It's ESOL Testing Week!

Hello, parents and students!

This week we are administering the  county-mandated Quarterly ESOL Writing Assessments to all our ESOL kids.  We are also busy creating our writing projects using Winter-themed templates in time for our Deck the Halls contest.

I will be posting pictures of my kids' projects in a few days.

My Kindergarteners and 1st graders are writing a letter to Santa and are making gingerbread man and santa crafts.

My 3rd graders have designed their houses and calculated the area and perimeter of their houses, which will be included in our "Winter Wonderland" bulletin board.

Designing a house using a grid paper

My 5th graders read different non-fiction texts and identified the main idea and details using a snowman template.

I can't wait to post their completed projects on my next blog!

Bye for now, and keep yourselves warm!

Love,

Ms. Chavez

Happy December!

Welcome back, my dear students!  I hope you had a relaxing five-day Thanksgiving break.  It is time to re-energize and focus on our school work.

Today was a good day to kick off the month of December. Here are our class assignments and activities this week:

Kindergarten - letters /i/  and /n/; sight word: AND
                        ABCYa.com: letter recognition/alphabet practice

1st Grade - Interactive Read-aloud:  "Clifford's Good Deeds"
                   High-frequency words:  could, been, live, one, as
                   ABCYa.com Spelling practice
                   Writing activity:  Personal Narrative

3rd Grade:  Area and Perimeter
                   Sight word Practice
                   Edmodo in-class assignments via Snapshot  and NoREdInk

5th Grade:  Main Idea and Details
                   Edmodo in-class assignments via Snapshot and NoREdInk


It seems that everyone is getting adjusted to using his/her iPad for our interactive classwork.  Edmodo has become our go-to website for reading comprehension practice and grammar activities.

Way to go, my wonderful kids!

Love,

Ms. Chavez

Our iPads are Here!

My kids were just super-excited after seeing the iPads on their tables.  For the first time, we do not have just an iPad center but iPads for everyone to use at the same time!

Today, we used the Doceri interactive whiteboard app for our whole group lesson, and Reading Train for our reading practice.

Here are our lessons for this week:

Kindergarten - Sight word "TO", letter recognition practice

1st Grade - Sight words, cause and effect, Cause and Effect writing project

3rd Grade - Sight words, Cause and Effect Writing Project

5th Grade - Main Idea and Details; Identifying Main Idea and Details on Snapshot app;  Recognizing verbs practice on No Red Ink app  via Edmodo

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My dear students, don't forget to bundle up and keep warm!!!

Love,

Ms. Chavez

Happy American Education Week!

Hello, parents and students!

Starting tomorrow, we will be kicking off our celebration of American Education Week.  Parents, you are invited to our Open House on Tuesday.  Please do come and visit your child's classroom/s.  We would be very happy to see you!

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In other news, I am very excited to share with you what my 1st Graders had been busy about this past week.  We spent a lot of time doing some great learning about story elements, so check out their STORY ELEMENTS project:

My 1st Grade ESOL kids' "Story Elements in a Box" Project

Their Projects on Alice Nizzy Nazzy 

My 1st Grade ESOL Kids at Work!

I am so proud of my kids!

Happy American Education Week!!!

Love,

Ms. Chavez

Testing This Week

Hello, parents and students!

Time flies so fast!  This week is the last week of the First Quarter.

 On Monday and Tuesday, all 5th graders are having their FAST or Formative Assessment System Test in Science.  All my 5th Grade ESOL students are being pulled out for testing so that I can give them their testing accommodations.

On Wednesday and Thursday,  3rd to 5th grade students will have their MUST testing in Reading and Math.  Again, I will be pulling out my ESOL testing groups during these days so there will be no instructional pull-outs nor push-in.

Here is a list of our classroom activities on Friday:

• 1st graders will complete their Story Elements Project.
• 3rd graders will complete their Halloween Character Selfies.
• 5th graders will compare and contrast two characters from two different texts.

We have a long weekend ahead of us so,  Happy Long Weekend!  

Love,

Ms. Chavez

We are blogging!

That's right!  My 3rd  and 5th grade ESOL students have already started blogging in class.  In 3rd grade, they did a character study of the main characters in a story of their own choice.  In 5th grade, they focused on various characters in the story, "Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach."  They are required to post an answer to my question and also comment on one of their classmates' posts.

ESOL 3rd Graders in the iPad/Computer Center

Here are the lessons we are learning this week:

     Kindergarten:

         High frequency words:  the, we see
         Handwriting practice:   /S/
         Sensory words

     First Grade:
        Mentor text:  Alice Nizzy Nazzy, The Witch of Santa Fe
        Project:  Story Elements in a Box
        High frequency words:  fun, make, they, too, got

     Third Grade:
       High Frequency words (set 2 of the flashcards)
       Main Idea and Details

     Fifth Grade:
       Mentor Text:  "The Golem"
       Annotating Texts
       Point of View

Enjoy the cool breeze of October!

Ms. Chavez

     
     
     

Good News and Other Things

Hello, Parents and Students!

First, the good news…  I have been granted a new LCD projector for my ESOL classroom, thanks to the donors who made it possible through DonorsChoose.org.  This means that there is a lot more we can do in class because of technology.

We also have started to use iPads in our iPad and Computer Center.  My 1st and 3rd graders were just happy to practice  phonics and sight words using interactive apps.  I am waiting for that big day when all of my students will have iPads to use in class.

My ESOL 1st Graders at their centers

Here is a list of what we are learning these next two weeks:

     First Grade - Story Elements in "Strega Nona"  and "Alice Nizzy Nazzy, the Witch of Santa Fe."
                        - High-frequency words:  be, come, good, on, am

     Third and Fifth Grade:  Connecting with Characters in stories of their own choice

In the next few days, we will also be starting our class blog.  Students will have a chance to write their blog at home or in school when they are at the iPad or computer center.

This has been an exciting and meaningful week for me and my wonderful ESOL kids!  

Parents:  If you want your Kindergartner or First Grader to practice their letter sounds, try this fun, educational game called Puzzle Me Words by clicking on this link.

Have fun!

Love,

Ms. Chavez

                   

Happy Fall!

Hello, parents and students!

Today is officially the start of the Fall season.  It's getting colder everyday so, my dear students, please do not forget to bring your sweater or light jacket to school.

I am very excited to launch my class website where you will find all interesting stuff that I and my kids are doing in my class.   This is also a wonderful tool where we can all communicate with each other.  So, please don't forget to check out our site every week.

In Kindergarten, our kids are learning all the letters of the alphabet, and we are also learning the high-frequency words I and CAN.

In 1st grade ESOL, we have been spending time learning all the short vowel sounds through drills and word games.  We have also read "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed some Leaves" and "Hedgie Loves to REad" and used sequence words in retelling these stories.

In 3rd  and 5th grade, we are practicing how to use the close reading strategies with different texts.

This surely is an exciting year for all of us, so stay tuned for more news about what we are learning in ESOL class.


Love,

Ms. Chavez