Our Classroom Family

Growing and Learning Continues

Our week was a great one.  There was so much going on.  We have begun to dive into our Wonders Curriculum.  The children have also been working with Amplify Science and there is reviewing of place value in Math.  

We began with a textbook scavenger hunt in our Wonders Anthology.  The children familiarized themselves with the set up of the book, discovered the 6 units and various stories within the book.  They seemed excited to dive in and see what they would be reading and writing about.

The Scholastic Book Fair took place all week in the shool library.  The children were so excited to attend and I was able to get some new books for my classroom library.  I even spotted some students outside at recess, reading their new bookd.  As an ELA teacher, this brings me great joy.

We started our Grammar Unit on the 4 types of sentences.  The children worked on putting together the charts above.  They had to put the sentence cut outs into the proper columns.  Great discussions and teamwork around this activity.

Our Morning Meetings all revolved around kindness.  We are filling up the kindness trees with many acts of kindness, we listened to some songs about kindness and Friday we even learned how to spell the word in sign language.  

Overall, we had another successful week of learning and growing.  This upcoming week, will continue with many new discoveries and new concepts.  Our class is making great strides and adapting well to the 4th grade.

 

Building Relationships Through Books

 This week we were involved in various activities that involved, collaborating, participating, and team building skills.  

We started morning meetings and many of the children participate in the sharing and activity.  Monday started with giving one another compliments and then doing an activity called "This is How you Tango"

Each student added a move and we all had to "dance," at the end there were 18 different moves. 

There were so many other activities that built on teamwork:

The children created trait posters, they did  carousel 

  writing, and even outside, during recess, I saw a lot

  of cooperation.

Wednesday was International Dot Day. It was a day to celebrate

being brave and having confidence.  It started in Library with the

reading of the book, The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  Then the children worked on a number of activities.

It was an absolutely fun day, even Mrs. Brothers and myself got in on all the fun.

I believe that every child had an awesome time, from building structures to drawing pictures with only a dot.  

Here are the finished trait posters they created-

Everyday, I read a book to the children, which also leads into some wonderful discussions.  The books we read this week led themselves to conversations about being a family, welcoming everyone, making a mark, unique names and building friendships.

Our week was full of wonderful discussions and activities that built around working as a team.  

Getting to Know One Another

 

This week we have been taking part in many activities that help us get to know one another better.  

We began with a Me Museum, in which the students took in a bag with 3 items that represented themselves and presented to the class.  It was a nice way to get to know what some of their likes and hobbies are.

The children loved to get up in front of the room and talk about themselves. I loved hearing about what they are all about.

We also did an activity using toothpaste:

First, they had to squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the tube.  Then they were asked to put it all back in.  We discussed how that wasn't possible and that is what happens when they say something mean to each other or tease someone- It is impossible to take words back, once they are released.  It was a great activity about speaking kindly to everyone.

Our week continued with Heart Maps and Decorating their Writer's Notebooks.

Yet another way to finding out more about them and what their personalities are like.

I read The Name Jar and we had a conversation about their names and why everyone's name either meant something special or that they were given theri name for a special reason.

The children created name badges and decorated them as the activity to go along with our discussions.

We have started our Morning Meetings.  It consists of greeting each other, having discussions from a question I ask, or based on their check in, we talk about their feelings.

Our days are full and we are learning so much about one another.  The children enjoy the conversations we have and are always willing to participate.  

I created a student information center for them.  This is where they go to order their lunches, sign out for the bathroom, keep their art supplies and read announcements on the board that relate to them.

It has been a fantastic week just learning about them.  I hope to get to know them more as the days go by.  We also began switching classes so they were able to meet their Math and Science/Social Studies teachers.

All in all, it was a pretty successful week.  I will continue to learn more about your child and look forward to another wonderful week ahead.