September

     Wow!  Here we are, just days away from the first progress report of the school year!!  Time sure is passing quickly.  I hope students are sharing their new skills and knowledge with their family!  I have been working hard to review skills students were taught last year, to ensure they have mastery of each skill before we move on.  It is so important that a strong foundation is built in order for them to move up and move on!

     I have three Reading and three Math groups, and I am working with Kindergarten, 1st grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade!  Each small group has time to work and talk with me, as well as interact with educational activities and games on the SmartBoard, at student computers, and with manipulatives, or hands-on materials.
     My Kindergarteners are working on identifying letters and their sounds through the use of Alpha-Motion cards and StarFall.  They are counting blocks and learning to identify the numerals (0,1,2...) that match the number counted.  We have also started looking at number words (zero, one, two...).
     In first grade, the students are reviewing letters and their sounds, as well as identifying the characters, setting, and main events in a story.  In Math, they are counting, doing small sums, and learning to identify small coins (penny, nickel, and dime) and their value (1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents).  We need to be more comfortable with coins before we can start counting them, but that is our next step!!
      In fourth grade, we are working on spelling patterns to improve our decoding skills, as well as increase our fluency.
      In fifth grade, we are reviewing basic Math facts and working with word problems.  We have reviewed place value, how to represent numbers with base ten blocks, standard, expanded, and written forms of numbers, and rounding as well.  In Reading, they are working to increase their fluency as well as summarizing short chapters they have read.  We are also working to boost our vocabulary!
      I hope you have found this informative!!  I am truly enjoying working with these students and helping them to set and reach attainable educational goals.