Monday, September 14, 2015

Enjoy Scholastic Books!

If you are looking to add some new books to your child's library at home, look no farther! You can order Scholastic Books all year  long online in the convenience of your own home. No more trips to the bookstore. They are shipped right to me and students LOVE when it is book delivery day.  Not only this, but when you online the class gets coupons for free books as well. Your order is not only helping your child's reading life, but the students in our class. 

All you need to do is go online to Scholastic Books and enter our class code: GLLBL. Then, begin shopping! I get a notification an order has been placed and send it off for you.  Please consider this great opportunity to expose children to the books and topics they are interested in reading about. You can preorder the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book right now until October 19th and receive it on its release date of Nov. 3rd.

Happy shopping and reading!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Reflex Math

Reflex Math

September 2, 2015

Dear Parents and Guardians,

ExploreLearning Reflex is an online, game-based program that helps students build fast and effortless recall of math facts.

Research has shown that quick recall of math facts is critical for future success in mathematics. More advanced mathematical processes often require students to know a lot of math facts. So, it’s important to master these basic facts before tackling more challenging problems.

Your child can access Reflex from home with these simple instructions.  There is also a label inside your child's planner. 

1.    Using an Internet connected computer with Flash Player 10.1 (or higher) installed, type in this web address: http://www.reflexmath.com
2.    Click on the Launch button in the upper right corner
3.    Enter the teacher’s username (CorbettCircus)
4.    Click on our class name.
5.    Click on your child’s name
6.    Enter your child’s password


Reflex is structured to provide a short daily assessment of student progress, then coaching on new facts, and finally fact practice in the games. There are five games that students can choose from, and they can play as many as they want each day.

Because Reflex includes fun games, a student’s brother or sister might want to give it a try.  It is important that other children not use this account. Reflex continually monitors student progress and adapts to each student’s individual needs.  Because of this adaptivity, having multiple children use the same account will have a negative impact on your child’s progress.   You can sign up for a free 14-day trial at http://www.reflexmath.com for up to 5 other children to try Reflex.

If you have any questions about Reflex, you may contact ExploreLearning directly, via email at support@explorelearning.com or by phone at 866-882-4141(press option 4 for Support).

Thank you,
Mrs. Corbett

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Elements of a Story

Today we reviewed the 5 elements of a story: Plot, characters, conflict, theme,  and setting. Students dissected a short story and identified each element. Then, we used a giant inflatable dice that each each element, plus main idea, was written on to practice.  It is vital for students to know the 5 elements when writing and be able to identify them in the books they are reading.  Ask you child to identify each element in the book they are reading from each night!

Here is a great video we sang to learn the 5 elements. WARNING!!!! It is quite catchy and will get stuck in your head all day! :)