Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Parent Newsletter
Welcome to 1st Grade! I am so glad to have the opportunity to teach your child this year!
My name is Kellee Roberts and this will begin my fourth year of teaching at BES...go Blue Jays! I graduated from Georgia Southern University in December 2007 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am currently working to obtain my Master's Degree from Georgia Southern. I live in Statesboro with my husband, two dogs, and soon to be baby girl! I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a teacher. It is very rewarding to watching children learn and experience new ideas for the first time. Each child brings something different and unique to the classroom environment. It is amazing what a child can actually teach to the teacher! My number one goal is to create a learning experience for students that motivates them to learn more. I plan to incorporate their talents and strengths to help reach this goal. As a class, we will participate in many "hands on" activities to help students truly understand what we are learning. I look forward to getting to know your child and watching them grow this year!
I am very excited about the 2011-2012 school year. I have an open door policy in my classroom. By saying this, I welcome you to come to the classroom any time you can. Please let me know ahead of time if you are planning to visit so I can plan accordingly. Also, if you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know. I would be happy to meet with you any time that you would like to conference. You should have received an information card at Open House with my information.
Here is the contact information again in case you need it:
Kellee Roberts
(912)478-4567
__________________________________________________________________________________
First Week of School:
This First Week of school will be a time for students to learn the routine of a new classroom and grade level. There will also be many "orientation" type meetings around the school that we will attend. Typically, we will have homework on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. This week, I would like for you to focus on helping your child become adjusted to the new school year so we will not have homework this first week. Please send in all supplies as soon as possible. I will include a link at the bottom of the page to the uniform policy as well as the lunch menu for this month.
Here is a breakdown of some of the activities we will do this week:
Monday: Classroom Orientation- students will receive their books and journals we will use the first semester. We will go over classroom rules, procedures, and expectations. Students will be introduced to the reading series today. They will have a chance to look through the book and see what types of stories will be read this week. I will begin doing informal assessments of the students fluency and sight word knowledge.
Students will go to Playground orientation with the P.E. teachers today.
Tuesday: We will take a tour of the school today. Students will be shown where all of their Specials classes are located as well as both playgrounds, the Media Center, and cafeteria. The School Counselor will come speak to the class today to introduce herself and explain what she will do with them throughout the year. Students will attend Technology today.
Wednesday: Students will take an informal math assessment today. This will help me to form Math small groups that will begin next week. Students will also have a chance to look through the math manipulatives and textbook to familiarize themselves with the series. Students will attend Music class today. In the afternoon, we will have a bus safety demonstration so students are aware of appropriate behavior on the school bus.
Thursday: Today we will go to the Media Center for orientation. Students will be given their library card today. Each student will take a computerized STAR test to determine their Accelerated Reader level. Detailed information about this program was included in your Welcome packet at Open House. Students will attend Art class today.
Friday: Week one is complete! We will have a practice spelling test today. This will not be graded, but is intended to show students what to expect on the weekly assessments. Students will attend P.E. again today.
I know there is a lot of information to take in. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!
_______________________________________________________________________
What's for Lunch?
Uniform Policy
County Website: www.effinghamschools.com
School Website: www.effinghamschools.com/bles
Monday, July 11, 2011
Fair Use
Fair Use Philosophy Statement:
The classroom teacher is committed to preparing students for the challenges of life in the 21st century. This includes providing opportunities for students to become competent and responsible users of technology. One of the tools for accomplishing this is the Internet. The Internet is the "electronic highway" that connects thousands of computers worldwide and makes possible access to a vast array of educational resources that, until recently, were inaccessible to students, teachers, and parents. The Internet is now available to students and employees as part of an overall plan to increase the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool. The goal is to promote student achievement and to facilitate communication in order to share resources with others in education, business, government, and science. The classroom teachers will utilize the Internet to access the following:
-World Wide Web databases
-Electronic mail communication internationally
-Public domain and shareware software
-Access to libraries, large and small, internationally
-News and information from research institutions
-Discussion groups on topics ranging from music and art to science and engineering
Access that the Internet offers may be invaluable to students and teachers and some material may not be considered educational. Students and teachers may discovered topics that are controversial and even offensive. It is the position of the school system that the value of the information available and the opportunities for worldwide interaction on the Internet far outweigh the negative aspect that users may access information that is not consistent with the educational goals of the school system.
Terms and Conditions:
- The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will results in cancellation of those privileges. Each Internet user must participate in a training session on the appropriate use of the Internet. Building administrators will determine what is inappropriate use.
-The purpose of providing access to the Internet is to promote learning through research and collaboration. The use of the Internet must be consistent with this and with the instructional objectives set forth by the school system.
Fair Use Guidelines:
-Users may not give out personal information such as names, phone numbers, or addresses of themselves or others over the Internet.
-Users may not access or send material that is obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors. The Board of Education will install and operate technology protection measures that blocks or filters access to such materials or any other materials that may be determined inappropriate.
-Users may not willfully violate copyright laws of the United States or the established copyright policies of the local Board of Education
-Users may not engage in any unauthorized access while using the Internet.
-Users may not engage in non-educational games or waste valuable online time.
-Users may not download software from the Internet without the permission of the site administrators.
-Users must observe common rules of network etiquette such as politeness and allowing other ample online time.
-All users are required to notify the classroom teacher or administrator if they observe a security problem.
-Student work that is published on the World Wide Web will only be published under the direction of the supervising teacher(s) and with the approval of the school's Media Committee and school principal.
**The preceding information was adapted from the Effingham County Board of Education technology policies.
Classroom Strategies to help prevent Fair Use violations:
-Teachers will constantly supervise students while on the Internet.
-All monitors should be easily viewable.
-Students will be taught appropriate Internet activity and safety precautions.
-The teacher will research the sites that students will access before the lesson takes place.
-Students will use the Internet for 30-minute increments.
-Students will "track" what sites they accessed in an individual journal.
-The teacher will teach students the appropriate way to reference the resources they used, this is not limited to the Internet. The teacher will demonstrate the correct way to create a "Works Cited" page.
The classroom teacher is committed to preparing students for the challenges of life in the 21st century. This includes providing opportunities for students to become competent and responsible users of technology. One of the tools for accomplishing this is the Internet. The Internet is the "electronic highway" that connects thousands of computers worldwide and makes possible access to a vast array of educational resources that, until recently, were inaccessible to students, teachers, and parents. The Internet is now available to students and employees as part of an overall plan to increase the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool. The goal is to promote student achievement and to facilitate communication in order to share resources with others in education, business, government, and science. The classroom teachers will utilize the Internet to access the following:
-World Wide Web databases
-Electronic mail communication internationally
-Public domain and shareware software
-Access to libraries, large and small, internationally
-News and information from research institutions
-Discussion groups on topics ranging from music and art to science and engineering
Access that the Internet offers may be invaluable to students and teachers and some material may not be considered educational. Students and teachers may discovered topics that are controversial and even offensive. It is the position of the school system that the value of the information available and the opportunities for worldwide interaction on the Internet far outweigh the negative aspect that users may access information that is not consistent with the educational goals of the school system.
Terms and Conditions:
- The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will results in cancellation of those privileges. Each Internet user must participate in a training session on the appropriate use of the Internet. Building administrators will determine what is inappropriate use.
-The purpose of providing access to the Internet is to promote learning through research and collaboration. The use of the Internet must be consistent with this and with the instructional objectives set forth by the school system.
Fair Use Guidelines:
-Users may not give out personal information such as names, phone numbers, or addresses of themselves or others over the Internet.
-Users may not access or send material that is obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors. The Board of Education will install and operate technology protection measures that blocks or filters access to such materials or any other materials that may be determined inappropriate.
-Users may not willfully violate copyright laws of the United States or the established copyright policies of the local Board of Education
-Users may not engage in any unauthorized access while using the Internet.
-Users may not engage in non-educational games or waste valuable online time.
-Users may not download software from the Internet without the permission of the site administrators.
-Users must observe common rules of network etiquette such as politeness and allowing other ample online time.
-All users are required to notify the classroom teacher or administrator if they observe a security problem.
-Student work that is published on the World Wide Web will only be published under the direction of the supervising teacher(s) and with the approval of the school's Media Committee and school principal.
**The preceding information was adapted from the Effingham County Board of Education technology policies.
Classroom Strategies to help prevent Fair Use violations:
-Teachers will constantly supervise students while on the Internet.
-All monitors should be easily viewable.
-Students will be taught appropriate Internet activity and safety precautions.
-The teacher will research the sites that students will access before the lesson takes place.
-Students will use the Internet for 30-minute increments.
-Students will "track" what sites they accessed in an individual journal.
-The teacher will teach students the appropriate way to reference the resources they used, this is not limited to the Internet. The teacher will demonstrate the correct way to create a "Works Cited" page.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Rubric
Life Cycle Rubric
Grade Level: 2nd Grade
S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.
a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.
Activity:
This project would be completed at the end of a second grade science unit that focused on the life cycles of animals. This unit is technologically infused and students are expected to use one of the following programs in their project: Microsoft PowerPoint, Animation-ish, Kid-Pix, or students may create a blog to showcase their presentation. Students will work in a group of 3-4 students to show understanding of the life cycle of either a frog or butterfly. Students will include a journal with their presentation to explain how they collected data, reference sources, and make any notes that are important to their presentation.
Life Cycle Rubric
This activity and rubric was developed with the help of the following source:
http://mrsfickenscher.wikispaces.com/OverView-Life+Cycles
Monday, June 27, 2011
Smart Board
Coin Combo
SmartBoard Activity
Georgia Performance Standard Grade Level- Kindergarten
MKN1. Students will connect numerals to the quantities they represent.
h. Identify coins by name and value (penny, nickel, dime, and quarter).
i. Count out pennies to buy items that together cost less than 30 cents. Smart Board Activity website: http://www.tvokids.com/games/coincombo
This game would be a great review game to play with the Smart Board at the beginning or ending of a money math lesson. In the game, the computer gives an amount to show with the coins that are "falling" down the screen. The students have to click on the coins to show they want to use them to make the amount. On the right hand side of the screen there is a timer...so the students have to think quick! As the students go through the game, they can reach different levels where the coin amount grows larger. This could be done as a whole group, but could also be used as a competition between groups (between tables, boys vs. girls, etc) As the students sharpened their skills on coins and their amounts, the teacher could instruct the students to use the fewest coins possible to show the amount. Although this is a Kindergarten standard and game, it could be used for remediation in First Grade as well.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Authentic Instruction
Method of Authentic Instruction: Inductive Method
Standard: 1st Grade Science
S1E2. Students will observe and record changes in water as it relates to weather.
a. Recognize changes in water when it freezes (ice) and when it melts (water).
b. Identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid(ice) or liquid (water).
c. Determine that the weight of water before freezing, after freezing, and after melting stays the same.
d. Determine that water in an open container disappears into the air over time, but water in a closed container does not.
Students could work through this lesson and set of experiments over a period of 1-2 weeks. The students could come up with a series of questions they want to answer about water and the relationship it has to weather. The students could make a chart of predictions of what they think will happen. Students could use Microsoft Word and/or Excel to create a chart to show what happens when they freeze water and when it melts. They could create a chart as well to show what happened to the water. The chart could show how long it took and the also illustrate what happened. As the students conducted the different experiements with water, they could use a digital camera to document their results. At the end of the experiments, the students could put their pictures and spreadsheets together in a PowerPoint presentation to put all of their results together. The presentation could also show their predictions chart from the beginning of the week to show which predictions were true and which ones were not true. Using the technology could get the students actively involved in the experiments and give them more "ownership" of what was taking place. They could work together in a group to create the presentation at the end. The technology would also help to reinforce what they learned throughout the lessons.
Standard: 1st Grade Science
S1E2. Students will observe and record changes in water as it relates to weather.
a. Recognize changes in water when it freezes (ice) and when it melts (water).
b. Identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid(ice) or liquid (water).
c. Determine that the weight of water before freezing, after freezing, and after melting stays the same.
d. Determine that water in an open container disappears into the air over time, but water in a closed container does not.
Students could work through this lesson and set of experiments over a period of 1-2 weeks. The students could come up with a series of questions they want to answer about water and the relationship it has to weather. The students could make a chart of predictions of what they think will happen. Students could use Microsoft Word and/or Excel to create a chart to show what happens when they freeze water and when it melts. They could create a chart as well to show what happened to the water. The chart could show how long it took and the also illustrate what happened. As the students conducted the different experiements with water, they could use a digital camera to document their results. At the end of the experiments, the students could put their pictures and spreadsheets together in a PowerPoint presentation to put all of their results together. The presentation could also show their predictions chart from the beginning of the week to show which predictions were true and which ones were not true. Using the technology could get the students actively involved in the experiments and give them more "ownership" of what was taking place. They could work together in a group to create the presentation at the end. The technology would also help to reinforce what they learned throughout the lessons.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Web 2.0
Georgia Performance Standard: First Grade Science
http://animoto.com/
Animoto would be a fun and creative tool to show the changes in water as it relates to weather. The teacher and students could take pictures as they do an experiment to ice and water and then turn it into a video to watch. They could also include pictures of different types of weather and precipitation that relate to the stages of water. The video could help to review, or to "put it all together" so students understand the information better.
http://www.weebly.com/
Weebly is a place where students and teachers could create a blog. An idea to use this along with the standard would be to use the blog as a type of journal to record different types of precipitation. The students could be weather forecasters and add their thoughts to the class blog. The blog could also be used to record what happened during experiments with ice and water as well as evaporation.
S1E2. Students will observe and record changes in water as it relates to weather.
a. Recognize changes in water when it freezes (ice) and when it melts (water).
b. Identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid (ice) or liquid (water).
c. Determine that the weight of water before freezing, after freezing, and after melting stays the same.
d. Determine that water in an open container disappears into the air over time, but water in a closed container does not.
Web 2.0 Toolshttp://animoto.com/
Animoto would be a fun and creative tool to show the changes in water as it relates to weather. The teacher and students could take pictures as they do an experiment to ice and water and then turn it into a video to watch. They could also include pictures of different types of weather and precipitation that relate to the stages of water. The video could help to review, or to "put it all together" so students understand the information better.
http://www.weebly.com/
Weebly is a place where students and teachers could create a blog. An idea to use this along with the standard would be to use the blog as a type of journal to record different types of precipitation. The students could be weather forecasters and add their thoughts to the class blog. The blog could also be used to record what happened during experiments with ice and water as well as evaporation.
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