I resumed classroom and school visits yesterday. I will be visiting in each school during the
second semester. Blue Ridge Elementary School was my first stop in 2012.
My first classroom was with a teacher working with small groups of students who need additional support in reading and math.
These first and second graders were hard at work on the “oo” sound and letter combination. You know, they were working with words like moo, smooth, moon, root,
etc. The students had a secret word with
this letter combination, and they had to describe it to their classmates. Students took turns guessing from the clues,
but they also had to spell it correctly if they guessed the word. I have to say “whoo-hoo”
because these students were engaged and thinking.
I moved down the hall to see third graders in action. They were working with figurative language,
and, specifically, idioms. Don’t you
just love idioms? I think those of us from
the South constantly use them. The
students were being introduced to idioms in a book being read by the teacher. They next selected a slip of paper from a
basket that contained an idiom. The students did their best to describe and explain its meaning.
They were soon “busy as bees” and were to draw a picture representing
their idioms and its meaning.
My next two classes to visit were in 5th grade. Both classes were working in the area of
mathematics. The students were working
in centers and they were learning about equivalent fractions. One group of was playing a card game to see
who could win with the biggest fraction.
Other students were working in their math journals completing some
problems (converting improper fractions to mixed numbers). Four or five students were
working on computers identifying fractions that were bigger, smaller, or equal
to one another. A final group was
working with the teacher. The group working with the teacher had a
neat tool that helped them see equivalent fractions; as the teachers explained, the tool would only
be with them until they mastered the concept. Students were engaged and able to easily explain what they were doing to me.
As I exited the school, I noted the large number of
volunteers who were working with students.
It’s great to see so many citizens willing to give of their time to help
these students at the school.
Classroom visits for 2012 started off great, and I appreciate the hard
work of the folks at Blue Ridge Elementary School.
