Wow! The children are really enjoying dinosaurs. :) The funny part is when they are amazed that the others are watching same video and seem convinced that I know nothing about them. :) :) :) What excellent teachers we have in our class! Many connections were made related to their research, the video homework, and our activities in class.
Today your child sorted dinosaurs. It was an open sort, so they could have been sorted by syllables, beginning letter, carnivore/herbivore, etc. Many children cleverly sorted them based on what we focused on yesterday: bipeds or quadrupeds. Speaking of which, a fun teachable moment occurred at the end of the day when one child made a connection from our inquiry question/ video/icons discussion to the dinosaur sort of the morning. The comment was that there were two dinosaurs with 3 horns. We have already discussed how triceratops has 3 horns and related the prefix tri- as meaning "three". Added to that was "bi" for 2 and "quad" for 4 from yesterday. Upon taking a closer look, we discovered that the second dinosaur actually had 5 horns. Guess what we learned? Now your child knows, connects, and should be able to analyze the meaning of unknown words using the following prefixes/roots:
bi = two
tri = three
quad = four
penta = five
The dinosaur is a pentaceratops! :) Since all living things are symmetrical (which they now remember as my favorite word :) ), the two horns are on either side of the dinosaur's head. What a fun discussion!
Another child taught us that fossils could also be footprints, so we expanded our big idea statement from yesterday (revising connection). Our discussion added new details, rules, and language of the discipline as well.
Homework Question Clarification:
Homework - weekly while you are "baby stepped" into the expectations. :) As soon as your comfort level is as strong as the children ( :) ) with the research question and flipped lessons enriching our learning, homework will be sent home every other week with math practice worksheets as well. The purpose in making it weekly for now is to develop strong homework responsibility habits. By making it weekly, your child will practice nightly homework habits. After three weeks, it will be changed to every other week. By then, the nightly homework habits should be established and maintained to avoid procrastination problems later. ;)
Spelling tests are on a 2 week cycle (not monthly like the spelling grid). There are too many words to practice to do them monthly, but there is no research support for weekly spelling tests. The spelling test cycle looks like this:
week 1 - spelling list and traditional spelling test on Friday (words named randomly to spell) - (this week)
week 2 - same spelling list to reach mastery of misspelled words or practice one more week if all correct - test on Friday will be dictation (apply to the purpose of writing - spelling words embedded in sentences to be graded for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spacing, etc.)
week 3 - new list sent home and traditional test on Friday (same spelling grid for homework but choices are now narrower to force your child to stretch his/her thinking and choices - new word list is used)
week 4 - same spelling list to reach mastery (as week 3) with a dictation test on Friday - turn in the spelling grid with the homework
week 5 - REPEAT :)
Homework schedule:
weekly = inquiry question, flipped classroom videos, and nonfiction reading (Disneyland newspaper until Time for Kids magazines arrive)
every 2 weeks = spelling words for a spelling test - turn in the spelling grid every week to be monitored by me & it will come back the following week attached to the new homework - ( spelling grid 4 week cycle)
every 4 weeks = - turn in the spelling grid and a new spelling grid with changes to the spelling practice
In three weeks, we will begin 2 week homework. The spelling schedule will then match. For now, the learning curve for homework might be too high for some families, so bits are being introduced at a time. :) Tons of thought and planning went into this to make it successful and minimize your stress, so hopefully you can see that. :) The emphasis is on:
- building nightly homework routines (decrease procrastination)
- building excitement and confidence with researching a broad question that extends our learning and watching videos at home to prepare for discussions
- feeling confident about homework and viewing it as "homefun" not "homework"
- establishing a routine in the home to make it all work for you :)
??? Why 2 week homework in a few weeks? 3 reasons:
1. The level of the conversation and discussion will be deeper when the children have more time to research, apply, research again, explore, and consolidate the ideas of others. One week is not enough for a true research question if families are busy. :) (Remember - real working mom myself. I get it. :) ). Right now they just need to understand the task. The depth will come with confidence and time. :)
2. Spelling and homework will be on the same cycle.
3. As we move into our first content area and connect each content area to the next, there will be weeks on the same overall focus. (i.e. weather for 3 weeks, rocks for 3 weeks, life long ago for 2 weeks, etc.). The "homefun" research and flipped video lessons will be tied to our social studies and science all year. You will get to revisit many concepts along with your child and the home-school connection will be tight. :)
Big idea: quality > quantity I know nothing about them. :) :) :) What excellent teachers we have in our class! Many connections were made related to their research, the video homework, and our activities in class.
Today your child sorted dinosaurs. It was an open sort, so they could have been sorted by syllables, beginning letter, carnivore/herbivore, etc. Many children cleverly sorted them based on what we focused on yesterday: bipeds or quadrupeds. Speaking of which, a fun teachable moment occurred at the end of the day when one child made a connection from our inquiry question/ video/icons discussion to the dinosaur sort of the morning. The comment was that there were two dinosaurs with 3 horns. We have already discussed how triceratops has 3 horns and related the prefix tri- as meaning "three". Added to that was "bi" for 2 and "quad" for 4 from yesterday. Upon taking a closer look, we discovered that the second dinosaur actually had 5 horns. Guess what we learned? Now your child knows, connects, and should be able to analyze the meaning of unknown words using the following prefixes/roots:
bi = two
tri = three
quad = four
penta = five
The dinosaur is a pentaceratops! :) Since all living things are symmetrical (which they now remember as my favorite word :) ), the two horns are on either side of the dinosaur's head. What a fun discussion!
Another child taught us that fossils could also be footprints, so we expanded our big idea statement from yesterday (revising connection). Our discussion added new details, rules, and language of the discipline as well.
Homework Question Clarification:
Homework - weekly while you are "baby stepped" into the expectations. :) As soon as your comfort level is as strong as the children ( :) ) with the research question and flipped lessons enriching our learning, homework will be sent home every other week with math practice worksheets as well. The purpose in making it weekly for now is to develop strong homework responsibility habits. By making it weekly, your child will practice nightly homework habits. After three weeks, it will be changed to every other week. By then, the nightly homework habits should be established and maintained to avoid procrastination problems later. ;)
Spelling tests are on a 2 week cycle (not monthly like the spelling grid). There are too many words to practice to do them monthly, but there is no research support for weekly spelling tests. The spelling test cycle looks like this:
week 1 - spelling list and traditional spelling test on Friday (words named randomly to spell) - (this week)
week 2 - same spelling list to reach mastery of misspelled words or practice one more week if all correct - test on Friday will be dictation (apply to the purpose of writing - spelling words embedded in sentences to be graded for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spacing, etc.)
week 3 - new list sent home and traditional test on Friday (same spelling grid for homework but choices are now narrower to force your child to stretch his/her thinking and choices - new word list is used)
week 4 - same spelling list to reach mastery (as week 3) with a dictation test on Friday - turn in the spelling grid with the homework
week 5 - REPEAT :)
Homework schedule:
weekly = inquiry question, flipped classroom videos, and nonfiction reading (Disneyland newspaper until Time for Kids magazines arrive)
every 2 weeks = spelling words for a spelling test - turn in the spelling grid every week to be monitored by me & it will come back the following week attached to the new homework - ( spelling grid 4 week cycle)
every 4 weeks = - turn in the spelling grid and a new spelling grid with changes to the spelling practice
In three weeks, we will begin 2 week homework. The spelling schedule will then match. For now, the learning curve for homework might be too high for some families, so bits are being introduced at a time. :) Tons of thought and planning went into this to make it successful and minimize your stress, so hopefully you can see that. :) The emphasis is on:
- building nightly homework routines (decrease procrastination)
- building excitement and confidence with researching a broad question that extends our learning and watching videos at home to prepare for discussions
- feeling confident about homework and viewing it as "homefun" not "homework"
- establishing a routine in the home to make it all work for you :)
??? Why 2 week homework in a few weeks? For 3 reasons.
1. The level of the conversation and discussion will be deeper when the children have more time to research, apply, research again, explore, and consolidate the ideas of others. One week is not enough for a true research question if families are busy. :) (Remember - real working mom myself. I get it. :) ). Right now they just need to understand the task. The depth will come with confidence and time. :)
2. Spelling and homework will be on the same cycle.
3. As we move into our first content area and connect each content area to the next, there will be weeks on the same overall focus. (i.e. weather for 3 weeks, rocks for 3 weeks, life long ago for 2 weeks, etc.). The "homefun" research and flipped video lessons will be tied to our social studies and science all year. You will get to revisit many concepts along with your child and the home-school connection will be tight. :)
Big idea: quality > quantity
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