Hey, Bug!

Last week and this week the students have been reading and writing rhyming poems. Poetry is a large part of our daily reading lessons as a way to focus on fluency. We began the lesson by reading the poem "Hey, Bug!". After reading, the students brainstormed things that bugs can do which we listed on the whiteboard. The students then brainstormed words that rhyme with those things that bugs can do. This gave them a starting point for their own rhyming poem about bugs. Starting with the topic word "bug" the students shouted out their ideas for the poem. We call this "popcorning" ideas. As students would call out ideas, I would repeat them and the students would decide which one they liked the best and we would add it to chart paper. We would continue the process until each of the beginnings words that describe what a bug can do were used at least once along with a rhyming word. We then went back and read the poem as a whole to see if it made sense and if it had a rhythm. Once everyone agreed on the completed poem, the students worked in small groups to rewrite the final version on chart paper, in sets of rhyming pairs. After the students wrote their portion of the poem, the students had to agree on what type of bug it was and how to illustrate it. Then each group went back and illustrated their part.

Short Vowel Poetry

Over the last few weeks we have been focusing on short vowel sounds. To help practice reading the sounds fluently, the students practiced the poem "Ted." You can listen to their poetry reading below. The poems were recorded using Audacity software. A link to Audacity is at the side of the page along with many other helpful links. For fluency practice, a highly recommend Dr. Tim Rasinski's poems which can be found in his books Poems for Word Study. There are several different versions of this book for different grade levels.





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You can also hear other examples of their reading at our class podcasting site.

Money, Money, Money!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been learning about coins and their value. Students are expected to be able to identify both the front and back of each coin, their value, and how many equivalent pennies equal the value. To help the students learn this, we created a grid to compare the coins.

We also learned this great poem:

Penny, penny, easy spent,

Copper brown and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel, thick and fat,

You’re worth 5. I know that.

Dime, dime, little and thin,

I remember—you’re worth 10.

Quarter, quarter, big and bold,

You’re worth 25, I am told.

Half a dollar, half a dollar,

Giant size.

50 cents to buy some fries.
Dollar, dollar, green and long,
With 100 cents you can’t go wrong.

My teammate, Mrs. Linnabary, had a great math lesson to teach students the relevance of money. The students created a shelf for a toy shop out of construction paper and then sorted pictures of toys according to their cost on the shelves while matching them to the coin of the same value.

To help your child at home, use IXL Math's free trial to identify the coins and their value. You can also have your child practice coin equivalencies.

Christmas Cheer

This week to practice our fluency the students practiced the poem and song, "Christmas Cheer." The song is to the tune of "The Bear Went Over the Mountain." Click below to hear the students practicing using Audacity software. Parents, you can download the song through my podcasting site at Podbean.

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Phonics and Fluency Focus

Last week we practiced reading and spelling the "dr" sound. To help us read the sounds fluently, we learned two new poems: "Drip Drop" and "I Know a Green Dragon." Each Friday the students pretend to go into the recording studio like the superstars that they are and record their weekly poems. We use the free online program Audacity to record. You can download it at home as well. Click play below to hear their weekly recording of "I Know a Green Dragon". You can also download this poem and others to your IPOD by visiting my podcasting site at Podbean.




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Handy Turkeys

Handy Turkey

This isn't just a turkey,

As anyone can see.

I made it with my hand,

Which is a part of me.

It's made with lots of love

Especially to say,

Hope you have a very

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Make your own slideshow design

Fluency Practice

Last week I had the opportunity to learn a new blogging tool, Glogster, from our Instructional Technology Facilitator, Sharon Thornton. Glogster is like blogging but it allows you to make posters. I am hoping to use this in class, once I learn more about it, to have the students make their own poster projects over literature. Below is a Glog about our class fluency practice. The students recorded two poems this week: Phillip's Trip and Fast Crab written by Timothy Rasinski. Click on the "play" symbols to hear recordings of their poems. We used Audacity to make the recordings.

Fluency Focus: Choral Reading

One of the many activities we do in class to increase our reading fluency is choral reading. We have "Friday Face-Offs" where the boys and girls take turns reading the weekly homework and giving constructive feedback to one another. We also use a free downloadable software, Audacity, to record the readings. The students listen to their recordings and then analyze how they can read more fluently. You can download Audacity to use at home; all you need is a computer microphone (can be found cheaply at Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) and speakers and/or headphones for your child to hear themselves. The students love it because they become the stars of their own reading show. Below are a few Podcasts of some of the poems we learned this six weeks. You can download the Podcasts to your MP3 player by visiting my Podbean website.

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Fluency Work

As a part of their reading development, the students are expected to read with fluency and expression. A great way to help them practice "reading like they talk" is by using a recording software that allows them to hear themselves. At the school we use a recording software program, Audacity. Our class frequently practices reading our weekly poems into the program with a goal of becoming better with each reading. Because they get immediate feedback, the students become extremely engaged in the activity and even the most reluctant readers love to be the star of their own reading show. One of the best features about Audacity is that it is completely free to download and your child can begin immediately using it in conjunction with your computer's microphone.

Money Matters

This six weeks we have been learning more about money; in paticular, we have been focusing on coins and their relationship to the penny. Students should be able to recognize a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter by sight and identify their value. As a part of the value, students are expected to know that a quarter is the same as twenty-five pennies, etc.

To help your children learn, we have been practicing the following poem in class:

Penny, penny, easily spent,
Copper brown and worth one cent.
Nickel, Nickel, thick and fat.
You're worth 5,
I know that.
Dime, dime, little and thin.
I remember, you’re worth 10.
Quarter, quarter, big and bold.
You're worth 25 I am told!

In addition to helping your child with this fun poem, you can visit ABCTeach to print the coins for your child to practice with at home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Handy Turkey

This isn’t just a turkey,
As anyone can see.
I made it with my hand,
Which is a part of me.
It’s made with lots of love
Especially to say,
Hope you have a very

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Tongue Twisters

This week we are studying the various elements of poems such as the rhythm, rhyming words, and alliteration. Our focus poem in class is "Miss Mary Mack." To help your child at home, visit Starfall to have your child practice a few tongue twisters.