Friday, November 22, 2013

Clark Planetarium Field Trip

This month's field trip was to the Clark Planetarium! We had a great presentation about the different planets and saw a movie in the dome theater. 

To see more pictures, visit our class facebook page HERE





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Google Virtual Field trips

Hello!
On November 5, 2013, Google announced "Connected Classrooms" for schools around the world to participate in Virtual Field Trips using Google Hangouts.
My Tech High, our partner program, has just been accepted into the community and we are excited to invite all of our students to explore the calendar of past and future Virtual Field Trips. Explore and attend live field virtual field trips from places around the world (and even space!), or watch them later! I can't get over how cool this is!!!
Next Steps:
Enjoy!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Hee Haw Farms

We had a fun time exploring Hee Haw Farms during our field trip there in October! See more pictures on our class facebook page HERE.

Remember, we have field trips once a month! Check the calendar on www.eschool.provo.edu to see when the next one will be!







Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Exactly!


How Handwriting Trains the Brain

I came across a great article on the importance of handwriting and the role it plays in student development. Technology can actually enhance handwriting skills! (They have some great handwriting apps!)

Check it out:

Monday, August 12, 2013

School is starting...SOON!

I'm not sure how August got here so quickly and how summer is already over (let's not dwell on it)...but fall is upon us! 

If you haven't signed up for classes already, make sure you do that ASAP! You can view available courses by visiting eschool.provo.edu. Then email or call myself, or the eSchool office to let us know what courses you or your student would like to be enrolled in. 

The first day of school is August 21st. I will be sending out welcome and orientation letters on that day as well as calling you to see if you have any questions.

Enjoy the last few days of summer! 

Monday, June 10, 2013

Summer fun!

Looking for some fun activities to do this summer? Check out some of these!

(click picture)

 

(like making giant industrial strength bubbles!)

Giant Bubbles

Friday, May 31, 2013

End of year party!

We had a GREAT time at the end of year party! We enjoyed snow cones and cotton candy, a dunk tank, giant inflatable slide, spray by the Provo fire department, and other games! 

HAPPY SUMMER!!! :-) 











Wednesday, May 29, 2013

EDGE Issue 2 now available!

The spring issue of eSchool's online literary magazine EDGE is now available!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Honk Jr. Field trip!

This week we went to UVU's Noorda Theater to view the musical Honk Jr- the story of the ugly duckling. It was a fantastic performance! This is the second play we've seen this year at UVU and each time I am amazed at how well these productions are put together!

I can't wait to see more productions there next year!


Monday, April 8, 2013

Living Planet Aquarium Field Trip

Before spring break we went to the Living Planet Aquarium! Younger students learned about blue whales while older students learned about physical characteristics of fish. And of course we explored the aquarium!

My favorite thing to see was the penguins! I'm excited to see the NEW Living Planet Aquarium that will be opening this fall! 



Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

A site I wish I had a long time ago..

Are you having a hard time keeping your student on track at home? Check out this website! www.classdojo.com 

ClassDojo improves behavior in class with just one click of a smartphone, laptop, or tablet. And it's FREE!

Benefits:

Instantly reinforce good behavior.
Easily award feedback points for behavior in class in real-time, with just one click of your smartphone or laptop. This actually improves behavior.
Engage students in minutes.
ClassDojo provides instant notifications for your students (‘Well done Josh! +1 for teamwork!’). All fully customizable for your classroom. 

When you create an account, do so as a teacher. The students in your "classroom" will be your students at home.

I LOVE IT! 

Story building apps

Getting "writer's block" is a fairly common occurrence for students. These are some fantastic story building apps that allow students to create a concrete visual of their stories (or just play around with them until the GET an idea for a story) before they begin writing about them, which will allow their writing to be more descriptive and interesting. 

Check 'em out! 

1. Story Fry (free)
2. Storyboard Stickers ($.99 great for younger students)
3. Tapikeo ($3.99 Create the story right within the app)
4. Storyboards & Storyboards 3D (free- great for older students)

Enjoy! 
 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Field trip to the state capitol!

This week we went on our field trip to Salt Lake to tour the capitol building and meet one of Utah's senators, Mark Madsen. 
 
That was my first time touring the building and it was gorgeous! If you've never been before, go check it out!

You can visit the capitol building anytime or have a guided tour. Click here for more information.

You can also take a virtual tour by clicking here.

Monday, March 4, 2013

NEW Study Island Program!

I am really excited to share with you the newest help we have for preparing for end of year tests or if you need any extra help with a particular subject area. It's called Study Island. Using Study Island is a great resource that is online and very easy to use.

Student will complete lessons and games in their grade level. Every time a lesson is completed, they earn a virtual blue ribbon. When 10 blue ribbons are earned online, we will mail them a prize!

 
Please look over the document below to get a better understanding of Study Island and how to use it. Your student's login and password will be emailed to them in their progress report this week from Miss Shelby.  If you have any questions, please send a quick kmail over to Miss Shelby and she will help you.

How to use Study Island:

NEW Peak Reader Program!

Seven Peaks water park partners with schools each March to encourage students in grades K-6th to read. Students in these grades who read at least 500 minutes in the month of March (about 20 minutes each night) and document their reading, will receive a FREE one day pass to Seven Peaks this summer! 
 
It's easy! All you have to do is print out the form here:

Keep track of minutes read during the month of March and have your parent sign the bottom of BOTH papers. Then mail or drop your forms off to the Provo School District Office by April 3rd. 

If you'd like to mail it in, please mail it to this address:

Provo School District
ATTN: eSchool
280 West 940 North
Provo, Utah 84604

Happy reading!  

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Ice Skating Field Trip

Yesterday we went to Seven Peaks Ice Skating Arena. We had a blast! I was amazed at how fearless so many of you were and how quickly you got the hang of it!
I already want to go skating again!


Phonics app

I found this free app over the weekend and love it! It is called "Endless Alphabet" and is perfect for kindergartners or 1st graders that need reinforcement in phonics. My 18 month old is also starting to figure it out and thinks it's great!


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Resources for Reading Help


-->
Resources for Help with Reading

Reading is made up of these main parts: phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words), phonics (the ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words), vocabulary (understanding the meaning of words they are reading), fluency (the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression) and comprehension (the ability to extract useful information from a text- the main purpose we read). 

These aspects are listed in order as they are mastered as a child learns to read. So if a child is struggling with phonics or vocabulary that will directly affect their ability to read fluently and comprehend a text.

This list is a compilation of resources and ideas to assist you in helping your child progress in reading found on different websites. The DIBELS reading test measured reading progress in these main areas: fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. These resources will cater to these areas as well as a few of the additional aspects of reading.

Phonemic Awareness
(Most likely students in grades k-1)

Phonemic Awareness activities:


10 ideas to improve phonemic awareness at home:

Rhyme a week, printable poems for practice:

Phonemic awareness assessment:

UEN K-2 Student Interactives:

Phonics
(Most likely students in grades k-2)

Phonics games and activities online:



Online activities, printables, and things for home:

Different approaches to teaching phonics:

More online resources for phonics:

Vocabulary

How to improve vocabulary and worksheets:

Online games:

Cloze activities (how to and practice):


Online Cloze activities:

UEN 3-6 Student Interactives:


Fluency

Printable activities (scroll down to fluency):

How to improve fluency:

Fluency assessment passages:

Ideas from Pinterest:

Comprehension

When A Child Doesn’t Remember What He Reads (article):

Fostering Reading Comprehension, a “how to”:

Printable worksheets:



Online games and activities:




Games and activities broken down by comprehension skill:


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Valentine's Day Crafts and Activities

 

Heart Origami
Parenting.com

Crayon Hearts

gt076_crayheart01_s.jpg



Creative Love Notes
 

A collection of Valentine worksheets, activities, the history of Valentine's Day, print outs, etc.:

Black History Month Resources

February Is Black History Month! Here are some resources to help celebrate and explore exceptional African-American achievements with these cross-curricular, online activities.

13 ways to celebrate Black History Month:
(grades 3-12)



The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery


With this interactive slideshow, students follow the path of a slave in 1860 as he courageously travels the Underground Railroad to freedom.

A TON of resources and online lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King to the history of jazz music!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Candy Experiments

With Valentine's day coming up, everyone will surely have an extra supply of candy on hand. This website is dedicated to science experiments using CANDY! 


So before all of that sugary goodness  is consumed, try out some of these experiments!



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Art work by Roxy!

Roxy Ahlman in 3rd grade drew this picture after she read a story about a rhino:
Very talented Roxy!



Dress up your pet day!

Last week was national dress up your pet day!

AnnaCa participated with her cat:



The cat looks thrilled! :-p