September Spotlight

Can you believe we have already been in school for 20 days! We have really accomplished so much by way of daily routines and expectations for learning. We have Daily 5 just about up and running (including reading groups!) as well as Writer's Workshop. During math we are diving into story problems and sharing strategies. During Read Aloud we are already onto our 2nd chapter back. Ask your child about Dory Fantasmagory-it's a definite favorite! Here are a few other highlights from September.

Daily 5
During Daily 5 children work on 5 components to build their reading and writing stamina and independence. We talk about student expectations as well as the teacher's role during this time. We know we have to pick and stick, start right away, work the whole time, keep our brain on our work, and our voices down low in order to build our muscle memory.

Here are some kids in action!

Read To Someone

Children read to a partner to practice their fluency. After each partner reads the other retells what was just read. We call this check for understanding.

Listen To Reading

Children listen to a story either at the listening center, on an iPad, or at the computer. At the iPad they scan a QR code to take them to a story online.

Work On Writing

This was our last Daily 5 component to introduce. During Work on Writing children have the choice to write anything they want. We made a list of writing forms such as cards, notes, letters, lists, fiction, nonfiction, kid news, poems and narratives.

Math

During math over the last few weeks we have been working on counting strategies, showing our count in organized ways, solving addition and subtraction story problems, and sharing our strategies and tools as mathematicians. We have talked about how we can use a ten frame, number line, cubes, counters, fingers, and counting on or back from a given number to help solve problems. We've shared different ways to show our thinking during whole group discussions. We have also played some math games using our tools.

Writer's Workshop

During Writing time we have talked about how writers have a special partner that helps them plan out their stories and even helps them fix up any "oops" mistakes. We practiced planning out our stories with our partners by touching and telling across our fingers. We then had our partners read over our stories and help us notice parts and words that didn't look or sound right. 

And here are a few friends who have read aloud their stories to the class!!

Hope you enjoyed learning about some of our learning over the last few weeks. Check back again soon!

First Week Spotlight

What a great first week we are having here in room 27! I have been so impressed with how well these children have transitioned from summer to school. They are coming in ready to get started each day, helping each other out, and being so kind and respectful. I just know we will  keep this momentum going throughout the year! Even though we haven't been in school all that long we have already gotten busy. I am so excited to share some of the things we are doing to get to know each other, to build a community, and to learn important routines.

A few highlights from the week:

Using materials in our maker space tubs and our imaginations

Getting creative with pattern blocks during math exploration

Working on our numbers and our best handwriting

Mingling around the room to find friends who.... (like pizza, have a sister, like books...)

Exploring the book buckets in our classroom library

Drawing and writing about our day and our new friends

Using whiteboards to practice our letter sounds

Of course these are just a few of the things we have been working on! We have read lots of books about school, created a list of class rules, interviewed each other to learn about our new friends, and had lots of great discussions about our hopes and dreams for the year! I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about our first days. Check back again soon for more highlights of our learning!