Positive Alert - "Library of Doom"

I just have to share this as I know you will appreciate it.  I have a 5th grader who “pretends” to read most of the time during MIRP.  He gets those big non-fiction informational books and looks at pictures, etc.  I have been trying so hard to get him interested in reading, but, he just finds it painful to read…has dyslexia and really struggles.  He finally agreed to read captions from the pictures of these books and so this is all I have really been able to get him to do during MIRP.

 

Anyway, I was telling him about these really cool books that some of the 8th graders read (Library of Doom) and I asked him to read one with me to see if he liked it. The text is spread out, there is a lot of space on the pages, it is short, etc.  It is above his reading level.  Today he finished his first book!!! He loves that series now, begged me to let him check out 4 from the library to keep in my room.  Taking one home tonight to read with mom.  Says he can’t wait to finish it!  By the last half of the book he was reading without my support and even decoded the word “guardian” by himself!  I let him call mom to tell her because he was soooo proud of himself for reading a whole book.  Oh…and he kept stopping when he was reading to make comments, and predictions, and he kept trying to peek ahead to see what was going to happen next.

 

Just wanted to share this as I am so happy as a teacher to see this stuff happening so often now with these kids!

 

Laurie Lafferty

 

 

 

Positive Alerts!! - Colors and "Grease"

“Today let the little things in life fill your heart with joy.”

Heather Stillufsen

 

 

Colors

My daughter who went to preschool knowing NONE of her colors (which made her teacher mother totally crazy trying to teach them to her) now know FOUR! Red, Blue, Pink, Brown!! Thankful for amazing teachers!!!

Also, there are 4 more school days before Thanksgiving break and that makes me smile J

Monica Pleschwych

 

 

What’s the word???  “GREASE”

I just finished the run of “GREASE” and I’m happy and proud of the students. Some students really struggled with songs and many of the students were first timers on stage.  They worked hard and put on a wonderful production and they all sounded great!

I am also working with a great group of people/colleagues on “Christmas Memories”.  This is my first time being a part of this unique and wonderful show.  I can’t wait to perform because it’s been a number of years since I’ve performed on stage.

 

Derek Simons ♫

 

 

 

 

New Teacher Profile - Diane Lizer

Diane teaches ELL (English Language Learner) classes. She has groups of pull-out students that come into her classroom. Others, she pushes-in to the general education classroom to assist the students. Diane attended NIU (twice) – once for computer science, the second time for elementary education. She was a substitute teacher for a year and took over an ELL position for seven months when a teacher left that district.

Diane tries to use a variety of hands-on activities to engage her students. Any way she can connect a topic to them personally, she finds it especially effective. She has a Promethean board in her classroom and would like to learn as much as she can to be able to utilize it as another way to engage students. Also to help students focus on specific vocabulary in a text, Diane uses small colored transparent post-it notes to identify these words. (SEE PHOTO BELOW)

Diane has an eleven year-old daughter who is in 5^th grade. When her daughter talks about her school day, Diane of course pays close attention. She does this  not only as a way to know what her daughter is up to in school, but also to  see if she can tweak the activities her daughter talks about and  use them  in her classroom.  

New Teacher Profile - Lauren Mays and Formative Assessment Tool

Lauren teaches 6^th grade ELA. She received her Associate’s from Rock Valley College and her Bachelor’s from North Park University. Her position here at FMS is her first teaching job, but she was a substitute for three years.

Lauren uses learning centers and gallery walks to engage her students in the content.  Lauren enjoys reading, drawing, and painting. She likes Italian food.

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Another Formative Assessment Tool

"3 -2-1 variations"

This strategy can be used as a "ticket out the door". Have the students use one of these variations  on a topic you have covered in class Write:

                   3 differences between_____

         2 effects of ___ on___

                                         1 question you still have about the topic

OR

3 important facts

2 interesting facts

                                 1 insight about yourself as a learner

OR

                                                                          3 key words

                                                                          2 new ideas

                                                                          1 though to think about

OR

                                                                          3 things you found out

                                                                          2 interesting things

                                                                          1 question you still have

"FMS Family Math Night"

A Marvel-ous Family Math night!

 

 

 

New Teacher Profile - Heather Anderson / "Voting is the American Way"

Heather teaches 5^th grade Math at Freeport Middle School. She is a 2009 Freeport High School graduate and attended Northern Illinois University where she graduated in December of 2013.  This is her first teaching job.

Heather has her students use a variety of manipulatives to engage her students. Currently they are learning about volume and the students have been using large unit cubes. These cubes help students to discover the formula for volume and find the volume of different objects like a desk or cereal box.

Heather likes to go to the movies. Her favorite movies are The Avengers, A Walk to Remember, and, The Lion King. She also enjoys taking her dog, Riley, to the dog park. An interesting fact about Heather is that she is currently teaching in a room in which she was a student.

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Jason Prell's students exercising their right to vote.

 

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting."

Franklin D. Roosevelt