Five for Friday!

I have been gone too long! I didn't know just how long until this minute. This is the best way to get back in the game....Link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!



 

While the rest of the country has been having a harsh and snowy winter, ours has been slow to start. We finally started to see some winter, it is about time! There is serious talk of moving the Iditarod sled dog race start to Fairbanks (from Willow) and the snow lovers have been missing their snowmachines.

 

 

 



My 2nd grade group has been showing great progress this year and some of their parents ask for homework, so I put this together and keep my fingers crossed that they will make time for it.

I shared the Positive Pirate Reward system in September 2014.
It has been awhile since I've sent homework, but one or two parents ask about it and are willing to help their child  do it and send it back, so I have put more effort into it.
I have a Connecting Math group that is going well and there is a nice one page homework page that is easy to complete for the kids. We have a homework graph and a big plus sign is put on for each piece of homework. For my friends who have a difficult time but want the credit, they get opportunities to do the homework at school and get that plus.
On Fridays, we have a bit of a ceremony of counting the plus signs and putting that number of stars on the pirate cards. I just draw a star with a marker on the card, nothing fancy.

 

Our gas prices dropped, even here in Alaska!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a birthday...


Next week I am going to the Alaska Special Education Conference! I am so excited! It has been 12 years since the last time I attended.  I also will be going with a friend and co-worker, so it will be fun and informative all at the same time. Woooo!
I'll tell you all about next week!

Later!

Paula

 

Star Gazing in a Camp Theme Classroom

Put some stars on the ceiling, program them with whatever you want to practice....

 

Cover windows to darken the room, my awesome assistant provided black sheets and the big dipper...

 

 

hand kids a flashlight, turn off the lights....

a fun and motivating lesson!

 

The first week we wrote individual letters and basic sight words on the stars.

The second week we added pictures with the words from our camp words. We discovered that some of our kids needed help recognizing letters by name and we wanted to give them something to call out that they knew independently. Other skills: naming shapes and numbers.

 

 

Many of our students are working on verbal expression, so an expectation is to have them shout out what they see as they point their flashlight beam on it, I write it on the whiteboard as they say it. EVERYONE can participate, the child with the communication device can push a button to share his finds!

Each student has a pencil zipper bag with a flashlight, pencil and crayons. I found the flashlights in the Target dollar aisle! The most expensive part was buying the batteries, but it has been totally worth it!

Paula