Presenting Self Evaluated Work- Small Book Project and Formative Assessments--What are they?

The Whipping Boy Small Book Project
Here a student presents their book and rubric. The class can ask questions and get a better understanding of how reviewing work with each other reinforces the concepts learned. The kids are good listens to each other and hold each other very accountable of their classwork. Rubrics based on a criteria list that we generate for any work helps guide learning. It is really cool to see how proud  they are and how honest about their work they are. 

Learning to work the 'Doc Camera' and speak loudly enough to be heard, field questions, and take criticism and compliments is very engaging. Each student loves their time teaching about what they did. 

This is an example of a Formative Assessment. We have been working on prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Each student is writing an example of a prefix with its definition and a word that they knew or looked up. This exercise was part of Cursive and Grammar.--has a lot to do with reading, listening, and applying newly acquired. As a teacher with about 22 feet of whiteboard space  (Thank you to my husband), getting each student to demonstrate their knowledge after first learning information helps me to assess what they get and how quickly.

After corrections and each one making sure work is correct, we review by them reading and talking together and at tables.

It is fun to see the kids bring books and notebooks, ask for help from me and each other to get clarification on what they are doing and how they are doing . They take care and want to show what they are learning along the way. Another fun way for me to assess them--whole class-- that gives me a snapshot is to use the 22 small whiteboards at their tables. We were able to do that together this week for lots of concepts in math dealing with multiples and factors. It is very fun to look out and and see kids holding up whiteboards with writing and information on them.

More modeling math with cute kids and Radio Theater Performances

 Creative process and shoes for sound effects

  The kids have worked so hard on the scripts for the radio theater shows.  The process for writing was to read together and take notes on characters, setting, and plot. Then find 10 vocabulary words and do all the great fun things you can do in understanding words when using the dictionary. Then each group created a story arc with me to help as a group know how to introduce the story parts, introduce the problem and build to the climax of the story and then resolve it. It was a great process for them to learn what to keep and write and what wasn't needed.

 Learning to create sound affects was really fun. And they kids also got to  listen to Radio Classic Theater from the 1940s. The more they wrote the more they got into the theatrics of their characters-- interesting voices and original thuds and footsteps were things that they loved doing. Chau let us borrow her microphone and that made the whole experience more professional.

 Behind the radio and taking turns reading their script.

 Writing, thinking, talking and more writing.

We invited the whole first grad and all of the fifth to hear the stories. Having an audience was nerve racking in such an exciting way.

Choe and April winners at MLKJr. Breakfast- MCS Spelling Bee 2017--math and script writing for Radio Theater Plays of Literature Circle Books

Very proud of how these two integrated the Water Ways Exhibit from our visit to
City Hall into their art. It made their work more powerful.

Long time organizer Joanne Muneta enjoying part of April's poem that the Mayor read.

Chloe won for her picture drawing and April won for her poem. Mayor Bill Lambert gave the awards for the kids that won.

Science Experiment with snow-- inferring about melt, making claims and supporting with evidence. We had fun applying mean, median,mode, and range. Then we charted the actual time of melt to the prediction each generated.

Kids picked who they wanted to work with and chose from 5 different novels to read and work together. It is fun to discuss academics with people you enjoy.

Measuring and writing about the snow experiment

Ms. Wold, our  302 UI student works with kids. She has jumped right in teaching math and getting to know the work we are doing.

Carefully finding vocabulary to define, character, plot, and setting points. All this was put into a story arc and the
the group wrote a radio play.

MCS Spelling Bee 2017 Pronouncer Paige Buehler, and Judges Cassie Lewis, Miss Idaho USA and Daniel Granja of the
University of Idaho. They worked together so well and kept up with the over 150 words that were given by Ms. Buehler to the 43 kids grades 2nd through 7th that participated. It was so cool too--both the judges had participated in Spelling Bees when they were in school. Miss Lewis even remember the word she missed--that she shared--jaguar. 

Some of the first participants to come into the MPR. Quite a few came to Spelling Bee Club that met on Tuesdays
starting right after the holiday break.

The kids worked in tables to model math factors from throwing 4 dice--2 for one factor and 2 for another. Then they used the cubes to set up the factors and if they had enough to make an array of the product. Two tables shared their work with another table. 

Learning to play Hearts-- strategy and conversation