And we're OFF!

Our first whole week of school was a FULL one! The children and I accomplished so much as we worked to establish some important routines to carry us through the year. Below are some photos of just a few of the activities that the children participated in this week. 

 Mrs. Sessler popped in to visit with our class, and to share an interactive read aloud with us! The children pondered, predicted, and inferred the meaning behind the words of the text!

 We practiced using slates to show our understanding during math! Here, the children were practicing THINK, WRITE, SHOW.

 The children came in the morning after curriculum night so happy to see their mini-me attached to their chair. They were also happy to find a note in their desk from their parents from the night before. Thank you again for showing so much care and interest for your child's learning at school!

 I placed the students' faces on their chairs after they left school on Wednesday, so it was really fun to see them next to their work when they arrived at school on Thursday morning! It's remarkable how alike they are!

 Each day this week, we practiced a new way to review our spelling words. The children put their words in ABC order, they did rainbow spelling, a syllable sort, and they learned how to effectively quiz a buddy on their words using slates. They did a great job on their first spelling test today! Remember, due to the short week next week, the children also took their pre-test for next week's words. They brought their new list home today!

 We learned the process for writing in our journals! We always begin by writing the date and the topic at the top of the paper. Then, after thinking about the topic, the children drew a picture that showed their thinking. Next, they labeled the picture with specific words that told more about the topic. Finally, they were ready to write about the topic. The children did a terrific job with this process: think, draw, label, write!

 They especially enjoyed sharing their writing with a buddy when they were finished!

 There are going to be ample opportunities to work with a buddy during math lessons. We reviewed the principles of good partner work to ensure that this time is spent efficiently! The children informed me that good partners: are nice, work together, listen to their partner, don't interrupt each other, use quiet voices, help each other, respect each other, take turns, stay focused, listen to each other, share, use quiet voices, and praise each other for good work. We will have so much success working with partners if we follow all of this wonderful advice!

 During math, the children explored the Everyday Math playing cards with their partners looking for interesting details about the cards. They noticed fractions, geometric shapes, arrays, and more! The children then sorted the cards into two piles: numbers less than 10 and numbers greater than 10.

 They were ready to play a game of "Addition Top It!" Similar to the game of War, each student drew two cards. They found the sum of the cards, and the partner with the greater sum was able to keep both cards. They really enjoyed practicing their addition facts in this way!

 One of our icebreaker activities during these first days of school was to create an iPad that was full of apps that the children enjoy. It was fun to see which apps the children liked to play most! Some enjoyed music (Pandora), others enjoyed games (Angry Birds) and others like searching for information (Google)! Their projects turned out great and can be found in the hallway outside our classroom.

 We spent some time book shopping! Our goal was to find "good fit" books that are interesting, match our reading ability, and cover a variety of genres. We will continue to practice this and to broaden our knowledge of genres as the year moves on!

 The children enjoyed logging in to their Xtramath accounts for the first time. They took their practice tests and they are ready to begin regular practice of their math facts in our classroom online!

The children also logged into their typingtraining.com accounts. It was good practice learning how to find this bookmarked website, log in, and then choose an avatar for themselves. Many began taking the timed practice test! We will delve into this further the next time we have the laptops, after MAP testing is over.

Phew! That's all for now! Give your children a huge pat on the back and let them know they all did a terrific job at school this week! :)  KOS