This week, each student was assigned to an animal group and given a group role. Before diving into their collaborative learning, each group worked together to create a group compact. Group compacts explicitly state what each group member needs from each other to collaborate in a productive way.
After setting the expectations, group members started generating lots and lots of questions about their animals.
Then, we dove into our research ~ looking in books and on Pebble Go on our iPads ~ searchng for answers to the questions we had generated, learning as much as we can about our animals. By the end of the week, every group had lots of fact drafts written for their book.
This week, we will continue learning about our animal and using our writing to teach others what we have learned. We will talk about how, if we want our All About Animal nonfiction books to teach others, they have to be easy to read and understand for readers. We will be sorting our fact drafts into chapters and editing them (using our best handwriting and word banks) so that our books will be easy for our readers to read.
Mark Your Calendars!
Tuesday, May 19th ~ No School /Teacher Political Action Day
Monday, May 25th ~ No School / Memorial Day Holiday
Week of June 1st - 5th ~ MAP Reading and Math Testing
During the week of June 1st - 5th, our students will take their first MAP tests. The MAP test, which stands for Measures of Academic Progress, is a nationally administered adaptable assessment that measures student growth and achievement in Math and Reading. (For more info go to http://www.nwea.org.) Students will take two sections of a Math test and two sections of a Reading test. Because the test is adaptive (increases difficulty when the student answers correctly) it often can be challenging for students. I tell the kids there will be questions they may not know, and that that is ok! I give them the message ~ try your hardest, but don't worry about anything you don't know!
Thursday, June 4 ~ PBL Showcase! @ 6 pm
The PBL showcase is a school-wide celebration of our spring projects and is a time for students and families to come and learn together! Our kindergarten life-size African savanna will be displayed in the hallway outside our classroom along with copies of our collaborative “All About” African animal books.
TBA ~ Field Day!
Tuesday, June 16th ~ Last Day of Kindergarten!
Monday, May 25th ~ No School / Memorial Day Holiday
Week of June 1st - 5th ~ MAP Reading and Math Testing
During the week of June 1st - 5th, our students will take their first MAP tests. The MAP test, which stands for Measures of Academic Progress, is a nationally administered adaptable assessment that measures student growth and achievement in Math and Reading. (For more info go to http://www.nwea.org.) Students will take two sections of a Math test and two sections of a Reading test. Because the test is adaptive (increases difficulty when the student answers correctly) it often can be challenging for students. I tell the kids there will be questions they may not know, and that that is ok! I give them the message ~ try your hardest, but don't worry about anything you don't know!
Thursday, June 4 ~ PBL Showcase! @ 6 pm
The PBL showcase is a school-wide celebration of our spring projects and is a time for students and families to come and learn together! Our kindergarten life-size African savanna will be displayed in the hallway outside our classroom along with copies of our collaborative “All About” African animal books.
TBA ~ Field Day!
Tuesday, June 16th ~ Last Day of Kindergarten!