McDonald's, here we come!!

Stop by and support Evendale Elementary

April 9th from 5:00-7:00pm

20% of the proceeds gets donated back to the school!!

* I'll be the photographer and social media correspondent!!

We Remember!

Today we took time to discuss a little bit about 9/11 with the students. I kept it very simple and brief. We read the story New York's Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne as a way to introduce firefighters and being brave. We talked about how this day made people very sad, but we are thankful for all the brave people who help us each day.

To compliment our Dot Day (well, really Dot month) activities, we create red, white, and blue marble painting as a symbol of our remembrance of this day.

Sweden and the Arctic

For the next few days, Mrs. B’s Reading Roots class will be reading about Sweden and the Arctic.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Are you from Sweden? 

Do people in Sweden speak English? Do you know some facts about the Arctic?

Our Reading Roots group would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment and share with us!! If you would like to send us an audio or video clip, leave your email in a comment and Mrs. B will email you.

For the Reading Roots students and families, here are a couple of resources about Sweden so that we can learn more about this European country.

National Geographic Kids ~ Sweden
The Official Gateway to Sweden
Sweden on Wikipedia

Connecting Countries and Cultures

Dear blog followers,

My reading class is beginning a section of stories that focus on different countries and cultures. I will be posting a little about the countries and cultures, especially questions that the students may have. This will be a part of building background knowledge for the students as well creating a motivating, authentic audience for our writings. 

What can you do as a follower? The students would love to have some comments that we can read in class. Anyone can comment. (Comments are moderated before posting.) What I am really looking for are people who can be the students personal connection to texts we are reading. For instance, we just started a book about Sweden and the Arctic. I would love to have a comment or two from someone from Sweden and/or the Arctic. Feel free to share this post if you know someone who could help connect our class.

Thanks for your time reading! Sorry the posts have been limited in the past few months, but I have been focusing on creating an eportfolio (electronic portfolio) that showcase myself and the classroom. This process has been time consuming so between lesson planning, grad school, and being a mom, the blog had to suffer a little. I hope to be back up and blogging regularly starting in May.

Melanie

Touch Math

For some of the students, we has started a math program called TouchMath. It is a multisensory approach to math. The program uses TouchPoints to engage students of all abilities and learning styles. The TouchPoints provide the students with a visual to help develop numeral and other number sense concepts. We will be completing hands on activities as well as creating our own TouchMath visuals. I will be sending home additional information this week.

Here is a video (courtesy of the TouchMath program) that help explain the program at the beginning with touchpoints and counting patterns.

Overview of TouchMath Touching/Counting Patterns

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Happy Holidays!

We had a great couple of weeks talking about the holidays. The students did well today for the schedule being so out of place. I hope you take some time to look through the holiday gifts and crafts that came home. The students work so hard on them and were proud to bring them home.

The Christmas Trees were a hit this year. Thanks to me son's preschool teacher, Ms. Nancy, for sending home this craft with him so that I could "lesson lift" it (new term thanks to a #spedchat friend). The activity was fairly simple. but worked on so many of the basic skills that the students are working on. The students first cut along 3 straight dark lines draw on the large triangle. Using the dark marker helps them focus on the correct area to cut. Next (and under my guidance), the students built the tree from stump to top putting it together kind of like a puzzle. After that, the students added shiny star stickers (which were a big hit) to their tree to make it festive. Lastly, each student either wrote their name or first initial on the back. I assisted by writing Merry Christmas on the front.


I hope you enjoy the time off with family and friends! I know I will enjoy the time off to gear up for 3rd and 4th quarter! Stay warm! Stay safe!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

PS - School resumes January 3rd.

Holiday Traditions

Check out our poster about Holiday Traditions!

Be sure to leave us a comment about what holiday(s) you celebrate and what traditions your family has for the holidays.

Happy Hanukkah!
                         Merry Christmas!
                                                  Happy Kwanzaa!

Winter Holidays

We are in the thick of Winter Holidays! I always enjoy this unit every year because I get to know a little bit more about the students as well as family traditions. 

Last week we focused on Hanukkah. The students enjoyed listening to books about Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. One story that was quite a favorite, Eight Nights of Hanukkah, provided a repetitive text which was programed onto the Big Mac switch. Each student was able to help "read" the story.

This week we will be focusing on Christmas and the traditions that family have during the holidays. We will discuss a little more about traditions and holiday events that take place around the city.  Each day we will add a little more to our Glogster poster about holiday traditions. By the end of the week, we will complete the poster and share it with our Room 5 Friends from Cleveland. We will also share it on this blog to get feedback on our post as well.


What holiday(s) do you celebrate? What is your family holiday tradition?? Please comment below and include your location so we can see where different traditions my come from.

My family celebrates Christmas. One of the traditions with my family is to go downtown and look at the lights and the tree on Fountain Square. On this night, we do something very special.....we have ice cream for dinner!! Yes, we get ice cream at Graeter's (my favorite ice cream ever!) and eat it on Fountain Square. Afterwards, we drive around town looking at all the Christmas lights. ~Mrs. Broxterman

My Edublog Award Nominations are in!

After being swamped with work-work as well as grad school-work, I finally had time to sit down and think about nominations for the Edublog awards (just under the deadline ...phew!). I still feel that I am very new in this world of social media; however, the impact that some of the people I have met, some of the posts I have read, as well as some of the comments I have received over the past couple of years has definitely changed me as an educator. For this, I am taking time to share a few of my nominations in hopes that others see the benefit of being connected as a group of globals educators. If you would like to nominate some great educational resources as well, check out Edublog for more information.

Best Individual Blog - The Innovative Educator

Best EdTech/Resource Sharing Blog - Cybraryman’s Catalogue of Education Websites

Best Teacher Blog - Miss Kolis’ Room 5 Blog - an amazing resource for parents: newsletters, collection of app reviews, theme activities, classroom resources

Best Twitter hashtag - #spedchat and #maet (Masters of Ed Tech at Michigan State University)

Best Free Web Tool - Google and the collaborative tools available, such as Google Docs and G+ hangouts

Best Educational Wiki - UDLtechtoolkit

Global Read Aloud ~ Week 5 Review

This week marked the end of the Global Read Aloud 2012 and the conclusion of our Charlotte's Web activities. This week we finished reading the adapted book and completed our comprehension book. As a concluding activity, we incorporated a science lesson about spider webs into the mix. (Thanks to Mrs. Pence for sharing her scholastic science sheets with us. It provided a great literature connection.)

We learned:

• how a spider web needs to have specific components in the web structure (bridge lines, anchor points, and the spirals)
• that the web starts out a liquid and turns into a solid
• that although spider webs look fragile, they are actually quite strong

To illustrate and reinforce the concepts of the spider webs, we created our own spider webs using wax paper and liquid glue (such as Elmer's). This hands on activity allowed the students to create their own webs while reinforcing the parts of the web. With assistance, the students first created the bridge lines, then we attached the anchor points. Next we created the spirals. Lastly, we labeled the parts of the web while the glue was wet so that they would stay in place. Some students even chose to draw and add their own "Charlotte". Some students completed this activity within their 2nd grade class. Other students completed this activity while in our classroom. See below for the of our great student spider webs.

In addition to the "glue" webs, we also took some time and encouraged students to draw his/her own spider web on the SMARTBoard using the same structure as mentioned above - creating a web with bridge lines, anchor point, spirals, and maybe even a spider! Check out the examples below.

Global Read Aloud ~ Week 4 Review

This week, like last, was quite a busy one! We had our Harvest Parties and Costume Parade  as well as a new student start this week.

We did read severe more chapters from our adapted version of Charlotte's Web and we completed the comprehension sheets. We reviewed all the "webs" that Charlotte had made for Wilbur. To compliment the "word webs", we created our own. We used this as an opportunity for the students to practice spelling and typing his/her name. (See below for our work - versions have been altered to keep names private) For this project, we used an app called SKITCH. This app allows you to take any photo and annotate it (which is basically a fancy word for add things to it or draw on it). I searched and saved a couple different types of web pictures. The students were able to choose which web they wanted to use. With varying degrees of assistance, the students then types his/her name onto the web. The students also had the option to change color of font and/or resize name.

This is the last week for the Read Aloud so we will be wrapping up Charlotte's Web by completing our comprehension books as well as creating our favorite setting from the story to complete the story web outside of our classroom.

I hope you enjoyed Charlotte's Web as much as I did. Even though the book was a little above our reading level, the students did a great job of identifying the characters by animal name and some, even by character name. They also were able to recall the various settings of the story. Looking forward to #GLRead13 already!

Global Read Aloud ~ Week 3 Review

This week was quite a busy one! 

Although we read and completed our comprehension sheets for a couple chapters, we did not get very far on our extra projects this week. One reason for this was that we were invited to a "going away" party for a student. We made a trip up to Ms. Henry's class to wish him well....and enjoy decorating and eating pumpkin cookies!

This week we will continue to read and discuss the characters and setting as well as create our own spider webs displaying the students names similar to the webs that Charlotte made for Wilbur. Check back next weekend to see our creations!

Global Read Aloud ~ Week 2 Review

Week 2 of Charlotte's Web

This week we continued reviewing favorite characters and the different settings. We continued reading chapters from book as well as reviewing chapters using the adapted version of the story and our comprehension notebook. The students used an iPad app called TypeDrawing to create a visual representation of their favorite character. Check out there work below.

This past week was also busy with conferences. We used our class projects to begin constructing a story web outside of our classroom. Check out In Pictures ~ Room 220 (our class photoblog) to check out a snapshot of our web. We also took some time to do a "free draw" of our own webs on the SMARTBoard.

KB creating her web.

KB and her finished web with spider in the middle.

AH creating her web (after some help with drawing Charlotte first).

IH creating his web.

This week we will be constructing our own webs using various iPad apps as well as craft materials. We will also be creating visual representations of the 4 main settings from the story: barn, Arable's Farm, Zuckerman's Farm, and the county fair.

On a side note, today Charlotte's Web turns 60!! "Sixty years ago, the book Charlotte's Web first appeared in print. This children's classic is often seen as a story of a spider and a pig. But when E.B. White recorded a narration of the book, he said something different: "This is a story of the barn. I wrote it for children, and to amuse myself." NPR Staff 10/15/2012

Global Read Aloud ~ Week 1 Review

Abilipad screenshot

This past week was the official beginning of the Global Read Aloud event. We reviewed Chapters 1-4 as we had started reading the book a little ahead of schedule. As we reviewed the chapters, we also discussed the characters and settings again. The students then chose their favorite character from the first four chapters. On Wednesday, the students colored in their favorite character and practiced reading the sentence "My favorite character in Charlotte's Web is [insert character]." using a variety of AAC options to read the sentence. The students had the option of using a Big Mack (single message voice output device) and an iPad using 2 voice output apps: Answers Yes/No and Abilipad. 

Answers Yes/No screenshot

On Friday (after an initial Skype malfunction on Thursday), Room 220 was about to video conference with our Room 5 Friends from Cleveland. This was the first time we were successful at "Skyping" another classroom. I think the students were a little taken back by the fact that we were looking into another classroom on the SmartBoard, but on the whole they did well. Each student had a chance to tell their favorite character and we also exchanged a couple of other questions, such as if we were enjoying the book and what's the weather like.


Who is your favorite character in Charlotte's Web?? Please leave your answer in the comments section! It would be also great if you left your location so that we can see who has been visiting and reading our posts.


Check out our pictures of your favorite characters. 

HM chose Wilbur, KB chose the goose

DJ chose Wilbur, AH chose Mr. Arable, IH chose the goose

Ready, Set....READ!

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Global Read Aloud project. Our classroom will be participating in activities relating to the book Charlotte's Web. If you would like to know more about the Global Read Aloud, search this blog or click on the #GLRead12 tags for previous posts about the project.

In preparation for the Global Read Aloud, we have already started reading the book. We will continue to read on with the book, but we will be reviewing the chapters to follow the Global Read Aloud schedule. This week we will focus on Chapters 1-4 and discussing characters and setting for these chapters. The students will choose their favorite character and prepare for a Skype event with our Room 5 Friends from Cleveland, a classroom very similar to ours.

As part of this global event, we will also be sharing some of our projects on twitter to allow our audience to reach outside of Cincinnati. If you are on twitter, follow me @teachwtechbrox.  We will tweet from my account using #EVRM220 and #GLRead12 to share projects, blog posts, and our connections as we participate in this project.

Additional information about the Global Read Aloud will be sent home this week along with a copy of Charlotte's Web, visuals from class, and a "Read and Respond" homework to be completed nightly. Lesson information can be found on the lesson plan page.

Thanks in advance for supporting this project!! The students have already done very well with identifying characters and setting!! If you have any questions, let me know!

Viking Buddies

P and K reading about Johnny Appleseed

At the end of last year, I was asked to present for a group of teachers at Princeton High School. In conversation, I mentioned to one of the high school intervention specialists how I thought it would be neat if we could get some of the high school students to be reading buddies to my students. Some of these high school students would be my former students. So on top of it being a cool project to have them read, I was excited to see my former students all grown up.

Fast forward to August, I get an email from the high school teacher. She is still interested in getting this partnership started. Less than 4 weeks later, we had our first Viking Buddies day! (Ms. Schell, I hope your ok with the new name...thought it sounded kind of cool!)

For the high school students, this was a week of preparation. Last week, they made a trip to the public library to learn about how to look for book and check them out. Their mission....find books relating to apples and/or Johnny Appleseed that would be appropriate for K-2 students. Next, the students practiced reading the books in preparation for the visit. Finally, Monday, September 17th came and they were on there way to visit!

J and A reading about Johnny Appleseed

My students were a little taken back by the bigger kids, but soon realized that they were a lot cooler than Mrs. B. The first book was created by a student (with adult assistance). It was a narrated PowerPoint book about the class. It introduced the students and some of there favorite things. It was a great ice breaker as the students quickly found commonalities between them, such as watching Spongebob and liking animals. Next, the students paired off - one elementary and one high school student. The students read with easy and were very attentive to the younger students. My students sat quietly and were attentive to the books. The day ended with us enjoying lunch together in the school courtyard.

D and I reading about Johnny Appleseed

It was a great day. You could tell the high school students (who often struggle to feel like the top dog) felt like they were the top dog. You could tell that my students enjoyed the attention, kind of like the attention of an older sibling. I (as well as many other staff members) thoroughly enjoyed seeing and talking to the two previous students. I also enjoyed talking and observing all the high school students. It gave me a nice perspective on where my students are going and what is possible.

As a K-2 teacher, it is often challenging to see the future for my students. It is often challenging to know if I am teaching the right things, focusing on the right things. Then I see Ann (named changed). Ann is a high school sophomore. She started elementary school in Kindergarten. She started Kindergarten with three intelligible words - "pop o wadda" AKA "Pop or water?" which she would repeat over and over as she played in the dramatic play area. We worked hard with her speech. She had a AAC device for a while. Now, this bitty Kindergartener 10 years later is reading (INTELLIGIBLY) to my students AND is the social butterfly of the class! (and yes, I had one of those "proud to be a teacher" moments that evening as I reflected on the day!)

Was this experience a great one? Yes! Will is happen again? ABSOLUTELY!!

Stay tuned for more posts about Room 220 and their Viking Buddies!

We made it!!

We made it through the first full week of school!! 

The students (and teachers) handled the change in classroom routine well. I think the half day Kindergarteners are still trying to figure out while they are at school so long; however, they are getting used to the day. The request of "go to the bus" is getting a little later each day. We will be starting individual schedules as well as a class schedule this week so that should help with transitions.

In the afternoons this week, we will be starting our "rotation" schedule. For those of you who could not attend the curriculum night, the students will be a part of a rotation schedule where they will visit different classrooms for reading, fine motor, and gross motor activities. This is the first time that we have tried something like this so bear with us as we tweak the schedule. I think it has the possibility to create some great learning opportunities for the students! I am pretty excited about it!

Keep a lookout for homework! Please send homework back by the due date (sometimes the next day) so that students get their homework points.

This week, we will be starting to read Charlotte's Web in preparation for the Global Read Aloud event in October. Keep an eye out for activities relating to Charlotte's Web as well as homework to review our reading for the day. I will also be adding a Charlotte's Web tab at the top of the blog which will be the "go to" place for information about the book.

Lastly, I ask that your child wear gym shoes each day. We do a lot of gross motor activities within the classroom and in motor room. Gym shoes provide better support as well as are safer options during gross motor activities. We will also be going outside to work on safely accessing the playground equipment. Gyms shoes are a MUST on the playground due to the uneven surfaces and the mulch. Thanks for your cooperation with this matter!

If you have any questions, please call or email!!
Thanks!
~Melanie

Welcome Back!!

Yes, it is that time of year already! School starts in about 2 weeks!

August 16th ~ First Day of School

I have added two new pages to the website. 

The "What's Happening!!" page will house the Welcome Back letter with supply list as well as monthly newsletters. I will also try to include school happenings, such as late starts and conferences. I think this might be a little more effective than the 'calendar' page from last year.

 

The second page is called In Pictures ~ Room 220. This page will be a picture blog - no words, just pictures of the students, classroom, activities, etc. My goal for this picture blog is to give you glimpse into the classroom from the students' eyes. At first, I will be the one taking and posting the photographs. Eventually, I would like the students to begin taking ownership. I want them to be able to have a say in what they want you to know about our classroom. I will allow them to choose what pictures to take as well as guide them in taking and posting pictures so that you can see Room 220 ~ In Pictures!

If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email. I will be at school periodically over the next couple weeks. If you would like to schedule a time to have your child come up for a visit, let me know and we can work something out.

Global Read Aloud 2012

Global Read Aloud 2012 ~ featuring Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Photo Credit ~ Wikispaces

I am very excited to have the class signed up to participate in our first Global Read Aloud. 

Now, I know what you are thinking, 

What is the Global Read Aloud?? 

The Global Read Aloud was founded a few years ago by Mrs. Ripp. It is an international literacy project in it’s third year. On her blog, Mrs. Ripp describes the reason behind this project: 

“I founded the project because I believe books are powerful. Books, by themselves, spellbind people, particularly children and allow them to travel to new places. Books become such a personal experience that to take a book and have children listen to it around the world at the same time, could open up the world. They would understand that the experience they were having with the book was perhaps the same experience as another child in another place was having. My students understand through this project that they are part of something bigger, that other kids were just like them even if they were so far apart. Even if the sun didn’t rise at the same time or the seasons were opposite, they were the same because they loved the same book.”

I was intrigued to be a part this project after a fellow teacher, Ms. Kolis (@Room5Friends), told me about the experience with her classroom last year. I am very excited to have the students participate in an event that will allow them to showcase the great things we do here at Evendale. I am also excited to get our classroom connected to students from across the globe. Last year, we connected with students from New Zealand and the student enjoyed learning about the culture of the students. The Global Read Aloud will provide us with yet another opportunity to learn from and about others.

Photo Credit ~ Coloring Pages for Kids

Here are the specifics about The Global Read Aloud. This year’s book selection for the younger elementary students is Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. The project officially begins October 1st and will run 4-7 weeks. An international group of teachers are currently in the planning process for the 4 weeks of lessons. I will modify the lessons and the timeline to fit the need and abilities of the class as well as organize additional resources as needed. During this project, we will use a variety of technology tools to engage in the book, collaborate with other classes, participate in discussions, and create projects revolving around the book. Some of the websites/technology tools that we will be using for this project will be the classroom blog, edmodo, twitter, and wikispaces.

Most of the project will take place at school; however, I will also be asking you to complete some activities at home. I will be posting information to the class blog about our activities as well as the Global Read Aloud in general. I encourage you review the blog posting and engage your child in discussions about the book. It would be a great idea to get a copy of the book to also read at home with your child. As I create modified curriculum materials for the book (such as visuals, flashcards), I can also provide you with copies for home as well. When checking out the classroom blog, you can easily find the Global Read Aloud postings by searching the tags “Global Read Aloud”, “#GLRead12”, or “Charlotte’s Web”.

Photo Credit ~ Coloring Pages for Kids

Thanks in advance for your support and cooperation as we take part in this amazing international literacy project! If you have any questions, please feel free to email or post a comment. If you are interested in volunteering to help with part of the project, let me know that as well. I’m sure we can find a way to help you get involved.


Are you a special education teacher participating in the #GLRead12? I would love to connect our classrooms. Leave a comment or find me on twitter (@teachwtechbrox).

~Melanie