Things are " Falling" Into Place

 Fall is in the air, crisp breeze, sunny days and the colorful leaves all around us.  The children are continuing to put in their best effort.  This week was no different.  The students worked in stations, wrote on National Day of Writing and we ended the week with a visit from Gobi and Dion.  Another week full of learning and fun all around.  

Our mornings always begin with coming in and settling ourselves either with morning bins or some other activity.  They also answer questions from the morning meeting slides so they can join us on the rug and have wonderful conversations around those questions.

As they prepare for the morning meeting, I take attendance and lunch count.  It is a nice way to settle into the day and the children know that it is expected of them each morning.  

One morning during this week, one of our videos was about building up their confidence level.  They all wrote about something they wanted to be more confident in.  We will be sharing these in the next few days.

Station Rotations:

The children look forward to taking part in their stations.  Each station is dedicated to either a skill we have been working on in Grammar, they go onto Lexia and IXL, they read with me, and also I try to throw in some type of writing activity.  The children seem to enjoy doing this especially now that they have learned the routines and how they go from one to another.

Listening to the conversations and watching them help one another is exciting. 

On Thursday of this week we celebrated National Day on Writing.  The children wrote on our "grafitti wall" that was displayed outside of the office.  Each class took a turn to go out there and write #WhyIWrite.  It was wonderful to see them all out there and write the reasons why they write.  Our Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent also took part in this.

Once the wall was complete, the children enjoyed reading what others wrote.  It turned out excelllent and a great way to get the school community involved.

Higlights of the week:

I can't let the blog end without giving Mrs. Eastman kudos.  She put together the author visit.  On Friday the children were treated to having Dion and Gobi visit the school and share the adventures they have had.  Excitement was felt througout the entire school.  The children loved hearing how Gobi and Dion met, the adventures they went through and what they are currently doing.  

Mrs. Eastman also held the character pumpkin walk.  Any child, who wanted to take part in it, brought a pumpkin designed as their favorite character from a book.  It was amazing to see all the creations.  Here are a few samples of what the children came up with.

We had a terrific week and there is so much more to come.  For Vetereans Day we always make cards for our veterans.  This year we are also asking for donations of socks for them.  If you can spare a pair, please send them in.  

Each grade level has a 

box for the donations.  We will be collecting socks until October 28th.

Self Reflection:

Our days are filled with laughter, learning and an overall time of making discoveries as we learn.  It is so important that we make sure that we are all doing well.  We reflect daily on how we think we did, how we can improve and what we need to do in order to be successful.  Our Star Conferences will be held this Friday.  As a school we all meet one on one with our students and discuss their progress and how they can do better.  I enjoy this time with the students because it gives me more individual time with them and I get to know them better.  Building relationships with each student is so important.  If you do not know the children, how will you be able to teach them?  This is why our Star Time is part of our monthly routine. We want each child to succeed and we want to provide them with the right tools to do that.  

Work Hard, Play Hard

 It's been another fantastic week.  So many great moments and conversations revolving around our curriculum.  Some of these great conversations start first thing in the morning with our morning meetings.  The slide I present each morning has a video, a quote of the day, a question to answer and there is also a poll for them to complete.  Finally, there is a reminder each morning for them.  This is very interactive and we are also checking up on each other.

Station Rotations:

Tuesdays through Friday we run stations in the afternoon, during our Literacy Block.  For the most part they are running smoothly and the children are interacting with one another.  The children transition to each station, with what they need and complete the task that is there for them.

 

The children interact with each other and help one another as they complete the task in each station.  There are 2 stations that involve their chromebooks, there is a Grammar station in which they complete an activity involving the current topic we are learning about.  I also set up a station that has then working on the vocabulary and word work.  All the centers are very hands on and keep the children engaged.

During indoor recess, I have many board games available for them.  Many choose the game they want, while others just take the time to draw or color.  It is a time for them to break away from the routine work and socialize. It is great to hear laughter and fun conversations.

Throughout the day, you will not find us with too much down time.  There is always something going on in the room.  Whether we are reading independently, reading as a whole class, or trying to do our math work, we are in constant work mode.  The children are involved in whatever we are doing and participate.  There are times when we stray and begin talking about something that may have come up at lunch, or during their special.  We stop, talk about it and get back on track.  When anyone comes into our room, they will always find us in the middle of a science lesson, or even talking about maps and globes.  Our days are filled and the days go so fast.  

Friday was our Pink Out Day in the entire district.  Wherever we looked, we say pink.  It was great to see it all and to donate to a wonderful foundation- The Gloria Gemma Foundation.  Thank you to all who donated. 

Moving forward, our 5th grade student council has planned our 1st Spirit Week.  The days have been planned out with certain themes for the day. More to follow on that.  

There are also some other fun activities planned for the children.  We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the author of Finding Gobi.  Our librarian, Mrs. Eastman also sent home handouts about the pumpkin character walk.  Hope we get a lot of pumpkins to display.  Our 5th grade student council will also be collecting new socks for our veterans.  

Have a wonderful week ahead, stay safe and think positively.