First and foremost, there are a TON of papers coming home today. Most of the papers are optional homework sheets. Please remember that they are OPTIONAL and can be completed at any time throughout the quarter. There are instructions stapled to all of the work as well.
There is also a "naked turkey" handout. The instructions (and an extra template) are below. Projects are due November 21st and need to be 100% child created to earn a "3" or the grade will reflect parental/sibling assistance.
Field Trip Tomorrow
Tomorrow is our field trip to the Hiddenite Gem Mine. It is FAR AWAY and we will be leaving promptly at 8:30. If you are late to school tomorrow, there is a chance your child will miss the trip. Please try to get here at 8:15 so your child can be unpacked and ready to leave on time. Some additional reminders:
- It will be cold tomorrow and the majority of our trip is outside. Please send your child to school in warm clothes and layers. We can always take clothes off but we will not have extra clothes if your child is cold.
- Please make sure your child is wearing pants/jeans and clothes that can get dirty during the trip. They also need to have on goulashes or tennis shoes or hiking boots.
- The only thing your child needs for tomorrow's trip is their lunch and water bottle. No backpacks, folders, etc. are needed. Their lunch should be packed in the container sent home today.
Stations! Stations! Stations!!!
I'd love to take the time to explain our stations to you. We have level 1, 2, and 3 stations. The stations become more time consuming and individualized as you progress through them. Each morning and afternoon I teach several "mini lessons" pertaining to particular skills and standards that are included in the stations. Every child has mandatory Level 1 stations every day (but you cannot move on to the next day until all previous days are complete). The stations have differentiation through the games, worksheet completion, and individual teaching and conversation. When a child completes all Level 1 tasks, he/she is able to move on to Level 2 where the stations are based on student interest and are harder than Level 1 skills. Level 3 is increasingly harder and individualized as well. All of the levels include learning thought various learning styles, but levels 2 and 3 are where the true differentiation and the Multiple Intelligences model can be seen.
Your child's stations "to-do" list (stapled to a pink piece of construction paper) is also going home today. The stations list will go home each Monday. My hope is that it will serve as additional communication between home and school each week regarding the skills taught the previous week and your child's level of completed work/work ethic. Last week was the first introduction to stations and working at your own pace/ability level and I am VERY proud of the students on a whole. They are learning to motivate themselves, work at their own pace, ability, and independence level. We are able to assist and teach with immediate reinforcement. As the stations continue and progress and the students continue to grow and mature in their independence, we will be adding more small groups and individualized practice as well as more math, science, and social studies activities to the station model. Being the first week, it is OK if your child did not complete everything. The most important thing is that you will be seeing growth in the level of work and quality of work your child is completing as we continue. Any tasks that are incomplete will be reinforced over the coming weeks/months through individualized practice and groups, as we do not send incomplete work home.
No comments:
Post a Comment