Late Fall

Hello everyone,

Here we are at late fall! These last few months at school have gone by so quickly!

I enjoyed meeting some of the parents of students I work with when I joined several teacher parent conferences last month. It's nice to learn more about my students by learning more about their lives outside of school-- their families, their activities, and their interests.

Today I was reminded that in the course of teaching, I get to be a learner too. Sometimes wonderings and questions come up. One of the things I like about ready access to technology in the classroom is how easy it is to quickly find out answers, without taking much time away from the flow of the work we're doing. Today I, along with a group of students, learned that the fastest animal in the world is a peregrine falcon when it is in a dive.

With a group of Kindergarten students, we have been exploring things connected to trees. It is fun to watch the excitement of 5 and 6 year olds holding cross sections of trees, noticing the rings and the bark, and developing the language to talk about their observations.

We wrapped up the 1st grade Pebbles, Sand & Silt unit with a trip to the Rice Rock Museum. That was a fun trip, and I'm glad I could join all the 1st graders and their teachers and several parents on that trip.

Whether I'm working with students within the context of their whole class, or whether I'm pulling out a small group for half an hour, I am enjoying teaching and learning with my students.

Feel free to stop by 206, my "home base" here at Grout.

~Kristin

Welcome to 2017-2018!

Hello readers!

I´m excited to begin another year supporting Emergent Bilingual students in our building. I am working with many of our students in their classrooms as they work with science, social studies, writing, or other content.

This month, I am participating in a PPS ESL Department sponsored workshop on QTEL (Quality Teaching for English Learners). I am getting a lot of great information about this pedagogical approaach, and I hope to bring some of these ideas into my work this year.

I feel fortunate to get outside for a little chunk of time each day to help supervise recess. Ask me in rainy November if I'm still excited about that.

Feel free to stop by to chat about our ESL program at Grout. You can find me in room 206.

Happy September!

Kristin

...May flowers

Hello readers,

This is a time of year that can really fly by. The month of April really passed quickly! Here we are in May already. We had plenty of April showers (and February showers, and March showers...) to bring lots of May flowers out there.

We are in the midst of a CBELD unit about insects in the 1st grade classrooms. Students are noticing caterpillars, moths, butterflies, ants, bees and other insects outside. Inside the classroom, we are waiting for butterflies to emerge from chrysalises. In one classroom (Teacher Sharese's) there are already two butterflies. The students and Teacher Sharese were fortunate enough to witness and observe a butterfly emerging. It is a matter of lucky timing and noticing to be able to see that happen. Making entries in our Mealworm and Butterfly calendars helps us all slow down to observe the changes that happen around us.

With 4th and 5th graders, I am finding some really interesting nonfiction books to read with my Emergent Bilingual students in small groups and connect to classroom content.

You are welcome to come by 206 to ask me any questions about the ESL program at Grout!

~Kristin

Marching forward

Hello readers,

Happy March! I'm back working with students and following my regular schedule again after pausing for our annual English Language Proficiency Assessment.

We are beginning an exploration of Insects in first grade. Science content and language development are integrated as I work in first grade classrooms. We have just begun this week.

In Kindergarten, with students of Teacher Chris, we are continuing our Content Based ELD unit, Solids and Liquids. We have spent time exploring and talking about different properties of solids. Students enjoy the hands on exploration, and I enjoy getting around and having dialogues with the students as they investigate properties. Most recently, students tested each solid in their collection to find out if it floats or sinks in water.

Feel free to find me in 206 to ask me more about CBELD and ELD at Grout.

~Kristin

Happy February

Hello readers,

The crocuses are opening in the sunshine, and yet paper snowflakes on the library windows remind me of all that snow we had just a few weeks ago.

Right now at Grout we are in the midst of administering the ELPA21 test to our Emergent Bilingual students. This is going fine, and we are proud of our students.

Today, among classroom festivities for Valentine's Day, I was happy to unexpectedly host a group of 5th grade students to make cards using calligraphy pens. Special guests connected to calligraphy at Reed College were here to work with students in some of our 3-5 classrooms.

It was a nice group of students, among them some current and past Emergent Bilinguals.

Feel free to drop by 206 to ask me about the ESL program at Grout.

~Kristin

5th graders practice letters before making their cards.