the steps.

Math- Fractions are continuing to become our friends. We will review simplifying fractions in the beginning of the week and move on to comparing them as the week progresses.  We will take a look at adding them on Friday.

Students received their spelling words on Friday, January 25.  They are in their agendas.

Also, for support, please do not forget about the video sections under the math tab.  I provide resources for the students to review that should help them at home along with their notes.

All quizzes and reading comprehension pages have been sent home.  Please ask your student to see them.

High Touch, High Tech will be on Thursday during our class time.

Students should be using their schedule that I sent home on Friday to help pace themselves when doing assignments.  We went over this extensively and they all said this will help them with work at night.  Parents, I am preparing your students as much as possible through notes given in class, practice, and activities.  I ask questions often in class to check for comprehension and ask students if they understand.

Homework for this week:  Math is pasted into their math journals so they have no choice but to take their journals home and study. :0)  They have the resources in their journals to complete their homework.

Parents, I need a favor.  I need your help in building confidence in all children, which means they can't be compared to one another.  When we compare children to other children, it can create a culture of performance anxiety and stress (and undo stress on us as parents...trust me, been there, done that).  Please know that I treat all children as individuals.  Each child in my class needs something different than the next in the same way siblings do.  Because of this, I differentiate instruction.  Not all children are on the same reading level.  Not all children completely understand math concepts at the same time.  Much like us, students learn at different paces and that is okay.  There are a number of variables that go into how a child learns, so comparing isn't a good way to measure the success of a student or the class in general.

One piece of advice I can offer you is to discuss with your child whether or not they participate in class and how often.  Even if your child feels like they don't know the answer, I still encourage them to participate.  We are a safe zone classroom, meaning, students are not ridiculed for not knowing the answer. Those who participate let me know that they are paying attention and whether or not they understand the information.  I walk around on a regular basis to see if children comprehend, but I also work with students individually and in small groups.

If a child needs support, they know that they can come back to the classroom to receive support during lunch (I technically do not have a duty free lunch which is something I don't mind if a child needs my help).  Many students have come back multiple times while others I haven't seen at all.  It is their choice, but my door is open.

Thank you for continuing to support your children at home.

Thank you,
Mrs. Bruner

No comments:

Post a Comment