Hello Grout community,
I am letting this space go dormant.
If you have questions or would like to contact me, please do!
Kristin Kjome
English Language Development teacher
kkjome@pps.net
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
ELD during CDL
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year! We are well underway; we are doing this!
I do not plan to add posts here very often. If you have questions, please email me. Also, the district websites for families have a lot of information and links. pps.net/student and https://www.pps.net/fall2020 and https://www.pps.net/familyresources
In case you do not know what the acronyms in my post title above are:
ELD = English Language Development
CDL = Comprehensive Distance Learning
During distance learning, I am supporting students with their core learning in language arts / social studies and in science. I have designated ELD small group support times as well as drop-in support times. Students can find the schedule of times by going into my Seesaw class (ELD - Ms. Kjome). They see my class as one of their choices when they are logged in to their Seesaw account, just like they see their homeroom class, their art class, and their PE class. The schedule is found in the "inbox" of Student Announcements in my class.
I will also sometimes post optional supports as Activities in my Seesaw class. We have some great resources to help students with their learning. We have BrainPOP ELL, for example. We have Kids A-Z, which is a great source for many online books. More details will appear in my Seesaw class. For these great resources and more, students log in easily through Clever.
I miss seeing everyone in person in the building, but I am very glad we are being safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. I hope that together, we can all make the best of distance learning.
Along with the online schoolwork, teachers are providing some work for offline too-- math work in notebooks, writing with pencil on paper, handwriting journals, and more! I am glad that students can do some work off the screen. Seesaw makes it possible for students to share their work by taking a picture of it to post to their Seesaw journal. I enjoy looking through the work students do for their classes on Seesaw.
I am on my own this year as the only ELD teacher at Grout. The range of content across K-5 is wide. However, I hope I can be supportive with the learning of Grout's Emergent Bilingual and Multilingual Learner students. Along with the support times in my schedule, I am also collaborating with teachers.
I wish you all the best this fall!
~Kristin Kjome -- kkjome@pps.net
Monday, March 30, 2020
Virtual Learning Days
Hello,
I, along with my teaching colleagues at Grout and in PPS, embark on Virtual Learning Days this week. We, like you, are staying home and social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Thanks to the internet, we will all try to keep connected. Of course I also look forward to the future day when we will be able to return to connecting in person at school.
If you are one of my students or a family member of one of my students, hello! I hope you are staying healthy and safe at home.
My plan for this week is to engage in a lot of online learning that has been created for teachers in our district. By the end of this week, I also expect to be added as a teacher to your classroom teacher's google classroom, so that I can work with your teacher to support your learning.
You have already received communication in a variety of ways from Grout and the district about visiting pps.net for many resources to guide your learning at home. You also hopefully know about being able to pick up grab and go food at Grout from 11-1 Monday-Friday starting again tomorrow. Along with that food, there are also printed learning materials available.
All the best,
Kristin Kjome
I, along with my teaching colleagues at Grout and in PPS, embark on Virtual Learning Days this week. We, like you, are staying home and social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Thanks to the internet, we will all try to keep connected. Of course I also look forward to the future day when we will be able to return to connecting in person at school.
If you are one of my students or a family member of one of my students, hello! I hope you are staying healthy and safe at home.
My plan for this week is to engage in a lot of online learning that has been created for teachers in our district. By the end of this week, I also expect to be added as a teacher to your classroom teacher's google classroom, so that I can work with your teacher to support your learning.
You have already received communication in a variety of ways from Grout and the district about visiting pps.net for many resources to guide your learning at home. You also hopefully know about being able to pick up grab and go food at Grout from 11-1 Monday-Friday starting again tomorrow. Along with that food, there are also printed learning materials available.
All the best,
Kristin Kjome
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
celebrating and closing out the year
Here we are in June, already. Students have just six days of school left of 2019-2020.
We have gotten back all of our scores from the ELPA Summative, which most of our ELLs took in February or March. (ELPA=English Language Proficiency Assessment)
Today we had a little donut party to celebrate the five students who scored Proficient and will be exiting from ESL service. The academic progress of those students will continue to be monitored.
The kids enjoyed the donuts, their certificates (thank you ESL Department), and the chance to each bring a friend to the short and sweet morning party.
We are proud of all of our Emergent Bilingual students, for all the progress they have made this year.
The school garden is looking colorful. It is fun to be able to see what is growing when I am supervising students outside at their lunch recess. There are often a few students looking out for ladybugs there.
Have a good summer, everyone!
Kristin
We have gotten back all of our scores from the ELPA Summative, which most of our ELLs took in February or March. (ELPA=English Language Proficiency Assessment)
Today we had a little donut party to celebrate the five students who scored Proficient and will be exiting from ESL service. The academic progress of those students will continue to be monitored.
The kids enjoyed the donuts, their certificates (thank you ESL Department), and the chance to each bring a friend to the short and sweet morning party.
We are proud of all of our Emergent Bilingual students, for all the progress they have made this year.
The school garden is looking colorful. It is fun to be able to see what is growing when I am supervising students outside at their lunch recess. There are often a few students looking out for ladybugs there.
Have a good summer, everyone!
Kristin
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Interaction and Scaffolding
I teach English Language Development with some "pull-out" groups every day. With these small groups, our specific activities vary over the course of the year. The themes that we read, talk, or write about vary as well.
A constant is that students communicate in three modalities: receptive, productive, and interactive. Listening and reading are receptive modalities. Speaking and writing are productive modalities.
Interactive skills are developed during collaborative, interactive activities. Students engage in two-way communication. They negotiate meaning. I appreciate the opportunity and the challenge of creating opportunities for interaction that will help students develop their English language proficiency.
I also support some students in their classrooms (for example, during their writing workshop time), instead of pulling them out. A constant in this setting is scaffolding. I focus on scaffolding the work that the student is doing. Scaffolding is providing guidance or assistance that enables the students to perform tasks at a higher level than they would do on their own.
Feel free to stop by 206 to learn more about ELD at Grout.
We are approaching winter break-- enjoy your holidays!
~Kristin
A constant is that students communicate in three modalities: receptive, productive, and interactive. Listening and reading are receptive modalities. Speaking and writing are productive modalities.
Interactive skills are developed during collaborative, interactive activities. Students engage in two-way communication. They negotiate meaning. I appreciate the opportunity and the challenge of creating opportunities for interaction that will help students develop their English language proficiency.
I also support some students in their classrooms (for example, during their writing workshop time), instead of pulling them out. A constant in this setting is scaffolding. I focus on scaffolding the work that the student is doing. Scaffolding is providing guidance or assistance that enables the students to perform tasks at a higher level than they would do on their own.
Feel free to stop by 206 to learn more about ELD at Grout.
We are approaching winter break-- enjoy your holidays!
~Kristin
Thursday, November 8, 2018
November!
Hello everyone,
Elections just happened a couple days ago on November 6. I voted, and I hope you did too!
Parent teacher conferences are around the corner, on November 19 and 20. We have heard back from the Translation and Interpretation Services department that many of our interpreted conference times have been confirmed. We hope that we get our requested interpreters for the conferences, and that parents are able to make it. It is a great opportunity for families to connect with their children's teachers, and be able to genuinely communicate with the interpreter support.
You are welcome to stop by to chat about ESL at Grout. I am in room 206.
I also welcome any requests for ESL topics to address in a future blog post.
Happy November!
~Kristin
Elections just happened a couple days ago on November 6. I voted, and I hope you did too!
Parent teacher conferences are around the corner, on November 19 and 20. We have heard back from the Translation and Interpretation Services department that many of our interpreted conference times have been confirmed. We hope that we get our requested interpreters for the conferences, and that parents are able to make it. It is a great opportunity for families to connect with their children's teachers, and be able to genuinely communicate with the interpreter support.
You are welcome to stop by to chat about ESL at Grout. I am in room 206.
I also welcome any requests for ESL topics to address in a future blog post.
Happy November!
~Kristin
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Fall is busy
Hello, and happy October!
Things are busy at Grout. Everyone is in the thick of learning and teaching. I am enjoying a mix of classroom-based and small group English Language Development with my students.
I am also busy making lists for our secretary to make requests for language interpreters for Parent Teacher Conferences, which are coming up in November. We'll be requesting interpreters for over 50 families speaking a dozen different languages.
During my supervision duty out on the field each day, the students and adults are all enjoying the sunny mild weather we have been having.
Thank you to those reading!
~Kristin Kjome (room 206)
Things are busy at Grout. Everyone is in the thick of learning and teaching. I am enjoying a mix of classroom-based and small group English Language Development with my students.
I am also busy making lists for our secretary to make requests for language interpreters for Parent Teacher Conferences, which are coming up in November. We'll be requesting interpreters for over 50 families speaking a dozen different languages.
During my supervision duty out on the field each day, the students and adults are all enjoying the sunny mild weather we have been having.
Thank you to those reading!
~Kristin Kjome (room 206)
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Summer is around the corner
As I write this last post for the school year, we have just one full week plus 2 days left of this school year.
All of our ELPA21 scores have come back, and next week we will congratulate our students who scored Proficient and will be exiting the ESL program. Promoted, but not forgotten-- we'll monitor their progress for four years.
Like the butterflies we released into the school garden a couple of weeks ago, our students will soon "fly" off into summer sunshine. Lucky for me, I'll get to see most of them back here again for 2018-2019. Good luck on your next chapter to the 5th graders moving on to middle school!
For everyone-- may summer be everything you hope for!
As promised last month, a couple of photos of adult insects. The mealworms became...
 |
| Adult Darkling Beetles |
As most students had predicted, the Painted Lady Caterpillars became...
 |
| Painted Lady Butterfly withfascinated 1st graders. (Sorry this is sideways; I don't know how to turn it.) |
...Painted Lady Butterflies!
Interestingly, some Painted Lady Butterflies have a migration story that was only relatively recently discovered. I'll include a link to a video about it to the right here:
Happy Summer!
~Kristin
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
May insects
Happy May!
I will highlight what is happening in English Language Development in the 1st grade this month.
The students have been enjoying our Insects unit. We are observing the development of Milkweed Bugs, Mealworms, and Painted Lady Caterpillars. At this time, all of the Caterpillars and many of the Mealworms have entered the pupa phase of their life cycle. Students are making and sharing predictions about what kind of adult insects we will see, and what they will look like. Spring is a great time of year to pay attention to insects, because there are so many opportunities to observe insects outside. Students come in with stories about what they have seen, and where.
 |
| Painted Lady caterpillars soon ready to become chrysalises |
 |
| We have many mealworm pupae. |
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I will post pictures of the adults when they begin to emerge.
If you are part of the Grout community and have any questions about ESL at Grout, stop by to visit in room 206.
~Kristin
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
March
Here we are, in the month of March already.
In ESL at Grout lately, our English Language Learners are taking the annual English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21). All ELLs in the state of Oregon take this assessment. Some of my students enjoy the chance to speak into a microphone and listen back to their own voice as they complete the Speaking segment of the test. Others are not so fond of that part.
Like it or not, I'm hopeful that students are doing their best. The scores we get from this assessment show student growth in their proficiency in English over time. The domains included on the test are Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking.
It will be nice for me to get back to my regular teaching schedule once we have wrapped up this test.
As always, I welcome you to stop by my room, 206, if you have any questions about the ESL program at Grout.
Happy Spring!
~Kristin
In ESL at Grout lately, our English Language Learners are taking the annual English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21). All ELLs in the state of Oregon take this assessment. Some of my students enjoy the chance to speak into a microphone and listen back to their own voice as they complete the Speaking segment of the test. Others are not so fond of that part.
Like it or not, I'm hopeful that students are doing their best. The scores we get from this assessment show student growth in their proficiency in English over time. The domains included on the test are Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking.
It will be nice for me to get back to my regular teaching schedule once we have wrapped up this test.
As always, I welcome you to stop by my room, 206, if you have any questions about the ESL program at Grout.
Happy Spring!
~Kristin
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
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
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
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
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
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
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
...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
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
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
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 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
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
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
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. |
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
The First Post!
Hello Grout Community,
My name is Kristin Kjome and I teach English Language Development (ELD) here at Grout Elementary. Many younger students know me as Teacher Kristin and older students call me Ms. Kjome. My home base classroom is room 206. I spend time in a number of other classrooms, working classroom-based with students. To my Kindergarten and 1st grade students, I am a science teacher. English Language Development is embedded into science units for the whole class. I am working with many 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students during their writing workshop.
My name is Kristin Kjome and I teach English Language Development (ELD) here at Grout Elementary. Many younger students know me as Teacher Kristin and older students call me Ms. Kjome. My home base classroom is room 206. I spend time in a number of other classrooms, working classroom-based with students. To my Kindergarten and 1st grade students, I am a science teacher. English Language Development is embedded into science units for the whole class. I am working with many 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students during their writing workshop.
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