Teaching Kiddos

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed! Today we read about Johnny Appleseed. We are kind of biased because we are teachers, but boy aren't apples the most fabulous fruit around.    After we read about Johnny Chapman ( the name he was given at birth) . We realized this was a perfect day to investigate apples a little bit more. We ventured out to Olive's STEAM lab to become investigators. First we got to observe an apple that had been sitting out during the morning. We could already see how it was beginning to turn a bit brown and shrivel up. We held it, smelled it and looked closely at it so we could ask / answer why we thought it had turned brown.   We then wrote out steps we would take to come up with a solution to make it stay fresh.     We took turns investigating the 4 types of liquids . Soda    Lemon   Milk Individually , we jotted down our observations. Then as a class we shared out our thoughts and charted them.   In the end we made the conclusion that water definitely allows

Topic, Main Idea, and Details:       Ice Cream   Topic, Main Idea, and Details is one comprehension skill that our students sometimes have a hard time with.. When asked for the main idea, they would usually give us a 1-2 details not main ideas.   The problem with most main idea resources is that they don’t teach students HOW To find the main idea; instead, the resources simply provide students with practice of a skill that they don’t really understand. And then students practice finding main idea in the wrong way and form misconceptions that can be very difficult to correct. Over the years, we've experimented with a variety of different ways to teach main idea and supporting details to our students. Below are the different strategies that we found most successful and that helped develop a TRUE understanding of main idea in my students. Teaching Main Idea: Start with the Title Teaching kiddos how to use a title to help them figure out the main idea of a reading passage is one of the

Today we talked about how each and every kiddo in our class is unique. We mentioned that some like sports and others like music, some kiddos enjoy reading while some prefer drawing. This highlights ways that we are different , just like the different fish we decorated . We then discussed some things about ourselves that are the same . The kiddos suggested how they all follow  the same rules, learn the same subjects, and how they attend the same school. The fish are also just like us in that they all swim together. Hence the title we have our art display " we may all be different but in this school we swim together "...... Plus it goes with our class theme this year -MY OHANA ( my family).      Take a look and have your kiddo point out his/her fish! ALOHA

We are just finishing up our spelling unit on short vowels. We absolutely love taking our words and sorting them. Last week we sorted in three different ways.  First we brainstormed ( using a tree map), all the different short vowel words we knew by just using schema ( past knowledge ) .   Then we passed out words from our weekly spelling list and each took a turn putting the words in the correct column . During the school year there will be a similar game on the homework menu. Nothing fancy but it sure gets the kiddos excited to be playing a " game".   Finally after practicing whole group , each child worked independently by looking for short vowel words in his/ her story book.    

CAUSE and EFFECT   Why is Cause and Effect Important? Cause and effect is a theme that comes up time and time again in learning. In math, it is a way to make sense of concepts like the  order of operations  or  regrouping . In reading and writing, understanding cause and effect can help your child learn to read more critically and to write stories with captivating plots and fascinating characters. In science, it will help your child  understand the scientific method ; in history it provides perspective for how a historical event is the culmination in the chain of a series of causes and events; and in social relationships, cause and effect is a key way of learning to engage more appropriately. Today in class we made a cause and effect anchor chart ( shown above)  and discussed with partners some examples.  Then each child was then given a CAUSE in which they needed to write an EFFECT. We had a lot of great ideas.       Another fun lesson with these kiddos. We will review as the weeks co

 We started our new year with a fabulous group of kiddos. We are so excited to get this year up and running. Let's learn!!!!!