Effort Ignites our Abilities

 Good Morning to all our students and families!  I hope you all enjoyed Spring Break.  I took a lot of time for myself, relaxing, refocusing and walking, lots of walking.  I am looking forward to being back in school tomorrow and seeing all of my students.  With that being said, I am ready to take on the last lap of the school year.  There are many fun things being planned for the end of the year, and there is still a lot of school work to get through.  

The week before our break, as you all know I was not in.  I had to take time off due to some health issues.  I am finally feeling stronger and healthier.  The first week of April, the students took the RICAS assessments in ELA.  I am proud of their effort and hard work.  

I provided them with lots of incentives and positivity.  I know they put their best foot forward and did their best.  The students will be taking the math sessions during the first week of May.  

Pen Pal Letters:

  The school year is coming to an end for our pen pals in Utah, Arizona and Nevada.  The children have been communicating back and forth with their pen pals and hopefully they will continue to keep in touch once we are done in school.  That will be up to you, the parents.  We have been using the school address, but if your child wants to keep in touch, they would have to use their home address once school is out.  

 

Wonders

We have been using the digital component of our Wonders Reading program.  It is especially helpful to review skills and vocabulary.  The children love the interactive part where they can get up there and actually be part of the work.  They collaborate with one another and help each other out.

Overall Happenings in the Classroom

The children continue to work in station rotation.  They work 

together to get  a task completed.  

They take part in interactive games and compete against one

another.

They work on skills like inferencing, answering comprehension questions and read in small groups.

The children are doing wonderful in these small groups.  I love to hear the conversations, the participation and the ways they problem solve within their groups.

Self Care

I am going to put in a new section with my blog.  It is about ways we can take care of ourselves.  I will incorporate some skills children, as well as, adults can use when they feel that they need some time to refocus and get back on track.  

This past week, I went to Lincoln Woods State Park.  I took a brisk walk all around the park and at the end of my walk (40 minutes) I took out my journal, found a huge rock, sat on it and began to write my thoughts at that moment.  I heard birds chirpping, children laughing and the silence of people fishing, hoping to catch something.  The time I spent there, made me more aware of my surroundings cleared my mind even if it was just for 20 minutes.  I also did some breathing exercises and took in the fresh air. It really helped me stay focused and organized for the day.  

Quote:

"Take time to do what makes your soul happy."

A Week of Learning, Discovery and Perserverance

 The week was off and running with a virual assembly for the upcoming RICAS Assessments on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Mr. Pacitto led the assembly by talking about what is expected of the children, getting a good night's rest, eating breakfast, coming to school on time and most importantly, putting in great effort and doing their best.  We will ROCK these tests!!!

I know that each student will do their best and show what they know!  We have reviewed test taking strategies and even worked on the Deptartment of Ed's released items.

We also started our new Unit in Wonders.  The children read about Hurricane Katrina and worked collaborately on the questions.

It is great to walk around the room and see each student participating and adding to the conversations.

Our Morning Meetings are successful in which they get the children's day started with great conversations and participation from all the students.  Mr. Pacitto has even come in and responded to some of the sharing out section of the meeting.  These meetings help us build community, discuss things that we might be concerned about and have the children interact with one another.

Recess time has been fun also.  On some of those cold days, the children have indoor recess and on nicer days, they are outside enjoying the fresh air.

There is always learning and interaction going on in our classrooms.  Children work together, help each other out and collaborate on getting a task completed.  The days go quickly and time sure is going by, but we are doing our best to prepare each child for their next phase of elementary school.

The children now have access to Moby Max.  It is a website in which they can work on all academic areas as a review of skills and they can advance in level.  We worked on vocabulary during the week and the children enjoy it.  They can earn badges and even have games that they can play, educational ones of course. Thank you Ms. Blanchette for introducing me to this.

Friday we held the March Student of the Month assembly.  The children are always so excited to see who it will be.  This month we had 3 from our classroom, all 3 were chosen by different staff members.  The excitement on their faces is the best part for me.  

April's Character Trait is Perserverance, one that we will all display during the next upcoming weeks and months.  We tell the children to never give up, but to push forward with great effort.