B-I-N-G-O

Today was the last day of the Second Quarter. We've been communicating missing work several times a week throughout the quarter. Parents are encouraged to use School-View. Students have their planners to record daily work and check off the work they complete. Additional work time has been available during the school day, at Recess, and often at the end of the day to offer support for students who are interested in help.

Today, students who had their Responsibility Cards, their work turned in, and experienced success in our school Character Traits plan were invited to Dahlager Theater to play Bingo.

Mrs. Aren's recorded each call

Ms. Prose called the numbers

anticipation ...

the prizes were student coupons

the winners

The passion, anticipation, and excitement filled the theater. BINGO!

Nouns

Last week, we started learning about the different types of nouns ... common, proper, singular, plural, possessive singular nouns, possessive plural nouns ... there are a few nouns to be labeled! We started by creating a "foldable" notes with definitions and examples.

Then, we applied our learning by working in our Practice Book.

Our errors indicated we needed more practice. so Ms. Leom gathered some materials to help us develop our skills. We started working on a noun packet, one page a day, that gives us specific skills, repetition, and the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and rework our skills.

Possessive nouns can be a challenging learning goal. So this week, we made a Possessive Nouns Poster and used elbow macaroni noodles to "glue" the learning in our brains before applying our learning on paper.

We are making progress, one noun at a time.

Hands-on Vocabulary

One of the fourth grade standards is to "expand vocabulary". Research indicates that students need to hear a word 8 to 12 times for it to become part of their usable vocabulary.

We provide many opportunities in school to develop the 8-12 repetitions necessary for students to be successful on the weekly list of vocabulary words.

Students:
* have direct instruction, given each word and definition. They write it in their notebooks.
* read a short story that uses the words.
* practice applying the words, usually in their Practice Books. (Students are also encouraged to reread the word and definition in their notes before they answer each question).
* read the words in the main weekly story in their text books.
* practice the words during flex groups.
* students are encouraged to listen for the words, and find the words in the media and books they view and read or to apply their words on their own. Students earn initials on their Responsibility Cards for each example they find for that week.
* the words are written in each newsletters to encourage families and staff to use the words.
* hear the words applied in class by Ms. Leom (3-5x a week)
* additional practice as the time allows

For this week, additional practice was the Memory Game using flashcards with a partner:

Students are exposed to additional vocabulary words in Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Music, Art, and throughout their day. It is a fascinating (one of our words) when these words overlap.

Today, vocabulary memory game ... our hands-on learning.

Survey Says

The last post was about how we use data to meet student learning needs. Another type of data we collect, is surveying students about their fourth grade experience. One fourth grade highlight students have shared is "Fun Spelling".

Last week, we played the "Rainbow Spelling Game". This week, we used white boards, and students worked with a partner to take turns being "the teacher" and "the student" for practice.

Survey says ... when students don't want to stop learning ... it is officially, "Fun Spelling".

Data

Our students are tested on their weekly learning, and benchmarked with their peers, in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. One of the tests we use is the AIMSWEB Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test. For a week, our Title One staff has every student read a grade level passages for one minute. The teachers record the words-per-minute and the number of errors.

Our goals:
Fall: 94 wpm / 0 errors
Winter: 114 wpm / 0 errors
Spring: 127 wpm / 0 errors

We call the collection of student scores, "data". We look at the data is many ways. For the ORF test, some questions we ask include:
* Is the student at the goal?
* Did the student make progress?

Then we make decisions based on the data. Some of these decisions might include:
* the lessons we teach in class
* the skills we practice and how much time we practice
* the support services we provide (flex grouping, Title One, After School Tutoring, ALP, and more)
* communicating to students and parents how they can support student learning at home
* assessing students who are not at the goal more often to adjust our learning plans as needed

We also realize the data only shows a small "picture" of student learning. There is a 94% correlation between students being able to read at their goal words-per-minute and being successful on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs). This means 6% of the time, students may read beyond the wpm goal and struggle with comprehension or may read very slowly and have success with comprehension. Each student is different. So we use more than one assessment (daily learning, weekly quizzes and tests, MAP assessments, and more) and the data we gather to make decisions for EACH student within the resources and opportunities available at Milaca Elementary Schools.

The thrilling news ... over 90% of Ms. Leom's Communications students made some progress on their ORFs! The bigger picture ... we have enough students in both groups that are not at benchmark. This means, Ms. Leom will be planning opportunities throughout the school day for students to read orally. She also shared our learning goal with the students and posted our learning goal on our weekly goal board. Students are encouraged to read aloud to their family members, pets, stuffed animals, and walls. In Ms. Leom's home, she has three readers who want to read aloud to her, so she appreciates the challenge of balance and listening to readers at home!

This is what our learning goal looks like in practice:

Oral Reading Fluency ... reading smoothly out loud ... practicing to improve ... and collecting data to make educational decisions so EACH student successful.