Raz Kids

Log in to Raz Kids to listen to a book, record yourself reading the book and then answer comprehension questions.

I get a report of how long your child was logged in and how they performed on their quiz.

Keep reading!

Excited to Be Working With You!

Hello Teachers!  This school year I will be posting some tools and resources under the "Freebies" tab.     It will include letters sent home to parents and letters sent in your mailboxes in case you ever lose a copy or want to refer back to something.

Hope you find this helpful.

Parent Resources

*A Guide for Parents of English Language Learners in New York State

       Different language options

*Common Core Standards for Parents

       Spanish version

*What Can Parents Do To Help Their Children Learn?

      Spanish version

*Colorin Colorado
      Spanish version

More Than Just a Library

A great way to promote English language learning is to join your local library. To become a member of The Library you will need to bring a piece of mail, or a bill which shows your proof of residence.

Not only does the library have countless books for you and your children, it also has many parental resources, as well as events, and programs taking place in the facility and the community, including free museum passes.

     

Next time you go to the library, ask the libriarian for "Books on CD". Your children can actually put the CD into a player and listen to as well as read along to a story that is being read to them! This is a great way to develop intonation, pronunciation, reading and listening comprehension.  E-books can be accessed as well.

Ways to Promote Language Learning at Home

Promoting Language Learning at Home:

1). Begin reading to your child at an early age, and as often as possible, in your native language, as well as in English. If a child is literate in their native language, they will then be able to more easily transfer that information into the English language.

2). Visit your public library with your child. Help your child choose appropriate books to read together.

3). Keep many types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, etc.) in your native language and in English in your home. Encourage older siblings to read to their younger siblings. This helps develop reading and listening comprehension skills for both children. 

4). Ask your children questions about what they have read, such as:

          -  What is happening in the story?

          -  What do you think will happen next?

          -  How do you think the character feels? Why?

          -  What was your favorite part of the story? Why?

Asking these type questions can help children become more excited about reading, as well as more responsible for their own learning.

5). Take your children to places in the community that offer educational activities and learning experiences. Talk to them about what they are seeing. Provide them with names of new objects. Answer questions they may have.

6). Discuss things that happen in school every day. Engage your children in conversation about their favorite subjects and teachers, as well as any special events happening in school.

7). Find opportunities for your child to write frequently in their native languages as well as English. Keeping a daily writing journal, writing down recipes, creating shopping lists or writing notes/letters for family members is a great way to do this.

8). Select television programs that you and your child can watch and discuss. Change the setting on your TV for Closed Captioning to be On, to read the words on the TV screen.  Limit the amount of time your child watches television and encourage them to read, write, listen to music, or talk with family members and friends.

Helpful Websites

Helpful Links to Know:

Translate from various languages to English at Free Translation

Learn about countries around the world at Time for Kids

Look up the meaning of words at Word Central

Activities for ESL students at a4esl

Resources for Teachers:

Creative art projects at Crayola

Curriculum support at abcteach and Enchanted Learning (passwords needed)

Reading Resources:

Tumblebooks (password needed)

Raz Kids (password needed)

Starfall

Little Explorers Picture Dictionary

Picture Dictionary

Pre-Reading and Writing

Fact Monster

Read Aloud Stories:

Storyline Online

Bookflix (password needed)

Videos and Animated Curriculum Across all Subject Areas:

Discovery Education (password needed)

Brainpop Jr (Grades K-2)

Brainpop (Grades 3-5)

Fun Websites:

Comic Strip Maker

NYSESLAT 2016 School Year

At the end of school year,  your child takes the NYSESLAT. This is a New York State ESL exam which measures English Language Proficiency. This is the exam that determines a student's ESL level for the following year, as well as whether or not a student is ready to exit the ESL program.

An updated informational brochure describing the NYSESLAT and how it measures the progress of LEP students will be posted on the Department's web site. The brochure will be available in English, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. Parents are also able to access test samplers on this site.

Speaking: April 12 -  May 13 Reading, Writing, Listening: May 2 -  May 13

What Is ENL?

What is ENL (ESL)?

•  ENL is an acronym standing for English as a New Language.

•  ENL instruction occurs IN ENGLISH using language acquisition methodologies such as numerous hands-on activities, pictures, songs, poems, body movements and gestures, and realia to teach English vocabulary.

•  English vocabulary can be taught through thematic units which are content based.  Instruction can occur in the mainstream classroom and/or in a stand-alone ENL classroom.

ENL Teacher

I am thrilled to announce I have accepted a position as an ENL Teacher!  Please stay tuned for some resources for the 2016 school year!

Thank you to those who attended Family Night last week.  We were happy to meet with you, and discuss with you ways to help your child over the summer.
Here are some of the links that were mentioned:

http://home.comcast.net/~ngiansante/index.html  - To search for Just Right books (This site tells you the titles of books for a certain level)

https://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login- Raz-Kids. Login: jplattk

http://www.starfall.com/- Starfall- # 1 & 2 for Readers up to level E, 3 & 4 for F and above

http://freebies.about.com/od/familyfreestuff/tp/summer-reading.htm FREE SUMMER READING AWARDS

Math Unit 9:
In this unit, we will be learning about measurement! We will also be learning how to tell time to the nearest hour and half hour. Please practice at home!
http://pbskids.org/games/measurement/
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-1/compare-objects-length-and-height
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-1/reading-clocks
http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-1/measure-using-objects

We Are All Scientists!

This unit for writing, we will be writing as scientists! We will be conducting experiments using the Scientific Method! Class 1-212 is very excited to explore the different properties of matter- solids, liquids, and gases. So far, we have watched what happens as water is poured into different sized containers, and what happens when food coloring is added to it. We saw water turn a DARK BLUE! We are going to be writing about all of our experiments in our special scientist booklets. Soon, we will see what happens when skittles are dropped into water, and lots of other cool experiments. Feel free to experiment at home too!

Here is a link for some experiments you might want to try at home:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments.html

Check Out These Videos!

Check out this videos to practice some literacy skills!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=4pdmaKQauXc#t=21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdCOswMeXFQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvjpoNKhnZA&list=PL52F0EBEFF05FD698

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=NVeq9a4dFIU#t=73

Which one was your favorite?

Groundhog's Day!

Let's predict... will the groundhog see his shadow tomorrow? 
Do you think we are going to have a LONG winter or an an EARLY spring?

Do You Know Your Sight Words?

See it.  Say it.  In a Snap*

Place Value

Place Value Blocks GAME

More Starfall

We love Starfall! And now we have accounts!  Make sure to log in when you use it!  Your teachers get reports to see how often you go on and how you are doing.

Visit:
http://more.starfall.com/m/welcome/log-in/load.htm?f

Long Vowel Sounds

Long A Practice

Last week in literacy skills we learned some tricks for reading and writing the LONG A sound.

a_e

ay

ai

ALL say "A"

SNOW DAY!

There is no school, Tuesday, January 27 due to inclement weather.  Please listen to the news for updates of any further cancellations.

Don't forget to READ, READ, READ!  We have a contest going on for Reading Rainbow bookmarks! 

Please work on homework sheet, log in to RAZ KIDS.

Log in to MORESTARFALL.  Each student has an account now! http://more.starfall.com/m/welcome/log-in/load.htm?f  We are in the process of having each student create one but if you would like to at home, please do so!