Ms. Roberts' Web Page
Room 27
SDC
Teacher: Mrs. Roberts
Instructional Assistants: Mrs. Orr, Ms. Egan, Ms. Kimmey
Contact Mrs. Roberts
(408)335-2262
eroberts@lgusd.k12.ca.us
Welcome!
Files to Download:
Classroom Expectations
Daily Schedule
Homework Policy
Inclusion Classes
Back to School Night Handout 2011-12
Classroom News and Curriculum
Room 27 Newsletter
March 1, 2012
We are wrapping up our second trimester and I will be meeting with each of you the week of March 12th to go over report cards and IEP goal updates.
Social skills-
Our character trait for the month of February was Honesty. Students learned what honesty is, and why it is important to tell the truth, rather than a lie. We read various books about honesty, including The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and discussed how trust must be earned, …and can be lost through dishonesty.
As a class we are working on asking and answering questions. Students are practicing asking questions, listening for the answer, and asking follow-up questions. This skill can be practiced at home as well. At the dinner table, take turns asking each other about your day (“What did you do today?” or “What was the best part of your day?”) After you respond, have your child practice asking follow-up questions about the response topic. This requires them to listen to the answer, understand the topic and be able to formulate a question to continue the conversation. When you are not responding to questions, model asking questions, being a good listener, and asking your own follow-up questions.
Language Arts-
Throughout February we have been working intensively on writing personal narratives. Students are learning the elements of a personal narrative: First person (I, me, my) point of view, about a personal experience or event, has a beginning/introduction telling the what/where/who of the event, a body with events and details, and a conclusion summarizing with a feeling or solution.
Students spent weeks reading examples and identifying the elements of a personal narrative. Then, I modeled how to outline and write a personal narrative with several different examples.
Students are now applying these skills to write their own narratives about a fun event in their life (many are writing about activities they did over February break). Students have completed graphic organizers and have outlined their ideas. Now, they will use their outlines to write their personal narratives. Depending on ability, they will write a single paragraph-, three paragraph- or five paragraph-composition.
We have also been having a great time as a class exploring figurative language. I have been reading stories containing figurative language and we have been discussing literal meaning (what it sounds like it means) versus what it really means. We have also been creating a list of common idioms and trying to incorporate them into our daily language. For example, today it was “raining cats and dogs” so we couldn’t go outside for recess. Luckily students were “looking on the bright side of things” and were happy to play inside, so no one “cried their eyes out”. After recess, Math work was a “piece of cake.” The students are really enjoying the silliness of these expressions and are “eating up” each of or lessons. We will continue to add to our list and eventually make a class book of idioms with accompanying illustrations.
Math-
Before February break, Math groups completed units on measuring length, including non-standard units and standard units such as inches and centimeter. Several groups also learned about addition and subtraction and/or multiplication and division’s inverse relationship through “fact families” (2+3 =5, 3 + 2 =5, 5-3 =2, 5-2 =3)). They also used this understanding to find missing numbers. (example: 2 + ? =5 can be solved using the subtraction fact 5-2= 3).
Most groups are now beginning units on fractions. Students will learn about fractions defined as parts of a whole or group. They will learn vocabulary such as denominator (how many equal parts) and numerator (how many you have/shaded). Students will learn to identify and write fractions, identify equivalent fractions, and compare fractions. Some groups will be learning the relationship between fractions and decimals and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.
Science/Social Studies-
Many students continue to spend a goo portion of their afternoons with their inclusion classes participating in Science, Social Studies and Art lessons. However, we are always supporting their learning through activities in room 27.
In particular, I have been using technology to engage students and make the content area lessons more accessible. The third grade students in my class have been learning about Matter and Energy. They participate in their inclusion class for hands-on activities and book work, but I pre-teach and often re-teach many of the concepts in our classroom using the computer.
For each chapter section in the science book, I have been taking the most important information, summarizing it and putting it into a Keynote presentation (software similar to PowerPoint). I support all text with visuals such as pictures and video clips, and then use the Keynote slides to teach the important vocabulary and concepts. The students then help me complete the presentation by adding audio. I record the students saying the important information on the slides and put the audio clips directly onto the keynote pages. Examples of student audio clips are: “Matter can be solid, liquid or gas.” And “ Evaporation is when matter goes from liquid to gas.” When all is done, together we have made a presentation complete with text, voice over and visual supports. The presentation can be shown whole-class using the projector, or individual students can watch it over and over again on the student computers for review.
Just this past Thursday, Alex, Tanvi and Luke took their Keynote presentation on Matter and presented it to their inclusion class! They had an opportunity to teach the general education third graders about the concept. It was amazing! All the general education students were so excited, supportive…and impressed. I was very proud of our students and I think they were pretty proud of themselves too!
Other:
Have you noticed all the amazing field trips that Van Meter students go on?! Recently SDC students went with their inclusion classes to places like the Los Gatos Museum, Planetarium, Quicksilver Mines, the Tech Museum and Adobe Days. Field trips are a great way to expand students’ understanding of many of the Science and Social Studies concepts they are learning about in class….and they are a lot of fun! I encourage all parents to try and drive/chaperone at least one field trip during the year.
Upcoming Events
March 1st -4th grade students to Quicksilver Mines
March 2nd- Community Read-In
March 6th – 2nd grade students to Tech Museum
March 11th –Daylight Savings Time
March 12th-16th – Parent Teacher Conferences- Minimum Days
March 19th – 2nd grade Music performance
March 20th- 4th grade to LGHS Bio-Site
March 23rd- Twin Dress Spirit Day
Lunch Buddy Pizza Party
March 26th -3rd grade Music Performance
March 27th- 5th grade students to Seymour Marine Center
March 28th – Jump for the Library Fundraiser
Important Links
Inclusion Class Websites
2nd Grade- Mrs. Glanville/Schubert
Special Education
Math
Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Language Arts
Science
Matter Keynote
Social Studies
Other