A Recap of Our First Week
Your children are such kind, respectful, and responsible students! From day one, everyone in our class has been working together to contribute to a positive learning environment. The poster in our classroom says, "Team: Together everyone achieves more." Our class goal for the year is to continue being great teammates.
The students brainstormed some "ground rules" for our classroom. The following is a list of their ideas for our classroom rules: Be respectful, be responsible, be safe, raise your hand, no running, don't take anything that isn't yours, be quiet when someone is talking, keep our floors clean, when you take something out, put it back exactly where you got it from, do not touch the SmartBoard without permission, sit quietly in front of the classroom before school starts, and be where you are supposed to be.
We started off the week getting familiar with the daily routine. When the bell rings at 7:30, the students come into the classroom, sign in and then pick an activity for "mindful choice" time. Some of the favorites so far
include working with the math manipulatives, reading, building blocks, computers, card games, and writing.
At 7:45, we begin our Morning Meeting, which includes the flag pledge, calendar, weather, daily schedule and morning message. The students are so capable that they run the Morning Meeting by themselves!
Reading Workshop follows our meeting, and this week the students have been getting familiar with some of the different books in our classroom library. Yesterday, the second graders shared some of their favorite books that they read in first grade. All of the students also wrote about one of the favorite books that they read over the summer. Books in the Magic Tree House and Henry and Mudge series were mentioned several times for reasons such as, "It helps people get better at reading," "It has chapters," and "There are lots of books in the series, and they are really funny." We have a room full of enthusiastic readers!
We have Math every morning, and the first and second graders are great at doing the room switcheroo. The second graders in our class head next door to work with Ms. Revard and the first graders from Ms. Revard's class come over and join us. A letter describing the math activities this week is enclosed with this note.
After a morning full of learning, the children are ready for some fuel for their brains and some recess! We venture out to the ballfield or structure for snack and recess, hoping for some sunny weather from 9:40-10:00 am daily.
From 10:00 am on, our schedule varies depending on the day of the week. The students have specials daily (Art on Monday, PE and Music on Tuesday and Thursday, and CE on Wednesday and Friday). So, depending on the time of specials, the time block for our Writing and Inquiry period shifts. During Writing Workshop this week, the students have been writing about their summer adventures. Today, we brainstormed a long list of topics that we can write about. The students came up with the following ideas for either fiction or non-fiction stories: what you like to do; favorite hobby; sports; scary stories; happy stories; seasonal stories (Halloween, Christmas); animals; space aliens; sea creatures; family; science; yourself; friends; school; summer adventures; surfing; sports all-stars; and places you have been to or want to go. It's always exciting to hear the students exclaim, "Yeah!" when it's Writer's Workshop time. The creative juices are really starting to flow in Room 11!
Inquiry this week has centered around hurricanes. With the threat of hurricane Flossie at the beginning of the week, many students in the class were curious about hurricanes. Therefore, we used their fabulous questions as an opportunity to do a "mini-inquiry" on hurricanes. We began by creating a web of "What we think we know about hurricanes." Some of the responses included: "Hurricanes are known to change paths"; "Hurricanes don't hit Hawaii very often"; "There is a hurricane season when hurricanes usually happen"; "They spin"; "They pick up anything in their path"; "Hurricanes usually fall apart when the eye falls apart - they die without the eye"; "Maybe the wind blows too hard and the Earth shakes"; "When the wind blows and it rains hard, it might mean a hurricane is coming"; "You should take shelter in a cement structure or shelter that is safe when a hurricane is coming and have lots of water and batteries and canned food"; "The news tells you what is happening and communicates information"; "Emergency sirens warn you"; "Hurricanes have special names"; "They are different sizes"; "There are Air Force people who fly into the eye of the hurricane to research the storm."
Next, we created a web of "What we want to learn about hurricanes." The students are curious about the following: How do you know where hurricanes are going to go, like North, South, East or West? When do you know a hurricane is coming? How do they form? How do they get their names? What are hurricanes made out of? How big are they? Could a hurricane take down a house or a building made of cement? Do hurricanes hit people? Can hurricanes kill animals? What happens to animals when there is a hurricane? Can there be lightning in a hurricane? What are the parts of a hurricane? Can a hurricane break down a school? Where do hurricanes come from? How do hurricanes die? Can hurricanes lift up really heavy things? If there is a hurricane and you have a dog, where do you go? Do hurricanes come from the water? Can a hurricane rip apart steel? Why does there have to be an eye of the hurricane? What are we supposed to do if there is a hurricane? These questions will help the students focus their research and guide them as they explore the answers to their questions. We used the SmartBoard to track the path of Hurricane Flossie and view satellite images of the storm. Our mini-inquiry on hurricanes is just a warm-up about the inquiry process for when we begin our inquiry on animals.
At the end of the school day, we spend some time reflecting on our learning from the day, and if time allows, I read aloud to the class. Then, it's off to autoline or afterschool care. If for some reason there is a change in your usual pick-up routine, please send a note with your child, e-mail me or call the office or classroom. Your child's safety is our number one priority.
Posted on August 23, 2007 7:39 AM | Permalink