Our first experience with Google docs

Hey family!

Today was a really exciting day!  After all the rain we had last night, Rob found two frogs in the school pool this morning!  He gave them to our class - we think they might possibly be Jeffery, and Jeffery Junior!

There is one that is really bright green, and the other one is dark green.

We used this as inspiration to do our very first research project.  We used our Chromebooks to find out facts about frogs, and centipedes, and bats.  Then we filled out this google form.  We learnt that when we finish filling in a google form it sends all the information to a different sheet for us to read about.

Kids - If you would like to find out some more information about frogs, centipedes, bats (or anything else) over the weekend, you can sign in to google with your school account and fill in the form HERE.  You can't access this form unless you have your school email and login.

Sophie brought in a giant centipede for us to look at!  It was super huge and scary. 

We learnt how to use Google to find information about frogs, centipedes, and bats.

It was really hard learning how to log on!

Working together in a group made our learning easier. 

It was really fun seeing our answers pop up on the screen when we hit enter!

Some other things from the week.  We practiced our spelling words using playdoh.

 Some of our kids practiced their handwriting using the white boards.

We have had a very busy week, and are looking forward to next week!  Share your highlights from the week in the comments below kids!

Ways to learn your spelling/reading words

Hey everyone!

So we've started this week taking home some spelling words.  For the next couple of weeks these words might not be 100% at the right level.  Some words might be too easy, some too hard.  Don't panic!  Your child will settle into the right level after a little bit of adjustment.

My expectation is that the kids try their best to learn these words.  I'll add some ideas later in this post for you :)

Spelling is a hard thing for some kids to master.  For other kids it comes naturally.  Really, the more exposure to words that kids have, the better they will be at reading, writing, and spelling.  So if you don't have time to practice words every night, don't stress - but please make sure that reading is a priority.

There are LOTS of ways to learn spelling words - you can check out this post HERE for 75 FUN ways to learn words.  I've outlined a few down below in this post so that you don't have to go anywhere.

10 Fun ways to learn spelling/sight words

• Spell with play dough
• Jump on the tramp and say each letter with a different jump (this is GREAT for those active kids that just love moving). The more of your body that you have moving when trying to learn something, the easier it is to learn it.
• Write the words on concrete with water 
• Write them out using different colours
• Use magnets/blocks or other alphabet shapes
• Write using white crayon, then colour over with dye 
• You could also write using lemon juice and make it show up by holding near heat  
• Write each word on a piece of card twice each and use to play memory
• Scramble the letters up and get your child to un scramble them
• Write a rap/song that shows how to spell the word

This is NOT an exhaustive list.  I'll share some more ideas next week to keep things interesting.  If you have any ideas that aren't on the list, share them in the comments below so that we all know about them!

Happy learning!