Here's a quick look at some of the things I have planned for December. Some things have already begun, while some are still to come!
KinderPals
KinderPals is a mentor program that I developed that uses a program called Peekapak, along with my own additions in order to help kindergarteners develop strong social-emotional skills. Fourth graders are taught lessons that they will teach to their mentees that focus on a specific social-emotional skill. Our first skill was KINDNESS and included the following activities:
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Explanatory/Informative Writing
We just finished up our first writing unit of the school year: Personal Narratives and immediately began our second: "Explanatory/Informative."
In addition to our typical goals for a writing unit, our main focus will be on ORGANIZATION this time. Students have already been instructed on:
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World Compassion Day
November 28th was World Compassion Day and was an opportunity for students to focus on other people's needs, rather than their own. I chose to use the amazing (and free) curriculum from EverFi called "The Compassion Project" where students complete three tutorials focusing in on identifying others' needs and trying to make the best decision in different situations.
Students enjoyed this so much that they didn't want to stop when we ran out of time, so we will be continuing the tutorials in the coming days for those who are interested. Please ask your child about it! Hopefully, they have a lot of great things to say about it! |
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Math: Fact Fixer
A very typical struggle of 4th graders is with regard to multiplication and division fact fluency. That being the case, our team has purchased the "Fact Fixer" program as one way to help our students improve their speed and accuracy with their multiplication and division facts.
Each math period, students will participate in a 5 minute lesson where we learn a pattern (a fact family), memorize the order of it, and then practice it. Student finish the short lesson by completing a worksheet that reviews old fact families and also practices the new one. |
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Literature Circles
Students continue to enjoy being able to choose good books that they can read with their friends in school! As the year progresses, students learn more and more skills and strategies that they can implement during Literature Circles.
If you'd like to come into the classroom and participate with your child during Literature Circles, please check out the SignUpGenius here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a44a4ae2ba3f58-mrsolarzs You will read aloud with your child and his or her group of peers. Occasionally, they will discuss the book on video, but you won't need to participate in those! Hope to see you some time! |
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Sown to Grow - Goal Setting
I'm using a new tool this year: Sown to Grow. The purpose of STG is to track progress on goals that each child sets for themselves (including the goals I set for them). The benefits of this program is that I can see all the data each child enters, give feedback, and help students determine if they need to change course or continue charging ahead. The evidence cited by each student creates a portfolio that they can look back at as they enjoy the rewards of their efforts.
In the past, we have done this on paper and kept these in our Leader in Me binders. Although this was a very successful way to do things, I often felt excluded from the process. This will allow me to be each child's assistant as they attempt to accomplish goals that set for themselves. |
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Spelling City
We practice our Words their Way words together in small groups with cards that can be sorted. At the same time, students learn about the spelling patterns, roots, and/or definitions from me.
Later in the week, students play games on Spelling City to practice spelling the words and identifying their meanings. Spelling City is highly motivational and great at keeping my students' interest. They can be competitive against themselves without taking down others. They take spelling tests and vocabulary tests on this website, which sends the data to me so I know what they learned and what they struggled with. Soon, we will re-assess students' spelling skills and mix up the groups again based on current ability. |
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From "Our Geosphere" to "Energy"
We have officially completed the first of three main science units for the school year. "Our Geosphere" was about geology and earth's processes. "Energy" is a physical science unit that I LOVE to teach!!! We will be participating in several AMAZING hands-on activities and even doing an Alternative Energy Source debate.
Throughout this unit, students will learn Persuasive/Argumentative writing techniques, content area reading strategies, and how to find evidence to support their position in the debate. Be sure to keep an eye out for some great pictures and videos of our Energy activities after the New Year! For these few weeks before break, we are focusing on Try Engineering Together (see below) and social studies units on Explorers, including a fun project done entirely in class! |
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Try Engineering Together
We were just interviewed today by Adam Harris from our district office regarding our participation in this program! We were accepted from hundreds of other classes to be able to have individual mentors who are engineers, scientists, and other professionals in STEM fields!
Throughout this program (which lasts all year long), students will be reading articles with their mentors (not in real time), participating in STEM projects like building the tallest tower that can hold a golf ball, and writing back and forth with their pen pals! It integrates reading, writing, math, science, and engineering in a really fun way! I hope you'll hear more about it at home! :) |
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World Kindness Day
Any time I can help my students focus in on social-emotional topics or themes, I jump at the chance! World Kindness Day is one of my favorite opportunities to focus in on treating others with respect and kindness! We watch a wonderful video called "One Day" where the actors "Pay it forward" with kind acts as they go through their day. It was created and produced by an amazing woman named Orly Wahba who founded "Life Vest Inside" and has dedicated herself to spreading kindness around the world. Here is her website: www.lifevestinside.com/
Lesson: paulsolarz.weebly.com/short-term-projects/world-kindness-day-111317 |
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Passion Projects - Round 2
My kiddos work SO hard all day long that I really appreciate the opportunity to give some of our class time back to them to learn about their personal interests and to share those interests with others around the world! Passion Time is given to students twice each week for 30 minutes. Some choose to work independently, while others work with a peer. Topics range from academic subjects, to the arts, to cartoons & superheroes, to writing books! Students learn so many skills during this process and help each other tremendously! By the end of the school year, many students will tell me that Passion Time was their favorite time of the week! Check out your child's projects here:
- Round 1: paulsolarz.weebly.com/round-12 - Round 2: paulsolarz.weebly.com/round-22 |
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RtI Groups (WIN Time!)
Approximately four days each week for an hour each day, I try to meet the individual needs of each of my students. I run a Math Re-Teach/Pre-Teach group and three Words their Way groups at various levels. Additionally, I work with students on their Passion Projects to help them get the most out of their work time.
During this time, students also do independent work including:
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Reading Comprehension
As a comprehension assessment, I created an article for my kiddos on PERFECTION, a real problem with some of my students. I asked them several high level comprehension questions to help me determine which skills students excel at and which skills students struggle with. Throughout the assessment, students learned how to avoid perfectionistic tendencies and change their mindset to an improvement-focused mindset where growth and effort are the most important factors. Please remind your child at home that striving for perfection involves constant disappointment because being perfect is impossible. We'll work on this throughout the year, but I need students to be reinforced at home as well in order to have the most impact. Thanks!
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Observing Flash Flood Rivers
This was a fun science investigation where I asked students which materials we should use to create a flash flood river in a metal sheet pan. We used Play-Doh, sand, dirt, rocks, and other materials and placed them carefully throughout the pan in order to divert water around obstacles and observe meanders. Coach K even joined us for a few minutes to observe and participate!
The kids did a great job making suggestions and observations. They also showed great curiosity and interest in the activity throughout the lesson. |
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Thrively Strengths Inventory
Hopefully everyone has had the chance to look through the Thrively Personal Skills Inventory that I included in your child's report card envelope. Your child answered dozens of questions and Thrively determined some characteristics of your child based on their answers.
If we have time this year, I hope to use this online tool to explore other personal interests and learn about social-emotional skills & unique careers throughout the school year. |
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Learning Study Skills
Throughout the school year, students will be learning various study skills, test-taking skills, and note-taking skills that should help them in fifth grade and beyond!
History Alive has provided us with an authentic opportunity to read, take notes, study, and take tests in order to improve our study skills. We also used our Reader's Handbooks to discover additional strategies for learning & preparing for tests. |
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