Wonderopolis.org

http://wonderopolis.org/

HUGE fan of Wonderopolis. We use the daily "Wonders" and archives to supplement our homeschooling. The fun and easy to read format stimulate creative thinking and the desire to learn more. I will be adding some of the "Wonders" we have explored once I have developed the format.

Library Reading Group

The book of the month for September for those of us in our local library's Mother and Daughter Reading Group. Great choice for us, since it paralleled the initial pet-or-no-pet conversation in our own home. We ended up with Lyla the cat....however, a puppy was my daughter's first choice.
     This book was an easy and enjoyable read. It was followed by a character study, a discussion of descriptive language, and making text-to-self connections. These are skills that are practiced for second grade. The library book group helps to supplement our homeschooling curriculum.
     At the library, we met with the 5 other child members, their family members and our Children's librarian. Our discussion included story elements, characters, and feelings of the readers. We also enjoyed a snack and each member made their own "Preston" sock puppet.
   
 Next month's reading selection:

Maine Blaine House Visit

In April, we visited the Maine State House and Blaine House as part of the Coalition for Maine Women Day. It was a homeschooling field trip which included meeting Baxter, the Blaine House dog. Here is a picture of this meeting.
http://baxterblogs.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/img00464-20110427-1428.jpg

First week of Grade 2

School started for us this week. We are beginning with a review of basic skills, journal writing, and geographical features. Our library visits continue. We had a list of wonderful books to read and activities to participate in this summer. The summer reading program established in our local library focused on multicultural literature. The weekly story time was comprised of a story share, cultural inspired snacks and crafts.

We are off to a fun start to our year. Hopefully I will be better at updating this blog.

Summer Reading Activities

We are reading the Dolphin Diaries Series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Diaries for the summer. We are attempting to create an interactive map with references to the locations mentioned in each book. I am new to this, so it might be a while before the map on this page works as well as the one I have in my mind.

So far, we have set sail with "Jody and the Dolphin Dreamer" and began our research on bottle-nosed dophins.

Countries Assessment

One of our favorite book series

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/

We are huge fans of Junie B. Jones. She has some wonderful, humorous adventures. I love hearing my daughter read about Junie B. Her laugh is contagious!!

Wrapping up the school year

Our school year will be over this week. The final assessments will be completed and summer reading, etc. will begin. I will be spending a great deal of time this summer reviewing the newly adopted Common Core to plan for next year.

I have had many years of experience at the second grade level, therefore, I'm looking forward to it.

I will be posting more of the assessments I created soon.

Career Preparation Assessment

Fall 2010                      Career Preparation Grade 1 Assessment

Process:

Activity Booklet: #50452 Start Exploring Nonfiction Reading in Social Studies My Community and Community Workers Sections

Upon completing this booklet; begin assessment by listing careers in our area and deciding on one to learn more about.

Research chosen career using nonfiction literature and interviewing techniques, when possible.

Compile information learned into a report of findings.

Standards met:

Career Preparation:

A. Preparing for the Future

2. Identify strengths and interests required in a job

1	2	3	4
Either no answer is given or strengths/interests would not be found for this career.	Student identifies 1 or 2 strengths/interests correctly and/or adds unusual strengths/interests.	Student correctly identifies 3 or more strengths & interests in the chosen job.	Meets #3 and gives explanation of why strengths and interests are necessary to complete job.

3. Identify local career opportunities

1	2	3	4
Either no answer is given or careers would not be found locally.	Student correctly identifies <4 local career opportunities and/or adds careers not logically found in their local area.	Student correctly identifies 4-6 local career opportunities.	Meets #3 and gives explanation of why these careers are found in the local area.

B. Education/Career Planning and Management

1. Explore reasons why people work

1	2	3	4
No answer OR reasons do not explore why people work.	Student correctly defines 1 reasons why people work.	Student correctly defines 2-3 reasons why people work.	Meets #3 and gives explanations for these reasons.

2. Identify preparation necessary for a career of interest.

1	2	3	4
No answer OR steps are not necessary for this career.	Student correctly identifies 1or 2 steps.	Student correctly identifies 3 necessary steps for career. i.e. school, techniques, etc	Meets #3 and gives explanations for these steps.

3. Identify personal strengths and interests (related to chosen career)

1	2	3	4
Either no answer is given or strengths/interests would not be found for this career.	Student identifies 1 or 2 strengths/interests correctly and/or adds unusual strengths/interests.	Student identifies 3 or more personal strengths and interests related to the chosen career.	Meets #3 and gives explanation of why strengths and interests are necessary to complete job.

C. Integrated and Applied Learning

1. Identify examples of technology being applied at work.

1	2	3	4
Student is unable to identify examples of technology used in chosen career.	Using research and/or interview; student identifies 1 or 2 ways technology is used in chosen career.	Using research and/or interview; student identifies 3 or more ways technology is used in chosen career.	Meets #3 and explains technology “enhances” career.

A. Process of Reading

2. Demonstrate an understanding that reading is a way to gain information about [the world] chosen career.

1	2	3	4
Student chooses inappropriate sources of information.	Student chooses a source which may/may not provide them with accurate information.	Student chooses nonfiction source which will help them learn about chosen career.	Student chooses additional resources if initial resource doesn’t provide appropriate information.

H. Research-Related Writing and Speaking

1. Develop a search strategy which uses appropriate and available resources.

1	2	3	4
Student chooses inappropriate sources of information.	Student chooses a source which may/may not provide them with accurate information.	Student chooses nonfiction source which will help them learn about chosen career.	Student chooses additional resources if initial resource doesn’t provide appropriate information.

2. Formulate questions to ask when gathering information.

1	2	3	4
Student questions are inappropriate or do not gather information for report.	Student develops < 4 simple, appropriate questions to learn about chosen career.	Student develops 4-5 simple, appropriate questions to learn about chosen career.	Student questions are detailed and inquisitive.

3. Record and share information gathered.

1	2	3	4
Incomplete information.	Information shared is incomplete and/or not in appropriate format.	Student information is shared in a first grade report format.	Meets #3 and writing is detailed. Student may choose to share information in more than one way.

Using the information from Start Exploring Nonfiction Reading in Social Studies, to begin learning about careers and exploring one specific career.

1. Why do people work? Share as many reasons as you can think of.

2. List careers found in your local area.

firefighters, teachers, police officers, chef, sanitation workers, nurses, dentists, store owners, real estate brokers, shelter workers, store associates (like the people who work at Hannaford’s), mailman, librarian, swim instructors (like at the YMCA)

Choose one career to learn more about:

_____________________________________________________________

3. What skills are needed to do this job?

4. What strengths and interests would someone have to decide to do this job?

5. What types of technology are used in this career? How does this help complete this job?

Resources used to gather this information:

If interviewing someone, list some questions that you will be asking him/her about their career? Name of person being interviewed: _________________

Displaying your information:

You may share this information any way you wish. Draw, write, create the person at work; include where this career takes place, any special materials used in this job, technology used, etc.

Show your plans below.

Grade 1 Assessments

Learning this year has been a combination of child-directed learning and Maine Learning Results. We used a variety of resources, books from the library, and field trips to supplement learning. Foreign language activities were supplemented with online activities.

We learned about the human body, animals, Chickadee Award books for 2010, light and shadows, and the planets. Assessment was supplemented by the California Test Prep activities for Grade 1.

Field trips, which included a family vacation to Florida's panhandle, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. were integrated into the yearly plan. Writing, reading, science, and social studies were some of the standards assessed.

Learning about our World

Last week we began our world unit. We kicked it off by completing the World Countries Workbook (2010 Creative Edge, LLC). This week we will begin learning about France.