Vina High School Pre-K

       In one of my Master's classes I was introduced to the ISTE standards.  Prior to this class, I did not know they were even a thing.  While they do not include a Pre-K section, they are very useful!  Some of the information in the ISTE standards, even I was unaware of as falling under certain umbrellas of information.       In the previously mentioned class, we also took a look at the Alabama Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards.  I was more so familiar with these.  These are laid out very similar to our normal state standards we have to go by.  Therefore, they are much easier for me to understand compared to ISTE standards.       As with many people who are introduced to something new, it can be rather confusing.  Our assignment was to "unpack" each set of these standards.  This assignment clarified both sets of standards tremendously.  It also allowed me to draw similarities between the two sets of standards.   Click on the picture above to see the graph

  We have previously covered ocean life and various ocean facts.  On the interactive slide students can click on any animal, person, or object in the picture to take them on a deep, blue, ocean learning adventure.   I highly recommend sitting down with your child and browsing through the items linked in the slide.  See what jogs their memory and watch their face light up as they can tell you about all the things we learned! Click the picture above to go to the interactive slide!

  We have previously covered farm life and everything that can happen on the farm.  On the interactive slide students can click on any animal or building in the picture to take them on a learning adventure about farm life.   I highly recommend sitting down with your child and browsing through the items linked in the slide.  See what jogs their memory and watch their face light up as they can tell you about all the things we learned! Click the picture above to go to the interactive slide!

 Copying, extending, and producing patterns is a major objective we look for and build on in Pre-K.  While most students are able to grasp AB patterns pretty well the other patterns (ABB, ABC, etc) can be more difficult to learn and be successful in.  Therefore, I have included a link to a Hyperdoc lesson plan on patterns I created for my college class.  Parents can use this to provide additional practice/reinforcement with their students on their own time.    I also created an Infographic that provides additional information on patterns.  It should be noted that on the Math Symbaloo Webmix there are additonal pattern games the students can play.  

     In the world we live in today you can never be too safe online.  Hackers have gotten so creative when it comes to the ways they can get personal information that could turn your life upside down.  Therefore, it is never too young to start teaching our students how to be safe online.  Parents really need to preach this to their children as soon as they begin to use their devices for entertainment.        This is true too for all of the spam calls.  With most children getting their own phones as early as second grade, the importance of not answering unknown numbers is important as well.  The unethical ways to obtain sensitive personal information far outweighs the ethical ways.       Watch the video below to learn important online safety as well as ways to put it in terms young children can understand.       

       Phonemic Awareness is a big chunk of our focus when developing the academic abilities of our students.  We work building Phonemic Awareness skills each day with our Heggrety lessons.  While we do not assign homework in Pre-K we will always share resources you can use at home to work with your child if you wish.       The resource I am going to share with you today is Literably .  All you have to do is log your child on and the website will automatically start the program that has been assigned to them to develop their phonemic awareness skills.  To log on enter my email address (savannahsmith@franklin.k12.al.us) and select your child's name from the list.  Within the next 24 hours, I will receive an email notification that your child's assessment has be evaluated and receive a skill print out that shows where they are. 

       It has been a struggle since we received our Chromebooks for our classroom.  We received six, I knew the best way to implement them in our classroom would be to include them during our small group time each week.  Our small groups consist of our students breaking into three groups of six.  Me and Delores each get one group which leaves a group of six for the independent group.  Before now, we have struggled to implement an activity with our independent group they could execute effectively leaving me and Delores to focus on our groups.        Since, learning about Symbaloo Webmixes, I knew they would work perfectly for our small group time.  Our students all know how to use their parents' phones, tablets, etc.  Each device they have prior knowledge about using all have an app layout.  Chromebooks do not allow us to instal apps on the screen for our students.  This is where Symbaloo comes in!  I can open up a Symbaloo webmix on the chromebook and fold it around to be like a ta