December Read Alouds

During the month of December, students practiced their oral reading fluency with a winter theme. Each student read and reread a page from a winter story then using the app Explain Everything we recorded our fluent reading.

Enjoy these winter stories.

Grade 3 Mrs. Burke's Class read The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

Mrs. Surprise and Mrs. Jordan's Class read Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright

Mrs. O'Connor's Class read Red and Lulu by Matt Travers

Mrs. Ford's Second Grade Friends read The Smiley Snowman by M Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

Mrs. Kelleher's Fourth Grade recited the poem White Noise by Barbara Vance

Team Murphy recited Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Ms. Corliss Grade 3 students read Sneezy the Snowman Maureen Wright


Mrs. Gustafson's Grade 5 class read Smiley the Snowman  by M. Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

Set Sail With O'News Edition 2

 The O'Connor Crew was hard at work again in the month of November gathering news about happenings in their class.  This crew of learners work so well collaboratively planning and writing the newsletter together.

November Happenings

 It certainly was another busy month in our digital world.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Grade 1 Talking Turkeys

Mrs. Dunn and Mrs. Kuhn had their first grade students disguise turkeys. Using the app chatterpix the students brought the turkeys to life. "Don't eat me, I'm a ...."

After reading the books I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie and One is a Feast for Mouse, students practiced reading a page to showcase their reading fluency. Using the app Explain Everything we recorded the expressive readings of the students.

Grade 3 Corliss

Grade 4 Klein

Grade 4 Gibbas

Grade 4 Kelleher

Grade 4 Murphy

Grade 5 Gustafson
Grade 5 Mountain

Set Sail With O'News

 Third Graders in Mrs. O'Connor's class took on the BIG job of newspaper editors.

As a class, students began brainstorming ideas that they wanted to share about the happenings in their classroom.

A difficult decision was choosing a name for the publication. They agreed on O'News ~ Hooked on Third Grade Learning.

Students in collaborative groups of 3 volunteered to write the articles and edit the articles.

They should be so proud of their hard work!

Take a peek at Edition 1.

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Pear Deck 🍐

 I have had the pleasure of becoming a Pear Deck Coach this fall. It was a great learning experience.  My cohort of learners had various assignments to complete as we learned more and more about the wonders of Pear Deck.

Many teachers and students explored multiple lessons with me. One of the best features of Pear Deck is that it works with Google Slides making it easy for teachers to create engaging interactive lessons for students.

I offered many PD sessions in a TechGagement course with Miss Klipfel.

Try a Brain Break Pear Deck lesson on your own.

Click on this link:  October Brain Breaks and see Pear Deck in action.

October Happenings 🎃

 October was a very busy month in our digital world! 🎃

Students had a fun time using digital tools and devices all month.  The apps ExplainEverything and ChatterPix were perfect to make our work come to life.

Mrs. Gouzie's Kindergarten Class practiced spelling their names.

 

Take a peek at the Big Green Monsters from Mrs. Ruble's Kindergarten Class!

  

 Grade 1 students in Mrs. Truhart's Class made Frankenstein real.

   

" I can't do it YET," said the students in Ms. DeFronzo's First Grade.

   

 Grade 3 students in Mrs. O'Connor's Class practiced reading fluently from their own Haunted House creations.

   

 Many Classes explored the site Pixton and created their own avatars.

Happy Fall from Mrs. Rogers' Class!

Happy Halloween from Ms. Corliss' Class!

#Kids Need Mentors

 On Twitter this summer I saw a post from author Jarrett Learner about a program #KidsNeedMentors. The goal of this program is for "increased communication and collaboration among educators and creators, and that this will, in turn, enrich and improve the lives of kids". The author I was lucky enough to be paired with is Jaime Berry the author of Hope Springs.

I partnered with Doreen Kelleher's 4th-grade class for this amazing opportunity. 

Before our zoom visit, students made predictions based on the cover of her book and we sent this along to Mrs. Berry.

We had our first author and class zoom meeting today. It was a marvelous experience. Mrs. Berry was kind enough to share a little about herself and her background. She read part of the first chapter to an engaged audience. Students posted to JamBoard things that would want in their special place. What would you want in your special place?

Students had the opportunity to ask questions at the end. We can't wait until our next visit.