2nd: Our last element of the reading strategy schema is an author study.  Mr. Inzana chose Robert Munsch.  He was attending a conference today, so during our reading intervention block I had student pairs choose one of Munsch's books to read and discuss.  Here Jillian and Natalie chose Kiss Me, I'm Perfect!
SECOND: Students were so consumed by their books and on task.  They were simply reading and enjoying a book with a classmate.  Yet, to me it was so much more.  As I walked around the room, I was so proud of the questions they were asking each other and the discussions they were having.  Plus, the smiles and giggles were classic Munsch reactions.  Reading, reading, and more reading!  Time spent reading = more proficient readers.

2/25/10

2nd: We'd just finished our Theme 4 Integrated Reading Test and the students were given a couple minutes of down time.  They had a choice, as long as it was something "educational."  Some were sharing books, others were on the computers, but in this photo Tiffany, Ryan, Valerie, and Jillian chose to work in pairs at the beloved dry-erase easel.

SECOND:  These four students were working so nicely with each other.  Two of them were quizzing each other on the week's spelling words.  The other two were working on ABC order.  It's a memorable moment when students make a positive choice!  Thank you for working together and cooperating to practice your spelling. 

2/24/10

2nd: My student teacher from St. Bonaventure University this year is Mr. Josh Inzana.  Yesterday we both attended Google Tools for Educators presented by Rick Weinberg.  The students were wondering what we learned, so we shared a little of our day.
SECOND: Mr. Inzana shared his personalized iGoogle page with the students.  He explained how each element he added was helpful to him. It was just neat to me that he was able to take something away from the workshop and was excited about using it to continue incorporating technology in his life both personally and as an educator.

2/19/10

2nd: As part of a larger Olympic unit for Reading Group E, student pairs are collaboratively working on designing a glog poster with students from Mr. Kauffman's reading group. Each pair is researching and creating their project on a different olympic sport they chose. One pair - Neila and Patsi - had shared their screen in a previous Skype call to pick the wall, add the title, and theirs names. They had it organized with the three sections from the Step-Up to Writing outline: History, Overview, and Vancouver 2010.

SECOND: Neila was navigating through the glog and showing me different elements. When highlighting the arrows that she used for a graphic element, she said, "I cloned the arrow to point to the topic so people would know." CLONED - I love it. When second graders use the correct terminology for the application the are utilizing, it's just plain CUTE!

2/18/10

2nd: Current reading stragegy: SCHEMA. We've done a lot with schema over the past couple of weeks. This week, student groups have taken turns with a different step in the process of making a stop motion video. I've never done this before and was looking forward to trying it out with my students.

Group 1: Storyboard/collect ideas

Group 2: Find clipart/cut out

Group 3: Take the pics/move the pieces - this was today!

Group 4: Make the video/edit

SECONDS: I'm realizing it's hard to pick just one moment. Every group that I've worked with so far enjoyed the role they had in creating the final product. The reading intervention block is right before the students go to lunch and usually they can't wait to get to the cafe - I don't blame them - since I'm always hungry! But, each group didn't want to go to lunch, they wanted to keep on working on this project. Even the group that was cutting out the clipart wanted to keep on cutting! Today's group wanted to start editing. How wonderful is it when students are so engaged?  I've added the final video for reference - SCHEMA.

2/17/10

2nd: Our first international Skype call. I've recently made a connection with Mrs. Dunsinger from Dundas, Canada. Her grade 1 students signed up for our community project and were interested in skyping with us. My students prepared a quick guide to organize their thoughts for today's call, "Hi, my name is _________. My favorite part of our community is __________________ because________________________. What is your favorite part of your community?" Here is a pic of Sydney who has loved learning more due to technology integration. Mrs. Dunsinger called on students in her class to answer. We then exchanged Wordles of her classes comments and our comments.  They also made a PhotoPeach video to send to us.

SECOND: I was impressed by how some of my students have grown with their com  munication skills. We'd talked prior to the call about how it's more important to be looking at the webcam and the other class, than to be looking at the SMARTboard to "see" themselves on video. They put it into practice today! Maybe they're becoming the next generation of reporters. Time will tell.....

2/16/10

2nd: Group B made read a little reader called Earthworm by Jane Simon. We made a group Cacoo using the skills & color-coded guided that we use a lot from Step-Up to Writing. But, today we created a group web instead of the normal outline.

SECOND: Allison was so focused, engaged, and excited about this task. This was a wonderful encouragement for her to be so involved with the rest of the group. Her smiles here says it all!