Presentations of Learning are just around the corner! When we return from Thanksgiving Break, we will begin on our POL journey together! Presentations of Learning are a chance for students to reflect on their growth so far this year and share their learning with a small audience. In order to make the POL experience the best it could possibly be, I have reflected on how I organized POLs last year and listened to feedback from parents. I would like to try having you (the parent educators) take the lead role in preparing your child for his or her POL. Don’t worry, I’ll offer guidance and you can count the time spent preparing as homeschool time! Please plan to use a portion of your homeschool time from December 1st until December 8th/9th to help your child create his/her POL. Additionally, please have your child bring his/her plan to school on December 8th/9th, as we will focus our class time on fine-tuning and practicing in the classroom environment.
I do not expect you to begin working on this over the break! I am sending this out early, so that those of you that do homeschool planning over the break are informed about POLs. Please do not feel like you need to start this over your (much needed) break! We will have a chance to talk/ ask questions at the Work Journal meeting when we get back (December 1st and 2nd 2:00-2:50 in Patrick’s room). The overall plan is for each student to share 2 areas in which they have grown (sample areas below) along with an artifact or visual in each area that they can use to demonstrate their learning. The four categories to choose from and examples of artifacts/visuals include: Reading: -A favorite book -A project they did based on a book -A collage they made about their favorite character Writing: -Any writing piece that shows their growth (school or homeschooling) - A journal where they reference an entry from the beginning of the year and a recent entry Math: -A word problem they can explain how to solve - A math strategy they have recently mastered (using friendly tens, number lines, doubling etc.) - A math game that shows off something they have improved in this year Habit of Heart and Mind (Reflection, Empathy, Collaboration, Flexibility, Perseverance, Exploration) -An outside-of-school activity where they have used collaboration (script from a play, pictures from soccer playoffs) -A homeschooling activity that took a lot of perseverance (several drafts of a writing project they did, a difficult piano piece they worked to be able to play all the way through) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember: Students only need to pick two areas (for example, a student might feel that they have grown in the areas of Reading and Math). Then they figure out what artifacts/ visuals might best demonstrate this growth (see examples above). After your child has picked two areas and two artifacts, then you and your child will work together to brainstorm what they are going to share with the group. Please note: In the past I have had students use script outlines, and then memorize the speech. This year, I am going to try having students just speak about the artifacts/ visuals they bring with them. If your child feels that they would do better with a written script, please feel free to create one with them, but I think for the most part, trying to remember exactly what they wrote is too difficult and distracting. A sample outline: 1. Introduction a. Name b. Core c. Introductory statement such as “Today I am going to share…” 2. Topic #1: a. First area they feel they have improved in (for example, reading) b. A description/ demonstration of the artifact/ visual (for example, a description of the book they brought in, and reading a page or two of the book) c. How the artifact shows their growth (“At the beginning of the year I wasn’t able to read chapter books, and two weeks ago I finished this book. It is the first chapter book that I have ever read all the way through!”) 3. Topic #2: a. Second area they feel they have improved in (for example, reading) b. A description/ demonstration of the artifact/ visual c. How the artifact shows their growth 4. Conclusion: a. Thank the audience b. Ask if there are any questions I am looking forward to seeing what you and your child come up with! Please let me know if you have any questions. I know this process can seem overwhelming at times, so please reach out for support! I am confident that reflecting and planning with your child will be an insightful experience for you and your learner, and I am happy to support you in any way that I can! Students will present their POLs on December 15th and 16th, please sign up for a time slot on Sign Up Genius: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d48a8a729abfe3-robins2
0 Comments
Exhibition Schedule This is the master schedule for our Winter Exhibition. Please notice when your student needs to be in each class: These will be times when they will be working at stations and giving tours, not necessarily walking their families through all of their work. They also have the opportunity to sign up for a poetry reading that will happen during the time that they are not scheduled at a station in the classroom. (For example, if your student is scheduled to be in the classroom between 5:00-5:40, then they will read their poem after 5:40) Please check in with them (after this Thursday/ Friday) regarding whether they have chosen to read their poem or not. Any time that they are not required to be in class, they can be walking their parents/ family through the Core 2 rooms in order to share ALL of their work. They are also welcome to explore all of the other wonderful exhibitions happening on campus! All students (from both classes) will meet in Patrick’s room at 6:20 for a concert.
You can help prepare your kiddo for exhibition by discussing the following with them: Why is deforestation a problem? What are human rights, and why are they important? Tell me about the Hummingbird story. What is your action plan (this is tied in with their How To book)? How is your action plan a continuation of Wangari’s work? Your student will most likely not be presenting on all of these topics. If you want more specifics on what they are presenting (especially if they are feeling nervous) then please just stop by the classroom or shoot one of us an email. Hello Core 2 Families, I am looking forward to the field trip today with the Tree Musketeers. I want to give a huge shout out to all of my room parents this year! They are doing such an amazing job building community within Core 2 and helping to facilitate such a wide variety of fun group activities! Thank you, thank you!! Exhibition is almost upon us! We are hard at work putting together our action plans for Exhibition, practicing our environmental songs, and putting the finishing touches on our How to Books. We had so much fun with our Math Pumpkin Seed activity! We read a great book called “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin.” I brought in 4 very different pumpkins and we made observations about the pumpkins and estimates about the number of seeds in each pumpkin. We then opened the pumpkins up and did an actual count of the number of seeds. We have been talking about grouping and skip counting, and students made some really interesting organizational decisions about how to count the large number of seeds in the pumpkins. If you are able to facilitate a conversation with your child and the produce person at your grocery store (see details in last blog entry), please bring that information in to class as soon as possible! Thank you!
For Exhibition, it would be great if you began talking to your child about a few big subjects that they will need to speak about at Exhibition: 1. Being able to talk about Wangari’s life, the problems she saw in Kenya, and her solutions 2. How their action plan is a continuation of Wangari’s work 3. The details of what they are doing for their action plan We will also be performing two songs as a group at Exhibition: Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) and Mother Nature’s Son (Beatles). Listening to these songs at home and enjoying them in the next few weeks will help them feel more confident at Exhibition. Announcements: Please try to help your child remember their lunch/ materials when they come to school. It is disruptive to the office staff and classroom to have the kids running to the office all of the time. Thanks! No Homeschool on Nov 10th and 11th How to Structure and Lead Productive Mathematical Discussions - a parent educator workshop with Janette based on the book "Intentional Talk." Nov. 4th and 6th 9:15-10:15 in the Innovation Lab From the Foreward (Megan Franke): "We know that students who explain the details of their mathematical ideas, engage with the details of others' mathematical ideas, and have others engage with their own mathematical ideas achieve mathematically. We also know that engaging in mathematical conversations in productive ways can help students see themselves as smart and competent in mathematics. We have seen that students who take part in mathematical conversations also learn to listen to others, ask insightful and respectful questions, and reflect on their own understandings." Limited Participation Math Opportunity Nov. 4th and 6th 2:45-3:15 Interested in having access to an online program to support your child in developing addition/subtraction or multiplication/division fluency and fact recall? Janette has received a grant which provides access for a limited number of students to Reflex Math. Information sessions will be provide more information about the program and the commitment needed to participate. Scooter's Jungle FUNdraiser Wed, 11/5 | 5 - 8 pm (deadline to pre-order is 11/3) Please make plans to join us for our 2nd Annual Scooter's Jungle FUNdraiser. This event sold out last year! Tickets are $10/child and $5/adult. Pizza, baked goods and water will be available for purchase. Please click on the flyer or this link for more details. We need volunteers and donations of baked goods to make this event a success! Can you help? Please use this Sign-Up Genius link to volunteer. |
AuthorWelcome to Robin's Core 2 Blog! Archives
February 2017
Categories |