Blog Archives

Giving Thanks

11/25/2015

Thank you to all of my students and families for your cards/letters. There is nothing better than reading words written by someone and knowing they took the time to do so. In a time where everyone is rushing to the next thing and mostly communicating with electronics, a handwritten note is priceless. 21 letters of thanks was a great way to begin my Thanksgiving break!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving stations...

At the writing station we wrote about What I am thankful for... and funny turkey stories
At word work we completed a Thanksgiving Day word search
At read- with- someone we read Thanksgiving Day stories
At listen to reading we went on Brainpop to hear, The story of Thanksgiving and Kidblog to share; How I plan to spend my Thanksgiving
With the teacher we read: The First Thanksgiving poem and made a bracelet to retell the story at home

For snack we enjoyed several fall treats sent in by our families. For lunch, we pushed our tables together and enjoyed our feast like the Pilgrims and Native Americans. Thank you for making our day knowledgeable and fun!! We are thankful for our wonderful parents at Campus International School!

Ila's brothers, Davis and Charlie sharing the story of Thanksgiving at our school meeting.

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How We Organize Ourselves

11/22/2015

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How We Organize Ourselves

Central Idea: Economic activities organize the production of goods and services.

Key Concepts: Form, Function, Connection

Learner Profile Attributes:
Knowledgeable and Thinker

Attitudes we hope to see students show: Cooperation and Commitment

Lines of Inquiry:

How resources are used in various ways
How people use money to buy goods and services
Why people around the world work in jobs in which they produce specific goods and services

Action: We hope to see students...

Problem solving when items are scarce in class, home, and community.
Thinking and discussing the process of producing goods and services in local businesses.
Reflecting on the impact of economic activities on the environment and thinking of ways to become involved.

Gaining perspective through The New York Times reality viewers.
We were able to experience life for 3 children displaced due to war and persecution.

Welcome to Campus International,
Mr. Mathis. He is our new Dean of Students.

Happy Birthday, Eloise!

Celebrating International Education Week at Cleveland State University

Reflecting on our week with our Weekly Reflection Menu

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Ending our unit, Sharing the Planet

11/14/2015

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Digging for dinosaur bones

Creating clay models of our Ohio Animal
In Art with Miss Cohen

Celebrating Perfect Attendance for 1st quarter!!!

Brooke shared an ecosystem that she built in her 5th grade class with us. The top has a terrarium with a grasshopper, worms, potato bugs, ladybug, and grass. The bottom is an aquarium with fish, a snail, Elodea and Duckweed (aquatic plants), and rocks.

Although our unit is ending, this project will allow us to observe how ecosystems work together...and go deeper with our central idea;
Living things interact and function within their habitat for survival.

Creating Mental Images

Good readers construct mental images as they read a text. By using prior knowledge and background experiences, readers connect the author's writing with a mental picture or "mind movie."
These "mind movies" help clarify information, increase understanding, and can include any of the five senses.

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Student-Led Conferences, Book Character Presentations, and Fun!

11/1/2015

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Student-Led Conferences went very well! Thank you for 100% participation by all of our families. I was able to sneak a few pictures as students walked their families through the stations to explained their work. Our stations included;

SOLE (Self-Organized-Learning-Environment); students chose from two research questions and with one ipad, they showed their parents their research skills and how to take notes.
Informational Writing; students gathered all of their notes and prewriting for their research report on an Ohio animal of their choice. They were asked to connect the central idea with their research...How does your animal function and interact in it's habitat for survival? Students were also able to show parents the stage they were in with designing their animal in art class with Miss Cohen.
- Reading fluency and comprehension; Students went onto their Raz-Kids page and read the assigned passage (Flight Check) for their new level this quarter while the iPad recorded their reading . After reading, students had to record their retelling of the story and complete a comprehension assessment.
- The last station was with the teacher, where students opened their data folder and shared their scores, goals for next quarter and their action plan to get there. They also told how they felt they were doing in living the Learner Profile.