We come to an end of another 9 week period and it’s time to assess,
assess, and assess. Think about it – if you’ve
been teaching 30 plus years with 4 nine week quarterly assessments in a year
times an average of 24 kids well that results in an amazing 2,880 assessments
and that’s not counting the additional daily screenings, observations……Wow!
As we continue into the 21st century many of our
assessment tools are changing. There are
several online tools such as ESGI (which I simply love). But this past week I simply used Voki to help
me review skills with the kids while I used Educreations to do my one on one
screenings! Here’s a brief recap of tools and how I use them!
Voki
I use Lucy Moosey to give instructions to the class as they write rhyming words on their white lap boards. Voki allows you to create and animate
an avatar. The kids absolutely love the
characters and seem to focus so much better!
You can also add your voice or type in a text and choose an accent of
your choice. I'll be using these ANY week!
Educreation is a recordable interactive whiteboard that can
record your voice as well as your students’ voices and their handwriting to
help assess or teach a lesson. Check it
out!
I use Tagxedo as a review word splash. The kids are so into it!
ESGI is an online assessment process that helps guide
instruction in the classroom. Click to
head over their site. Would love to hear what you use for your end of quarter screenings! Now off to add to ClassDojo!
Did I mention I share a birthday with Martin Luther King,
Jr? Parents (and former parents), and
coworkers surprised me with lots of goodies.
I even got my own personal minion! (Thanks Ms. D)
Centers and activities of the week:
Peek at this Week’s activities:
Now that winter is upon us and we happen to be the animal class
we will be hibernating and transforming our classroom into lots of caves and will
be doing quiet activities such as reading in our caves for part of the morning. Just as bears have to use their sense of
smell to find food when they wake up, we will crawl around the room sniffing
for our food, which will be eaten in their caves. The kids will wear their warm
pajamas to school on that day. Some of the activities will include having a
snowball fight (wrinkled up paper with words they have to sound out), graphing
their favorite bedtime stories, and playing hibernation rhyming games.
We’ll also read books about animals
that hibernate such as Bear Snores On.
This story is about a bear that snores on while the other animals stop
by to have tea and popcorn with him. The
party goes on without him as he sleeps.
Nothing wakes him up!
Since I absolutely love Karma Wilson books on the Bear series - I thought I 'd read Bear Says Thanks.
I hope to share hibernation pictures next week!
Happy Hibernating and keep warm in
your caves!
