Under Construction

Having a hard time identifying with an audience on this blog, I've decided to go Google sites! More geared towards students, I'm sad to say that this blog may be a bit neglected again. Time will tell...

Until then, Happy Teaching!!!!

Ms. LoCurto

Fun with www.popplet.com

We're writing about our reading!

We've been jotting down a "blurb" everyday as a part of reader's workshop. Today the class generated a few sentence starters for an easier transition from reading to writing, and to help if they are stuck. Here is the list they came up with...

• I made a connection to the book when...
• I do (or do not) recommend this book because...
• I liked the book because...
• My favorite part of the book was when___________because...
• The book I read was interesting because... 

The blurbs are getting stronger as I model stronger reflections from our read alouds.

Building Stamina is up to 18 minutes this week! Happy Monday and let's build up that STAMINA!

Learning how to implement Google Apps in our classrooms! Raffles American School teachers are excited and ready to run with the new knowledge.

6+1 Writing Traits

Making Connections

Today we talked about the importance of making connections. Here is the poster we created to help jog our memory when we're engaged in our books...

We read Wimberly Worried by Kevin Henkes to support making connections. 

For word study, we decided to create a list of adjectives to add to our writing. Now we have the word wall as a resource during writing to spice up our writing. We took the words that went up yesterday and came up with a synonym for each word. 

Selamat Hari Raya

Our first back to school weekend happens to be a four day weekend celebrating Hari Raya! Selamat Hari Raya!

The first week of school was a success! Chrysanthemum meets Where the Wild Things Are and hopefully my students are now excited for the rest of the school year. Classroom routines and rules are established and we are ready to learn! Check out our RAS newsletter for the second week. "Let the Wild Rumpus Start!"

Newsletter 2

Newsletter

First week of school newsletter! It's going to be an all about me week with fun activities of getting to know each other. Click below to view the letter.

August 13-17

The full team has all arrived and settling into our new homes in Malaysia. Each teaching couple lives a few doors away from each other in Bayou Water Village, Leisure Farms. It's beautiful here and we are quickly adjusting to the heat as we set up the school for students. At the time, we have 4 students enrolled for the first day of school which happens this upcoming Monday. There are 6 teachers excited and ready for more students to start pouring in. We have an enthusiastic team of creative thinkers that are extremely happy to be here as founding faculty of Raffles American School. Stay tuned for updates about the school and creative teaching.

Goodbye Colegio Maya, Hello Raffles American School

It's been awhile teaching blog, it feels good to be back. Let's just say it has been a fantastic year teaching in Guatemala City at Colegio Maya and I'm a little disappointed that I never blogged about what was happening in the classroom! Putting one year as an ESL teacher under my teaching tool belt has only made me become a stronger, more rounded teacher. A short one month left in this beautiful country, with only one week left of school. Ben and I have absolutely loved teaching at Colegio Maya and we would recommend this school for teachers, as well as students. There is a warm sense of community with great teachers and extremely supportive parents. We're going to miss you Maya, but we will take with us... Clash of Colors

(This photo was taken from the Colegio Maya website) International Peace Day

Anchor papers, science showcase, star student, friendship fair, student portfolios and much, much more.

It's a new goal of mine to blog about our next teaching adventure. Ben and I are off to teach in Malaysia at Raffles American School, or RAS and we couldn't be more excited. We're taking on the opportunity of opening a new school and becoming founding teachers. It's a pretty big deal and should be really exciting. The first day of school is August 13, 2012. Bookmark this blog and come join Ben and I as we begin our next teaching journey in Malaysia! But right now? It's time for summer...